A|Z ITU JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE

Spatial productions of a legendary holiday village: Club Med Foça

2022-12-29T18:28:43+03:00

At the time of its appearance on the outskirts of the infrastructurally underdeveloped and culturally conservative village of Foça in 1966, Club Med was already a widely known international holiday village chain, promoted as an antidote to civilization. The term legend was commonly attached to it at an international scale to refer both to its stunning localities and the atmosphere of abundance offered within its guarded boundaries. Arguably, a sense of Oriental exoticism was also a source of attraction to the Western patrons of Club Med Foça. However, the Club owes its legendary status to different reasons for the Turkish population at large and for Foça residents, some of whom were hired as employees. For the former the Club, which was publicized as a microcosm of Europe, offered a glimpse of a highly desirable, modern culture. For the latter, it was both an economic resource and an agent of significant socio-cultural transformation. Generating a small town bourgeoisie of sorts, Club Med introduced unprecedented forms of spaces, pleasures and desires to Foça. Engaging with archival research, spatial analysis, and oral histories, we explore the mutual production of spatial and cultural boundaries in the historical context of 1960s and 70s Foça vis-à-vis Club Med.

Competition-based digital design studio experience

2022-12-29T17:45:33+03:00

This study presents a competition-based digital design studio experience through the use of an updated structure for a graduate-level digital design and modeling course. In the Digital Architectural Design and Modelling (DADM) course, 24 students (in groups) were asked to design a playground for a location in Warsaw. This assignment was given in response to a competition brief organized by UNI.xyz. The course was restructured to function as a design studio and was organized to allow four integrated phases namely: analysis, design, modeling, and fabrication. A total of six student groups succeeded in participating in the competition (week 11). During the final submission (week 15), the students and jury members evaluated the completed projects according to 12 sub-criteria that were applied to the 4 main phases. The competition jury awarded various prizes to four of the projects developed during the semester. The course jury members observed that the biggest deficiencies occurred during the fabrication phase, the students regarded the design-related criteria as the major problem area. As the competition jury had no predefined evaluation criteria, they mostly drew attention to the projects’ conceptual, spatial, construction, and material issues. This study proposes a project-based framework that combines computer-aided architectural design as a methodology, distance education as a type of communication, playground design as an architectural program, and participation in international competition as a means of motivation.

Digitally enhancing interior architecture education: Case of online building surveying class

2023-01-09T20:43:20+03:00

Interior architecture has a key role in the sustainability agenda of the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, being directly related to adaptive reuse projects. As adaptive reuse projects rely on the analysis of the existing building and its environment, building surveying (BS) has significant importance for the profession. While the BS practice has significantly evolved through the use of new technology encompassing digital photogrammetry, BS education seems lagging behind. Despite the presence of promising computer-assisted learning prototypes for decades, these methods are far from being implemented broadly into the curriculum. However, this reluctance is challenged by the emergency situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for new digital teaching methods became apparent. This paper describes the development of a digital practice module for BS education for interior architecture students. In an experimental practice based on action research, interior architecture students are introduced to a digital surveying application. After a brief introduction by an expert, students are directed to research sources and third-party video tutorials. They are asked to collaborate in groups to solve how to use the software application themselves. Following the research period, students completed two sets of practices. Although the research period was kept short, the progress of the students’ performance between these two practices, and the results indicate interest in digital practices. The outcomes of the research are promising for implementing digital technologies into the interior architecture department’s BS course curriculum.

The emergence of Mediterraneanism discourse in modern Turkish architecture and the special position of Cengiz Bektaş

2023-01-18T13:09:10+03:00

This article focuses on the emergence of the discourse on Mediterraneanism in Turkish architecture of mid-20^th century in relation to the precedent discussions and works by European and American architects from the earlier decades. The former attempts of the modernist architects from Mediterranean countries in associating Mediterranean vernacular cultures with modernism and their basic motives are briefly discussed in the first part of the article to be able to portray the difference of the Turkish case. The emergence of the discourse of Mediterraneanism in mid-century Turkish architectural milieus is then discussed through some articles in the prominent journals of the period, underlining its relationship with the development of mass-tourism. Cengiz Bektaş is presented as a distinct and significant figure within this context who made extensive studies on Mediterranean vernacular cultures of Anatolia and had an original approach to the issue. Following the legacy of the Blue Anatolianists, Bektaş sees the Anatolian geography as a holistic cultural landscape and its vernacular architectures as the main sources of inspiration for contemporary architects, rather than pragmatic tools to fuel tourism industry. The article displays how his truly regionalist and contextualist approach to the Mediterranean differs from earlier and contemporary discourses in Türkiye and stays closer to early 20^th century precedents in Europe, through a reading of his original publications from the 1970s and later decades.

