Ferenc Hillinger and Bruno Taut: Cebeci High School
Ferenc Hillinger (Franz Hillinger) was born on March 30, 1895, in Nagyvárad (Oradea, Romania). After studying architecture in Budapest, he continued his studies in Berlin. Between 1919 and 1922, as a student at the Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg in Berlin, he became a student and colleague of Bruno Taut (1880–1938). After Bruno Taut left Germany in 1933 and took on commissions first in Japan and later in Turkey, Hillinger followed him and, as a lecturer at the Istanbul University of Fine Arts (the predecessor of the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts), played a role in spreading the modernist spirit.
Hillinger taught at the Istanbul institution from 1937 to 1939; in addition, primarily as a collaborator of Taut, he participated in the design and construction of numerous architectural projects. Among their joint works in Ankara is the Cebeci High School (Ankara – Cebeci Ortaokulu, 1938). Following Taut’s death, many of his buildings that were under construction were completed under Hillinger’s supervision.
Hillinger taught in Istanbul until 1939, after which he worked primarily in Ankara. His role as an instructor in engineering and structural design is well illustrated by the fact that in 1941 he served as technical director of the Ankara School of Structural Engineering and Master Builders (Ankara Yapı ve Usta Okulu).
In 1948, Hillinger’s wife and children moved to the United States. He himself continued to work in Ankara between 1953 and 1956, overseeing the construction of the Grand National Assembly building complex (T.B.M.M. Bina Topluluğu, Ankara, Clemens Holzmeister, 1939–60). In addition to his teaching and practical work, he authored technical articles: he wrote a study on building structures titled “On the Method of Roof Construction,” which was published in the journal “Arkitekt” in 1941. At the same time, Turkish archival sources confirm that in 1942, 1949, and 1950, the Turkish Ministry of National Education commissioned Hillingert as an expert. In 1956, he joined his family in New York. He passed away there in 1973. His family continues to honor his memory to this day; his daughter, Edith Hillinger, is a successful visual artist living in New York.
