Turkey has undergone inadequate development during a process of rapid urbanization and growth since the 1950s, parallel to reduced construction costs for residential buildings. This has contributed to household energy consumption in Turkey growing to twice the global average, and twice the averages of European Union member states. In response, the Energy Efficiency Law and other energy performance regulations were enacted in 2007. As a part of “Assessing the Inventory for Renewable Energy Utilization in Existing Residential Buildings and Setting Up Local Design Parameters,” supported by the Yıldız Technical University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Department, İstanbul’s Beykoz District was chosen as the case area. Using solar energy for heating purposes is popular in Beykoz for a number of reasons, including the prevalence of mostly detached buildings and abundant green space, as well as less building density and fewer stories, compared to the city center. Four buildings were studied in order to identify improvements that would allow for a reduction in cooling and heating loads in existing residential buildings in the context of building envelopes. Research of the four existing residential buildings executes similar results. Results of the study of a multi-family residential building in the neighborhood of Kanlıca is presented. Determined by the calculation of cooling-heating loads and carbon emissions, improvements designed to efficiently utilize solar energy where the building envelope permits are identified. These improvements address window space, eaves, and characteristics, as well as exterior wall insulation thickness, draft prevention, shading, landscaping features, and control of solar energy. Average monthly and annual heating-cooling requirements were calculated using IESVE simulation software. The improvements yielded a 72% drop in annual heating energy consumption and a 24% drop in annual cooling energy consumption, resulting in an average drop of 62% in CO2 emissions.

The aim of the present study was to discuss an emerging trend in İstanbul housing –a trend of essentially copying urban identity and pasting it on housing– in an effort to test the reaction of potential users to these environments. The present study includes research regarding a possible divergence in opinion of these environments among laypeople and experts in the field of architecture. Sample sites selected were themed “San Marco Square, Venice” and “Bosphorus, İstanbul.” It was hypothesized that a difference in opinion would be present among groups regarding the description of and preferences for visual attributes of the sample sites. Twenty architects and 20 non-architects were asked to describe the selected buildings. A “Visual Evaluation Test” featuring images of the buildings was included in the questionnaire. Significant differences in opinion were present among the groups of respondents. Architects generally held a negative view of the sites, focusing primarily on design and context. Non-architects evaluated the visual attributes positively, focusing primarily on “function-units” and quality. They were uninterested in Venice or the Bosphorus as housing concepts, but were largely impressed by the newness of the sites, their social and recreational facilities, and their planned organization, features consumers are deprived of within the city center.

In an age of rapid urbanization, the question of how housing should respond to increasing, changing demands of cities has become crucial. The aim of the present study was to re-envision the role of the loft building in housing production in Turkey in terms of responding to those needs, and to discuss loft buildings within the context of an open building–embodying adaptability, variability, and flexibility. To do so, literature was reviewed, and six examples, three national and three international, were analyzed. Two interviews were conducted, one with a member of a design team, and one with a user of loft examples. The study demonstrates that loft buildings embody the fundamentals of the open building concept, with high ceilings and structural systems that provide interior space without division, but which diverge from the concept due to restrictions in their facades. It also suggests that lofts can play a remarkable role in future Turkish housing production due to these open building characteristics.

Located in eastern Anatolia, the Kemaliye district of Erzincan province and surrounding settlements are distinguished by unique architectural design. Due to urban migration, traditional houses in the region are not in use, leading to a gradual neglect of necessary maintenance. Climatic factors also cause varying degrees of structural damage. Flat roofs and facades of traditional houses are covered with sheet metal to prevent this damage. This method, applied with local knowledge and experience, has hidden the region’s unique architecture and caused visual pollution. However, it has also ensured the preservation of these houses. Another method, “the suspension of the load (emanete almak)” is used to repair or replace damaged structural elements. While ensuring the general preservation of the houses, these methods have architectural impacts. The preservation of traditional settlements and architectural heritage is critical, and it is expected that local practices are in accordance with universal principles of preservation. In an effort to investigate further, the structural organization of these traditional houses, damage sustained, and “sheet metal coating” and “suspension of the load” methods of preservation are evaluated.

Intelligibility is an extremely important feature of the studios and lecture halls of a faculty of architecture. The foundation of an education is based in these spaces, which are expected to accommodate various styles of study. For these spaces to be efficiently utilized, they must be well designed for acoustic comfort. Current conditions of acoustics in a studio and a lecture hall at the Faculty of Architecture of Dokuz Eylül University were evaluated by both subjective and objective methods in the present study. Subjective methods included a questionnaire, and objective methods included measurement and simulation of acoustics. Suggestions for improvement of acoustic quality were developed according to results.

Doubts linger regarding Antonio Sant’Elia’s authorship of the “Manifesto of Futurist Architecture,” which was published in 1914 with the signature of this best-known adherent of Futurism in architecture and had certain influence over avant-garde movements in Europe before World War I. These doubts concentrate on supposed discrepancies between the architect’s perspective drawings showing the city of the future and the manifesto’s message, fostering the conviction that Sant’Elia should not be regarded as a Futurist. Statements later added to the manifesto proposing the use of oblique and elliptic architectural lines are used as evidence to support the incongruity of the drawings with Futurism’s search for dynamism. Because Marinetti and Boccioni placed the human body, particularly the male body, at the center of their search for artistic expression based on psycho-physical effects of the material environment and refused to acknowledge the effects of the unconscious, perspective is a very important element of Futurism, as it can engage the subject in the object and vice versa. Therefore, axonometric projection, which generally serves objective approaches, is not appropriate for Futurism, as it deprives the subject of the sensation of physical engagement with dynamism. However, in Sant’Elia’s perspective drawings, which are usually set at an oblique angle and seen from a low level, the foreshortening of the horizontal lines and almost constant use of erect vertical lines create a sensation of both horizontal and perpendicular dynamic movement. In these architectural creations, dynamism stems from psycho-physical effects of phenomenal movement, which imitate subjective visual perception as much as, if not more than, the “real” oblique or elliptic lines of the buildings depicted.

