Abstract: Tile decoration is one of the main ornamental elements used indoors and outdoors in Turkish-Islamic art. In the Islamic geography, there are examples of tile decoration beginning with Iran, from Anatolia to the Balkans. It is accepted that the most mature stage of the development of tile decoration, which entered Anatolia with the Seljuks, was completed in the workshops in Anatolia. In the Anatolian Seljuks, during the 12th-13th centuries, various and successful tile trials were implemented. In the classical age of Ottoman In the classical age of Ottoman, previous techniques were developed, new ones were added and competent examples which had a different appearance were given. It is possible to trace this process through tile examples from the central Ottoman provinces. The most beautiful tile examples of the Ottoman period can be seen in cities such as Iznik, Bursa, Edirne and Istanbul. In the early Republican period, the reflections of the efforts to create a national identity in architecture manifested themselves in the historicist-revivalist approach called the First National Architecture. In this approach, architectural elements-ornamentations taken from religious architecture belonging to earlier periods such as Ottoman and Seljuk periods were mostly used on the facades. Leading architects of the period such as Vedat Tek, Mimar Kemaleddin, Mimar Ali Talat Bey, Mimar Muzaffer Bey Mihran Azaryan and Levon Nafilyan used tile ornamentation extensively in the school, pier, office, mosque and various public buildings they designed. Thus, it was thought that the old architectural traditions were revived, albeit partially. The aim of this study is to make an architectural evaluation of the tile decoration used on the facades of buildings in Istanbul, which was shaped especially by the influence of the First National Architecture movement in the late Ottoman-Early Republican period. In the city of Istanbul, which was the center of important architectural developments in both the Ottoman and Republican periods, examining the tile samples on the building was considered important in terms of understanding the historical development of tile art. In this context, photographs documenting the current status of twenty building samples selected from Istanbul were taken and an evaluation of the tile decoration on the building facades was made. In addition, the place and importance of the ornamentation of tiles used on the facades of buildings in the history of architecture was discussed by scanning the relevant literature. As seen in the architectural examples in Istanbul, it can be said that in the early of 20th-century, tile was considered as an element that strengthened the national character, and in this context, it continued the Turkish-Islamic architectural decoration features/traditions with its main lines.

Keywords: Istanbul, Late Ottoman-Early Repablican Period, early 20th-century, First National Arhitectural, Tile