Emin Onat and Assistant Ahmet Orhan Arda designed the Memorial Tomb for Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, leader of the Turkish War of Independence. It was completed in 1953, in Ankara Turkey, as a foremost example of the Second National Architecture Movement.
The dentil work and formal temple organization refer to the Roman era architecture that once spread far across Turkey. It is a rectangular geometric design. Ottoman influences can also be seen in the vaulting and interior ornaments, such as the window lattice in the Hall of Honor
The word ‘mausoleum’ comes from the structure built by the widow of Mausolus in present-day Bodrum, Turkey. Its rectangular shape with a stepped pyramid form influenced Anitkabir. Today’s monument sought for historical precedence, and abstracted it to its minimal shape to give a profound permanence to the collective memory of Anitkabir. It still takes an active role in the memory and national identity of Turkey.
(Gary R. Caldwell– flickr/creative commons license)
(brewbooks– flickr/creative commons license)
(myhsu– flickr/creative commons license)
