A Representation at the Intersection of Film and Architecture: Reading "Modernity" Through the Çubuk Dam and Its Built Environment

Representational systems function as languages in the process of constructing meanings. Architecture and films incorporating architectural works serve as significant examples of these systems. Analyzing architectural works through films involves a multifaceted examination, providing a platform to discuss diverse meanings in representation. Architectural works that utilize modern characteristics in Ankara during the early years of the republic, can be seen to operate as notable representations of “modernity”. The aim of this study is to understand the representation of "modernity" by examining the Çubuk Dam and its built environment, an iconic structure of 1930s Ankara, through films produced in that period. The primary sources of the study are Yeni Türkiye Belgeseli (1936), Çubuk Barajı'nın Açılışı (1936), and Ankara, Yazın (n.d.), analyzed by using close reading methods. “Modernity”, within the scope of this study, is viewed as a concept shaping, transforming, or reconstructing the social and cultural lives of people. The representation of “modernity” in film and architecture was examined by focusing on the architectural language, film organization, and verbal narratives. The analyses reveal the pivotal role of the Çubuk Dam and its buildings in representing “modernity” and the reproduction of notions related to “modernity” through representational systems of architecture and film.