Abstract
Towards the end of the nineteenth century in Ottoman Istanbul, the house, as a space where modern experiences gained visibility, underwent significant transformations and began to be seen as a new cultural field. Many topics related to the house, such as its maintenance, organization, hygiene conditions, physical and spatial conditions, the use of its spaces, child care and education, and the rules of etiquette to be followed at the house, were scientifically studied during this period. Numerous books were published that introduced scientific standards to these topics in the field of household management, which was offered to the general public and, from the mid-century onwards, was included in the curriculum of girls’ schools as a subject. These books were important sources for the period, containing discourses on innovation in housing culture and ideological imaginations about the production of the ideal house, and possessing significant potential in the context of the social production of space. Because these publications textualized knowledge and defined the ideal, they played a significant role in the transformation and reproduction of domestic space organization. This article aims to reveal the importance of these books and the roles they played during the period in question, as well as how modern experiences related to housing culture and the organization of domestic spaces were expressed in these books.