Quick Facts
Biography
Vedat Ali Dalokay (November 10, 1927 – March 21, 1991) was a renowned Turkish architect and a former mayor of Ankara.
Early life
He was born in Elazığ, Turkey in 1927 to İbrahim Bey from Pertek. He completed his elementary and secondary education in the same city. Then he left for Istanbul for a university degree and graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of Istanbul Technical University in 1949. Later in 1952, he completed his post-graduate studies at the Institute of Urbanism and Urban Development of Sorbonne University in Paris, France.
Career
Along with numerous national award-winning projects in Turkey, Dalokay has been awarded internationally for the Islamic Development Bank (1981) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and perhaps his most famous project, the Faisal Mosque (1969) in Islamabad, Pakistan.
His design for the Kocatepe Mosque in the Turkish capital, Ankara was selected in the architectural competition but, as a result of controversial criticism, was not built. Later, a modified design was used as a basis for the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.
In 1973, he was elected the Mayor of Ankara from the CHP. Dalokay had served until the 1977 local elections, when another CHP member, Ali Dinçer was elected to replace him.
Death
Vedat Dalokay died in a traffic accident on March 21, 1991, in which his wife Ayça (age 44) and son Barış (age 17) were also killed.