General Directorate of Foundations İzmir Regional Directorate Building

General Directorate of Foundations İzmir Regional Directorate Building

The building, which today serves as Vakıflar Bank and is located on the right corner of the entrance of Fevzi Paşa boulevard, was built by Architect Kemal Bey in 1931 as an office building named ÇATALKAYA. The building, which was built during the reconstruction works of Izmir, is important in that it carries the characteristics of the 1st National Architecture movement and Art Deco style of the early Republican period.

The history

Banco di Roma (Foundations Bank, General Directorate of Foundations) An Italian bank (Banco di Roma) founded in Rome in 1880, it developed rapidly until the First World War and was recognized as a powerful bank especially abroad. It started its activities in Istanbul in 1911, with many branches opened in the Mediterranean. The name of the bank, which operated in Turkey for many years, changed to (Banca di Roma S.p.A.) in 1992. The bank, which was renamed as Unicredit Banca di Roma S.p.A. in 2008, was liquidated in the same year and ceased to operate. Banco di Roma and the American Consulate next to it were introduced in the architectural magazine Arkitekt of the period (the product of a new research that Architect Kemalettin and Architect Vedat wanted to stylize, at a time when new architectural ideas were not yet emerging and rooted). Since the ground floor of the building has been allocated to an institution other than the General Directorate of Foundations, the main entrance serves not the whole building but the ground floor. The General Directorate of Foundations can be passed through the entrance of the old consulate building. The building has not undergone extensive repairs in recent years. It continues to exist with small-scale functional arrangements.