Abdurrahman Hancı

Born in 1923, in İstanbul, Hancı studied at the Galatasaray High School. Hancı graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in 1946. Between 1947 and ‘48, Hancı worked in France, where he had the opportunity to work with Auguste Perret who was tasked with redevelopment of the war-torn city of La Havre. In 1951, he worked on the interior arrangement of the bookstore Kitap Sarayı in Beyoğlu, and on the design of the Yalman House in Büyükada. In that same year, he received the 1st Prize Award with Turgut Cansever in the Anadolu Kulübü Competition. In 1952, together with Maruf Önal, Süha Toner, Turgut Cansever and Şahap Aran, he co-founded IMA, which by the time was the first large private architectural firm.In 1955, he was invited to work on the construction of NATO Headquarters which began towards the end of the year. His second visit to Paris lasted for a decade. In the first four years, he worked on the construction of the NATO Headquarters. In the last half of the four years, he designed meeting halls, some interior spaces and various furniture designs. Turkish painter and author, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu designed a 14 meters wide mosaic mural for the inner courtyard of the grand restaurant located on the rooftop. After the completion of the NATO Headquarters in 1960, Hancı pursued his private practice in Paris. In that while, he designed the BELLE clothing store in Nice, France, a bowling alley of 24 lanes in Besançon, a Provençale style house in La Garde-Fresnet, in Southern France and made furniture designs for the Domus firm in Germany. In 1966, Hancı returned back to İstanbul. Between 1968 and ‘74, he partnered with Yüksel Karapınar. From 1974 to 2001 he worked with Yalçın Çıkınoğlu in their co-founded MİMAT Architecture LLC until the passing away of his business partner. The first work he designed after his return to Turkey in 1966, was an art gallery named Galeri 1 in Beyoğlu. By that time there were only two art galleries in İstanbul: Maya and State Art Gallery. Afterwards, in 1967, he consulted on the repurchasing of the Divan Hotel and continued as an architectural consultant to the hotel for 30 years. Besides the above mentioned projects, he designed several residences, offices, and bank branches. (Resource: Arkiv)