The Disappearing City. Hand-painted Apartment Signs and Architectural Details from 20th- Century Istanbul

Set of two volumes;
615 + 497 pages; 5000+ colour photographs, in English, limited edition.

Istanbul is rare among world cities for having apartment buildings named after animals, plants, and fruit, even feelings. From the early 1900s to the 1970s, these names were painted on apartment entrances as elegant, idiosyncratic signs. In the present day, these unacknowledged works of art are threatened by rampant urban renewal and gentrification.

This book contains a collection of more than three thousand such hand-painted apartment-name signs from various historical districts of Istanbul; a landmark illustrated volume on this city’s history and architecture. 

Hundreds of accessory photographs; belonging to historic structures, vernacular architecture and associated urban details are shared alongside the extensive collection of hand-painted signs.

Detailed information about the art and trade of sign painters, and the lives of individual artists is also provided. In documenting the work of certain early 20th-century sign-painters such as M. Haytayan, A. Levi and G. Vrioni, this study also documents the stories of Armenian, Jewish and Greek artisans who once lived in Istanbul.

Published in two volumes, this work will be a source of reference for architects, designers, artists, photographers, historians, students of urban studies and more, for generations to come…