

Dying beauties: the wooden buildings of Istanbul - benbreen
http://www.inenart.eu/?p=17305

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jballanc
There are a number of examples of this architectural style, but much better
preserved, along the side streets near the Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia).

That said...I'm honestly not the least bit surprised that many of these places
are falling into disrepair. At the same time, I wouldn't ascribe it to
gentrification or any ill will by the middle class, looking to replace them
with new construction, toward immigrants too poor to maintain them.

This is just how Istanbul is. The city is _so_ old that there's not really any
point in placing special value on something that might be _merely_ one or two
(or even three) hundred years old. It's not that Istanbul is in any hurry to
tear down old construction. The city is just ruthlessly pragmatic. The product
of millennia of settlement built upon settlement built upon settlement...it
really is unlike quite any other place in the world.

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whoopdedo
There are two photos showing a wooden building between two newer structures.
In the first the neighboring buildings are brick. The architect there
decorated the buildings so they matched the wood next door. The other shows
concrete buildings. They wood house in that photo looks out of place.

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guard-of-terra
Some places are lucky to have stone. They have good architecture that lasts
(looking at you Italy). Other are not so lucky, one fire or one century away
from having nothing.

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phillipadsmith
The post appears to be gone now...?

