Atatürk Mask, Monumental sculpture in Buca district, İzmir, Turkey.
The Atatürk Mask is a relief sculpture in the Buca district of İzmir, displaying the face of the Turkish founder in concrete and rising 42 meters into the air. The sculpture presents his facial features in a large format visible from a distance, making it one of the tallest reliefs of its kind in Turkey.
Construction of the monument began in 2006 and took three years to finish. The work required an investment of 4.2 million Turkish lira to realize both the engineering and artistic execution.
The relief carries the phrase Peace at Home, Peace in the World carved into its lower section, a statement that summarizes Atatürk's political vision and remains visible to all who approach the monument. Below the words, his signature appears in concrete, a personal mark that connects the abstract form to the man it represents.
The sculpture stands on a slope that allows open views of its proportions and facial details. Mountain climbers are brought in to perform maintenance work on sections that cannot be reached with standard scaffolding or cranes.
The supporting structure relies on a steel space truss system that distributes weight across the entire relief. This framework allows the tenth largest relief sculpture in the world to stand without additional support columns.
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