Who is Nezih Eldem, the Margrave of Architecture?
Nezih Eldem was born in 1921 in the Eyüpsultan district of Istanbul. He graduated from the Department of Architecture of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1944 as an architect. The year he graduated, he started teaching at the Department of Architecture at the Graduate School of Engineering. After the Higher Engineering School was incorporated into ITU, he worked as an assistant at this university. He became an associate professor in 1954 and a professor in 1962.
Its first implemented design was the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Building in 1949. His other important designs include the arrangement of the Museum of Ancient Oriental Works (1964-74, Sultanahmet), ITU Mining Faculty G Amphitheatre (1964, Maçka) and Conference Hall No. 109 in ITU Taşkışla Building.
In addition to his architectural and academic career, Nezih Eldem also served as a member of the Union of Architects and the Chamber of Architects. He also worked on the Board of Directors of UNESCO's Turkish National Commission and the Common European Heritage Campaign. As a result of these works, he made significant contributions to Istanbul being selected as a "world city to be protected". He won the National Architecture Award in 1998. He died in Istanbul in 2005.