TY - JOUR T1 - Bourgeois Wealth, Architecture, and Urbanization: The Azaryan Family in Late Ottoman Istanbul AU - Günhan, Aslıhan PY - 2023 DA - December DO - 10.53979/yillik.2023.5 JF - YILLIK: Annual of Istanbul Studies JO - YILLIK PB - Suna ve İnan Kıraç Vakfı Kültür ve Sanat İşletmesi WT - DergiPark SN - 2687-5012 SP - 67 EP - 93 VL - 5 LA - en AB - Istanbul’s urbanization in the late nineteenth century was highly influenced by private investors and land commodification practices. This article focuses on one of these investors, the Azaryan family, and particularly Bedros and Josef Azaryan, and explores how they participated in the capitalistic urbanization of Istanbul. Through an examination of their investments in Ayazpaşa (Gümüşsuyu) and in Büyükdere, the article unveils different complexities of urban modernization, land commodification, and building construction. Focusing on the Azaryan waterside mansion (yalı) in Büyükdere and the Azaryan Palas in Ayazpaşa, this article positions the Azaryan family as influential actors capable not only of representing their wealth through architecture but also of negotiating with the state to resolve construction disputes. It therefore sheds light on themes such as patronage, finance, visual power, land tenure, and architectural labor. Working through an array of sources such as tendering documents, embassy correspondences, private notebooks, maps, and survey drawings, the article portrays the polyvocal and fragmented dynamics of capitalistic urbanization in late Ottoman Istanbul. KW - Azaryan Family KW - Büyükdere KW - Ayazpaşa KW - urban modernization KW - Armenian bourgeoisie CR - Barillari, Diana, and Ezio Godoli. Istanbul 1900: Art-Nouveau Mimarisi ve İç Mekanları. Istanbul: Yem Yayınları, 1997. CR - Baruh, Lorans Izabel. “The Transformation of the ‘Modern’ Axis of Nineteenth-Century Istanbul: Property, Investments and Elites from Taksim Square to Sirkeci Station.” PhD diss., Boğaziçi University, 2009. CR - Baturayoğlu Yöney, Nilüfer, and Ahmet Ersen. “19. Yüzyılın Sonu ve 20. Yüzyılın Başında İstanbul’da Yapı Dış Cephelerinde Kullanılan Yapay Taşların Mimari Değerlendirmesi-3 Yapay Taşların Türkiye’ye Gelişi ve Kullanımı.” Restorasyon ve Konservasyon Çalışmaları Dergisi 4 (2010): 14–21. CR - Çizmeciyan, Liji Pulcu. İstanbul’da Kayıp Zamanlar. Istanbul: İş Bankası Yayınları, 2010. CR - Dağdelen, İrfan. Alman Mavileri: 1913–1914 1. Dünya Savaşı Öncesi İstanbul Haritaları. Vol. 2. Istanbul: İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kütüphane ve Müzeler Müdürlüğü, 2006. UR - https://doi.org/10.53979/yillik.2023.5 L1 - https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/3441830 ER -