Description
Book SynopsisTraces the history of the Yıldız Palace in Istanbul, the last and largest imperial residential complex of the Ottoman Empire.
Trade Review“The Accidental Palace offers an erudite analysis of the nexus of artistic activity represented by Yıldız Palace. It is one of the first English-language works of art or architectural history of the late Ottoman world that does not frame its importance through the prism of orientalism. Deniz Türker engages in a stealthy refutation of Eurocentric frameworks for late Ottoman visual synthesis by doing the archival work that allows the myriad actors involved—patrons, gardeners, builders, diplomats, and more—to materialize their own artistic autonomy, resulting in a truly fresh look at artistic agency.”
—Peter H. Christensen,author of Precious Metal: German Steel, Modernity, and Ecology
“Through the prism of architecture and landscape, The Accidental Palace offers a rich ethnography of power and culture in the age of Ottoman reform, as well as a unique window on the expansion of globalized consumerism.”
—Mercedes Volait,author of Antique Dealing and Creative Reuse in Cairo and Damascus, 1850–1890: Intercultural Engagements with Architecture and Craft in the Age of Travel and Reform
