Ordinary, Original, Modern Representation; Buildings by Architect Baycan Kancı, In Giresun

Abstract

The study aims to interpret the buildings designed by architect Baycan Kancı in Giresun by
situating them within national and local developments, viewing them as ordinary yet original
and collective representations of modernism. Working in Giresun in the 1970s—primarily
within Fiskobirlik—Kancı produced numerous significant residential buildings for the city. As
a provincial architect in the architectural milieu of the period, he created modest but carefully
crafted structures and emerged as one of the city’s early modernists. His unique apartment
buildings, located in key residential areas, stand out as pioneering and high-quality examples
at the urban scale. Accordingly, the study focuses on what it meant to be a modernist in the
provincial architectural context of the 1970s. Primary sources include Kancı’s personal archive
and interviews with architects and Fiskobirlik employees, while secondary sources consist of
retrospective research. Through these materials, the study seeks to present a cross-section of
Giresun’s modern architectural production via Kancı’s residential works.