Aydın Boysan

Aydın Boysan — Biography

Aydın Boysan was an architect, writer and journalist who combined an architecture career of more than half a century with humour, memoir and travel books and newspaper columns, and was known for his love of Istanbul and rakı table culture. He was born in Istanbul in 1921 and died there on 5 January 2018, aged 96.

The son of a teacher and a Laz accountant, he finished Pertevniyal High School in 1939 and the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts in 1945. From 1945 to 1999 he practised architecture without a break, designed about 1.5 million square metres of buildings and won competition prizes. His first project was the Hakkâri provincial government building; the Hürriyet Media Towers in Güneşli, the Arçelik building in Sütlüce and the Mimar Sinan University Cultural Centre came later. He was among the founders of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, serving on its board, as first secretary general and as head of its Istanbul branch, and he taught at Istanbul Technical University from 1957 to 1972.

To publish his own books he founded Bas Yayınları (1984-1993). He wrote humour books such as Paldır Güldür and Yangın Var, the Dünyayı Severek travel series and memoirs such as İstanbul Esintileri, and was a columnist for ten years at Hürriyet and three at Akşam. He was buried beside his wife at Ortaköy Cemetery; in 2026 his name was inscribed on the door of Villa Biçen, which he designed in Bursa.