Since its beginnings, after caves were covered with paintings that were the extension of the mind, architecture has always been a scaled representation of the perceived and experienced earth world and universe. The aim of the present study was to determine parallel developments between imaging technologies that have made the living inner worlds in medicine seen just like the eye’s extension television glasses which made it possible to watch the conquest of the Moon live and their natural extension, visual culture and the architecture, which have been made visible to distant geographies by the same technological developments. Buildings such as the TWA Flight Center, the Space Needle, Centre Georges Pompidou, AT&T, and 1111 Lincoln Road were investigated through purposive sampling in the present study. The starting point was 1962, when relevant imaging technologies came to the fore. The aforementioned buildings, along with the Tours Aillaud and Les Espaces d’Abraxas, all reflecting different architectural styles from Expressionism, International Style and Brutalism towards Postmodernism came to the fore. And, via the relevant mass media archeological site’s finding context, the stratification processes of the shift from alphabet culture towards the image culture, which is synchronously transforming the architecture, thanks to the imaging technologies, are to be fixed.

Every contemporary city is divided to a certain extent. The present study is concerned with urban division defined by extreme tensions related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, and culture, which are channelled into urban arenas. Once these contestations are made spatially visible, the “divided city” with which this study is concerned appears. Well-known examples of such “divided” cities are Belfast, Jerusalem, Nicosia, Mostar, Beirut, and Berlin. Due to distinctive attributes, these cities contain an exclusive discourse that differentiates them from other urban areas. In this context, the aim of the present study was to comparatively analyze urban consequences of division in selected case studies: Belfast and Berlin. As each city has unique attributes of geography, history, and economic development, the processes and outcomes of their division differ substantially. This investigation of the consequences of urban division in a temporal perspective presents patterns of urban development before, during, and after division in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of spatial dramas faced by these cities. Comparative analysis revealed a common pattern of functional and structural urban consequences, in spite of differences. It is suggested that an illustration of common patterns of development can facilitate an early recognition and management of division. It is believed that the findings of the present study will aid future studies that aim to understand the patterning of urban division and generate planning models to tackle problems faced by divided cities.

Planning discourses have focused on relational and institutional structure, as well as changing economic and social paradigms. This has led to alterations in various stages of planning systems, from theoretical approaches to institutional arrangements, spatial scales, local sources, and power relations and fragmentations, and from planning-implementation processes to political and public interests. Over the last two decades, there has been growing academic and political interest in the evolution of planning from the aforementioned perspectives in Turkey. The aim of the present study was to explore whether relational and institutional approaches are the key reasons for the success of planning approaches in upper-scale planning enterprises. It is demonstrated that insurmountable obstacles that provide reference for institutional and relational dimensions of planning are some of the most important matters impacting planning in Turkey. These obstacles include uncertain spatial scales, fragmentations of authority and territory, and incomplete institutional and legal regulation at regional and national levels, among other issues.

When historical development and identity of settlements is analyzed functionally, two very different formations stand out. One concerns man-made elements and their functions, which have been developed and enriched over time, and are present in every settlement. The second concerns elements particular to a settlement that determine its role, history, and identity, and dictate its functions. The present study addresses water as the reason for the existence of certain settlements. The region of Cappadocia is located on the banks of Kızılırmak River, or “Red River,” which is the longest river in the second largest basin in Turkey. While the Kızılırmak has played an active role in both the physical formation and cultural structure of the region, it has had a greater effect on the identity, development, and economic structure of the settlement of Avanos, located on the river’s banks. Here, the “water element” includes not only the Red River, but all water resources, such as streams that feed the river and ground water. The relationship with water and its effects on the historical process and identity of Avanos is discussed, with an emphasis on the tourism economy and planning issues of the region.

The impact of economic policy and industrialization has led to considerable urban migration, with negative effects on rural and urban settlements. The consequences of this migration have been felt in Turkey, particularly since the mid-1970s. Unplanned large-scale migration has caused the population of cities to approach 80% of the total population, negatively affecting the economies of rural settlements, as well as agricultural production. Villagers experiencing financial difficulty construct homes at minimum requirements, with inadequate material and structural detail. The rural houses built with earthquakes. Statistical data indicate that the rural population living in areas surrounding Van constitutes 50% of the total population of the province, in spite of large-scale migration and negative effects of the 2011 Van earthquake. Taking this data into consideration, the present study elected to address these rural settlements, and a pilot region was chosen. Two surveys – social and structural – were conducted in the region, and their results led to critical analyses. Shedding light on the settlements’ infrastructures and problems experienced by their population, theses analyses also provided comprehensive information concerning the village houses and their structures in the settlements.

This study aimed to detect the knowledge levels of the final year students, attending at the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design of various universities in Turkey, on the harmful effects of the pollutants released by the interior equipment elements on human health. A detailed questionnaire developed for this purpose was administered to 95 final year students attending at the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design of Atılım University, Hacettepe University and Selçuk University. In conclusion, the study found that the participants had insufficient knowledge on the pollutants released by the interior equipment elements and that knowledge level of the participant students differed depending on the attended university. This difference may have resulted from the difference of the share of indoor air pollutants subject in the programs of the three selected universities. These results clearly point the need to allocate more space to the subject of indoor air pollutants -which have direct effects on human health- in the compulsory lesson contents of the course programs. By this way, it will be possible to educate interior architects and environmental designers who develop more sensitive and conscious approach towards human health.