Architecture and Sculpture | SADI CALIK "LIVING IN ORDER TO CREATE SCULPTURE WHERE THERE IS NONE" | Gallery

SADI CALIK "LIVING IN ORDER TO CREATE SCULPTURE WHERE THERE IS NONE" Architecture and Sculpture

Sadi Calik who began to sculpt in 1950, believed that architecture and sculpture should complement each other. Following the principle of "unity in art", together with his close friends he founded the "Espas Group" in which architecture was an integral part. He thought that design should include surface work, as seen in both sculpture and architecture, and all these together would form an architectural composition. He supported the idea that some of these surfaces should be decorated with examples of the plastic arts such as reliefs, low-relief, ceramic panels, mosaics etc.

He considered that there should be a place for the plastic arts as a whole within and outside architectural sculpture and by means of sculpture a plastic movement in architectural space could be obtained. Before he thought about the basic idea for a monument, he considered the landscaping of the surrounding area. One of the best examples of this, which may be considered the first contemporary sculpture, is the METU Ataturk Memorial. The surroundings of the Sakarya Ataturk Memorial represent the first public area designed to include abstract elements.

He began his lifelong association with architects on one of his first abstract works, the "Rings" sculpture for the pool in front of the new Istanbul municipal building at Sarachane (1952), and the first abstract relief in architecture for Etibank, which, though never executed, won first prize. He worked with architects who supported the idea of "Plastic art in architecture", such as Ercument Tarcan, Affan Kirimli, Rahmi Bediz, Orhan Sahinler, Behruz Cinici and Mukbil Gokdogan, to produce the most original works in contemporary Turkish sculpture. The abstract sculpture for the triple auditorium at METU, the reliefs for the Kizilay, Ankara branch of Yapi ve Kredi Bank in Kizilay, the reliefs for the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and the sculpture for the pool in the garden of the Vakko building at Merter are examples of his work in this genre.

Keeping in mind that the the subject and the architectural requirements of the work could not escape including classical figurative relief or sculpture, he worked to give new expression to traditional techniques or sculptural elements. Examples of this are the Statue of Justice in Giresun and the reliefs for the Konak Cinema and the Istanbul University Faculty of Economics.

Sadi Calik’s thoughts about sculpture and architecture were based on his research into ideas about space, construction and proportion. The beginning of architectural ideas can be seen in horizontal lines in his drawings and in the spatial design of all his sculpture where there is an interior which can be accessed . His work in metal clearly shows the construction and the material used and demonstrates that an idea can be realised with a minimum of material by using metal together with space. For the latest Ataturk memorial competition for the Turkish National Assembly Monument he recommended an "architecural sculpture". (see Sezer Tansug, "Sadi Calik", 1980).

Siren Calik

Etibank relief, 1955. Relief for the competition for Etibank General Headquarters , Sihhiye, Ankara which won first prize but was never executed. Known as the first modern wallpanel relief inTurkey.

Relief for Konak Cinema, Istanbul 1959. Plaster group of seven figures. Three reliefs from the cinema, later demolished, are in the house of Erol Evgin, the architect.