From Centre to Periphery: Organisational and Stylistic Regulations of Architecture in Early 19th Century Tbilisi

Öz

The era beginning with Peter the Great's reign is widely recognised as the onset of Russia's modernisation. In this period, the Russian Empire sought to institutionalise architectural uniformity through centralised administrative reforms, codified construction legislation, and the dissemination of model designs rooted in Russian Classicism. However, implementation of the designs in the periphery produced outcomes that were neither uniform nor fully controlled.

The peripheral city of Tbilisi came under Russian domination at the beginning of the 19th century and became the centre of the Caucasus Viceroyalty. Following the city's integration into the empire, Tbilisi's public buildings closely mirrored the formal vocabulary of the imperial capital, reflecting the effectiveness of bureaucratic oversight in the civic sphere. Conversely, residential architecture emerged as a key site of hybridisation, where local building traditions, spatial practices, and topography produced a distinctive idiom in the 1840s, reflecting a complex, integrative form of imperial urbanism shaped by the interaction between central authority and local conditions.

Drawing on archival documents, the study examines how imperial authorities regulated the built environment to consolidate power in the South Caucasus. The findings demonstrate the emergence of a hybrid architectural style in Tbilisi and reveal the limitations of imperial standardisation and the negotiated character of peripheral modernisation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• The 19th Century
• Russian Empire
• Russian Classicism
• Tbilisi
• Architecture

Merkezden Periferiye: 19. Yüzyıl Başlarında Tiflis'te Mimari Organizasyon ve Biçimsel Düzenlemeler

Öz

Rus modernleşmesinin başlangıcı çoğunlukla Büyük Petro’nun saltanatıyla ilişkilendirilir. Bu dönemde Rus İmparatorluğu; idari reformlar, inşaat mevzuatı ve Rus Klasisizmi’ne dayanan model tasarımların yaygınlaştırılması yoluyla mimari türdeşliği kurumsallaştırmaya çalıştı. Ancak model tasarımların periferideki uyarlamaları ne türdeş ne de tam olarak biçimsel kontrolün sağlanmış olduğu uygulamalardı.

Gürcistan’ın başkenti Tiflis, 19. yüzyılın başlarında Rus egemenliğine girdi ve Kafkasya Genel Valiliğinin merkezi oldu. Şehrin imparatorluk merkezine bağlanması ile Tiflis’in kamu binaları, bürokratik denetimin sivil alandaki etkinliğini yansıtarak imparatorluk merkezinin biçimsel sözlüğünü tekrar etti. Ancak konut mimarisinde belirgin bir melezleşme husule geldi. 1840’lardaki konutlarda yerel yapı gelenekleri ve topoğrafya etkilerinin, özellikle karakteristik ahşap balkonların ve yerelleştirilmiş iç mekan düzenlemelerinin dahil edildiği bir mimari üslup yaratılmıştı. Geleneksel bir sömürge mekânsal düzenininden farklı olarak, Tiflis’in yapılı çevresi, merkezi otorite ile yerel koşullar arasındaki etkileşimle şekillenen daha karmaşık ve bütünleştirici bir emperyal şehircilik modelini yansıttı. 

Bu makale, 19. yüzyılın ilk yarısında Tiflis’in mimari dönüşümünü, Rus imparatorluğu’nun mimarlık örgütlenmesi ve stilistik eğilimleri kapsamında ele almaktadır. Arşiv belgeleri ve dönemin mimari projelerinden yararlanarak imparatorluk yetkililerinin Güney Kafkasya’daki yapılı çevreyi düzenlemek ve siyasi otoriteyi pekiştirmek için kullandığı mekanizmaları incelemektedir. Makale, Tiflis’teki melez mimari manzarayı oluşturan standardize emperyal uygulamaların sınırlarını ve periferideki modernleşmenin müzakere edilmiş doğasını ortaya koymaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• 19. yüzyıl
• Rus İmparatorluğu
• Rus Klassisizmi
• Tiflis
• Mimari

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