Henri Prost in Istanbul: Urban transformation process of Taksim-Maçka Valley (Le parc n°2)

With the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, modernization studies have been started throughout the country. Following this, French architect and urban planner Henri Prost was invited to conduct the planning of Istanbul. He worked with conservative and modernist attitude. He gave importance on open spaces and public parks. His largest public park proposal was Park No2 which was the area extending from today’s Taksim Square to Maçka Valley and this park was fully constructed in the 1940s. However, it has been transformed by the planning decisions taken over time depending on the political, cultural and ideological changes. The focus of this study is to understand and define the process of transformation, and investigate the changing of significances and cultural values of the Taksim-Maçka Valley from foundation of the Republic of Turkey to the present day. Accordingly, the first part of the paper presents the formation process of the area through the plans which was prepared by Henri Prost. In the second part, the transformation process of the area on the Prost’s legacy is analyzed.