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.