Since its establishment, the Republic of Turkey has aimed to ensure security within the political, social, and economic structure of the state. In order to achieve this, the implementation of the General Inspectorate (1927-1952) was deemed necessary. The General Inspectorate program, driven by the understanding of a nation-state, aimed to disseminate and popularize the principles and reforms of the new state to regions that were problematic in terms of security. As part of the General Inspectorate program, significant architectural endeavors were undertaken, comprising standard building types such as community centers, government buildings, village institutes, barracks, hospitals, and schools. One of the building types included in the General Inspectorate program was the community centers, which were constructed in 1932. These community centers were built under the control of the General Secretariat of the Republican People's Party (CHP), which was the single-party ruling the state at the time. Unfortunately, many of these building, which hold an important place in the architectural history of the Republic of Turkey, have not survived to the present day and are not mentioned in the literature of architectural history. Although individual studies exist in master's and doctoral theses, it is observed that there is insufficient comprehensive assessment of the general architectural history, architectural styles, and detailed inventory of these structures. This article aims to shed light on the unknown aspects of that period through the example of the community centers, which are missing in the literature.
Among the General Inspectorates that existed during the history of the Republic of Turkey, the Vize People's House, constructed in Vize within the boundaries of the Thrace General Inspectorate/Second General Inspectorate, is a structure that reflects the perspective of architectural history found in the correspondences of the period. The documents in the Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives (BCA) and the instructions found in the open archive of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) were intended to introduce the Vize community centers as an example emphasizing this perspective.
Keywords: general inspector, Thrace, community centre, Vize, general inspectorate