The Apartment That Takes You Back to 1905: Izmir’s First Apartment ANADOLU
Anadolu Apartment is considered to be Izmir’s first apartment building and the first house made of concrete. In the early days of the apartment building, it had a garden consisting of trees and two small pools. However, this garden was rented by Niyazi Gözümoğlu in the 1960s, and after its trees were cut down and turned into a flat concrete ground, it was turned into a summer open-air cinema called ‘Gözümoğlu Cinema’. This cinema was the most important element that introduced Anadolu Apartmanı to everyone at that time. The cinema has turned this region into a center of attraction. Flat owners living on the side of the building sees the cinema even had the chance to watch movies for free from their balconies. The apartment building, which was one of the most spectacular and tallest buildings in Izmir at that time, could even watch the view of Izmir Bay from its balconies until the rapid apartment development after 1965.
As I examined the apartment, I felt like I was in that period. I even watched the sunset in the Gulf of Izmir more times than I can count from the balcony of my apartment. As my eyes fell on the open-air cinema, a different movie played on the screen evert time. Even I fought with my friend sitting next to me because he talked too much and it even rained unexpectedly. When I stopped wandering around the sidewalks of the apartment and came back to reality, I was able to sip my coffee. At that moment Something seemed very strange, I realized that some things do not just pass with time and disappear. Nothing was just disappearing, we were abandoning it. Just like the audience who abandoned this cinema, just like we abandoned Izmir Bay by building huge apartment buildings in front of it. you see, we couldn’t preserve the good things of the past. The apartment building was improved and restored and continued to live in all its glory from past to present. We humans obviously need improvement, but not as if we were restoring a building. We are what gives spirit to buildings and their surroundings. Therefore we shouldn’t just abandon them all alone.
Begüm İ.