An analysis on hygrothermal behaviour of traditional timber framed brick infill exterior wall

2023-01-18T13:49:42+03:00

The goal of this study is to analyze hygrothermal performance of traditional timber framed brick infill exterior wall in Turkey to investigate the physical conditions of these buildings as an input for conservation/restoration/reconstruction projects. In order to investigate hygrothermal performance of the wall assembly, numerical and experimental studies were adopted. The numerical study was examined by DELPHIN simulation tool and guarded hot box is used for the experimental study. Based on the results of literature review; the system, and layers of external wall of traditional timber framed brick infill houses in Sivrihisar were examined. Then, the wall assembly were designed for case study. The evaluation is based on laboratory measurements that are used for comparison of the numerical modelling by analysis of temperature and U-value.

The results indicates that experimental study has crucial role for applicability of numerical modelling for hygrothermal performance evaluation. Notably, material variations create unexpected impacts on the wall layers. The simulated values have good agreements with measured values on the infill parts of the wall assembly. In contrast to that the differences between measured and simulated wooden parts of the wall assembly are needed to be examined. The intersection and interaction points of different materials are required to assess by experimental and numerical methods for further studies in detailed.

Re-thinking the surface design: How to prevent playground related extremity injuries in children

2023-01-13T21:40:06+03:00

Public playgrounds are specially designed spaces for children to play and develop; however, falls are significant causes of children’s injury and are one of the most common mechanisms of injury in emergency departments. The study aims to survey the playground-related mechanism and incidence of extremity injuries in children and rethink the falling surface as designable equipment.

The retrospective observational study enrolled 90 children who are injured in playgrounds and visited the emergency department in Istanbul between 2019 and 2020. Later, an observational study was conducted in public playgrounds within the neighborhood boundaries of the emergency department. The results show that the most common playground equipment related to the injury is slides and the most common surfacing material is rubber. The majority of total injuries were classified as upper extremity, and wrist fractures were the predominant injury type. The result of this study shows even with impact-absorbent surfacing such as rubber, fractures occur in children who fall from a certain height. To prevent these falls, rethinking the surface as designable equipment under high play equipment may help slow the fall.

Spatial factors contributing to worker time management at construction sites

2023-01-18T13:21:19+03:00

Construction delays often create cost and quality issues in time intensive urban projects. Even though, many researchers have attempted to find the factors that contribute to these delays, sufficient attention has not been paid to spatial factors and their contribution to the time management of construction workers. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the management of spatial factors that influence the time management of workers at construction sites. A multi-method qualitative research approach was used in the study. Semi-structured interviews and case studies were used for data collection. The empirical data collected from the interviews and case studies were analysed using manual content analysis. Spatial factors that contribute to the time management of workers at construction sites, the type of contribution they make, and the strategies that can be adopted to manage them were identified through a literature review and a set of interviews. The influence that the identified strategies exert on the time management of construction workers was determined through the interviews and the findings of the interviews were verified through the case studies. The study findings indicated the importance of introducing spatial factor management to the construction industry. Properly enforcing regulations, increasing the awareness about spatial factors, and conducting studies on spatial factor management will solve construction delays because they can increase the efficiency of construction workers. Studies that have been conducted on spatial factor management are scarce. This study can be used as a benchmark for in-depth research studies in the area.

Contradicting parochial realms in neighborhood parks: How the park attributes shape women’s park use

2023-02-13T22:55:52+03:00

Neighborhood parks are significant green public spaces located in close social and geographical proximity to homes to maintain individual and public health. However, some people do not use the nearest parks, but those with other socio-spatial attributes that make them feel more “familiar”. This study argues that with their facilities, amenities and design, and the surrounding land uses, neighborhood parks do not only accommodate, but also define, regulate, and originate social relations among users. Thus, the design and planning of urban public spaces play a role in the emergence and maintenance of supportive and conflictual relations that lead to familiarity. The study answers two research questions: How do the park attributes shape and mediate the interpersonal relations among the park users? How do gender differences influence the parochial realms in parks? Data was collected through field observations and in-depth interviews with 33 female users of two neighborhood parks in a populous district of Izmir (Turkey). Results state that women’s park visits were related to their gendered roles and responsibilities. Yet their responses point to challenges emerging from physical and social attributes of parks and park surroundings which lead to negotiations to protect their individual or group’s privacy (parochial realm) in neighborhood parks. Mainly, perceived threats to women’s parochial realm are men unaccompanied by child(ren), and exposure to the male gaze. The study highlights the importance of investigating these attributes of neighborhood parks for developing research and public policies to improve women’s presence and perceived safety in public settings.

An integrated framework for assessment of urban forms and their transformation

2023-03-06T20:36:39+03:00

This paper addresses an integrated framework on the basis of different urban morphological theories: histocico-geographical approach, space syntax, and the Morpho method. It includes eleven criteria focusing on the assessment of urban forms and their transformations. These criteria are the accessibility of streets, connectivity of streets, intelligibility, synergy, street block size, plot size, building coverage, floor area ratio, block-plan size based on the town-plan or ground plan; building height and total constructed area (density of buildings) based on building fabric. Sekiz Mahalle (Konya, Turkey) is used to validate the methodological procedures of this integrated framework. The implementation of the methodology enables a strong basis for how an urban area should be transformed, and what should be followed before any interventions in the urban landscape. It is argued that this methodology can provide a smoother transition of the physical form of cities. It can play a substantial role in the preparation of municipal plans and designs in which any change is needed, balancing the conservation and transformation of morphological constituents of the urban landscape.

Design guideline for life center unit for inclusive schools in Turkey

2023-02-08T13:20:38+03:00

Supportive educational services in inclusive education (IE) are important for providing equal education rights to students with special needs and ensuring their participation in society. In Turkey, life center units, which were not included in IE legislation, were first established as a supportive educational service of inclusive schools at the primary schools and furthered throughout the secondary settings. Universal design (UD), which supports the accessibility and usability of the built environment for all, is recommended to guide the design of the IE schools. Thus, the aim of the study is to develop UD-compliant interior design guidelines for life center units by using a two-stage methodology. First, the dimensions of IE and the related physical environments in Turkey were examined. Second, periodic visits to life center units of Ankara Gökkuşağı Primary School and SERÇEV Accessible Vocational Anatolian High School were conducted by on-site observations and architectural plan reviews. The obtained data were analysed to acquire the interior space requirements, revealing the necessity of the life center unit for IE in Turkey and the need for design guidelines. The study is expected to fill an important gap in the field of interior architecture in terms of proposing a design guideline for supportive educational services in IE school environment. Moreover, the study is expected to provide a design guideline, specifically for designers, practitioners, academicians, and relevant stakeholders.

The “configurational analysis” for the study of medieval mosques in al-Maghrib al-Aqṣà: The Qaṣba mosque of Marrakesh

2023-01-26T13:19:08+03:00

The present paper attempts to present an analytical method that is suitable, and of great interest, for the study of historical buildings that are still in use or those that do not permit the undertaking of a stratigraphic analysis of their walls. Despite having been conceived almost four decades ago, this method is now being consolidated with the establishment of a set of guidelines that should be considered for its application. Furthermore, this working model has been defined thanks to its experimentation in a specific case study, the Qaṣba mosque in Marrakesh, where it was possible to recognize the twelfth-century Almohad foundational configuration as well as some of its later transformations. Finally, as an example, the results of this study are presented in order to show the capacity of the method as well as to demonstrate the characteristics of this building, a masterpiece of medieval religious architecture in the Islamic West.

A proposal for an ideal life: Domestic architecture and social organization in Filarete’s Libro Architettonico

2023-02-23T16:25:49+03:00

During the Renaissance period, the search for an ideal life, ideal society and ideal individual became the core components of the humanist vision of antiquity. Italian Renaissance period architects pursued their search for the "ideal city", which was the clear representation of an ideal life, both in theoretical narratives and in architectural practice. Antonio di Pietro Averlino, known as Filarete (c.1400-69) created the ideal city “Sforzinda” dedicated to his long-term patron, the Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza (1401-66), in his treatise written between 1461-64.

Firstly, the study focuses on the ideal city concept manifested both in the theoretical and practical aspects highlighting Filarete’s Sforzinda and its main characteristics in the framework of Renaissance treatises. Filarete’s depiction of ideal architectural orders by their “quality” gives insight into his portrayal of domestic architecture. The study aims to point out analytically how Filarete aligns domestic architecture with the social stratification by qualità and decorum principles adapted by the Renaissance architects following the Vitruvian tradition: the architectural characteristics as well as the decoration of the houses that reflect the social rank of the owners and their role in the society in the context of the 15^th century Italy.

Inspired by Antiquity, Filarete’s approach to domestic architecture is thoroughly discussed while taking into consideration the reflection of contemporary Renaissance practices in his designs. The study will seek to re-read Filarete’s treatise through domestic architecture which has the potential to evaluate the social stratification of the Renaissance.

Precious time

2023-07-31T17:50:02+03:00