E-ISSN: 1309-6915
Volume : 17 Issue : 2 Year : 2024
Quick Search



MEGARON / YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE E-JOURNAL - Megaron: 17 (2)
Volume: 17  Issue: 2 - 2022
1. Megaron 2022-2 Full Issue

Pages I - V

ARTICLE
2. Privacy, patterns, and factors in urban open spaces (Case study: Jannat Park in Shiraz City)
Hajar Asadpour, Mina Razmara, Ali Akbar Heidari, Malihe Taghipour
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.98965  Pages 195 - 208
As urban populations continue to increase, residents face a number of challenges including the need for spaces to spend their leisure time and satisfy the demand for social interaction and privacy. Privacy in urban environments means feeling comfortable in controlling the relationship with others without being disturbed. This research aims to examine the privacy patterns and environmental and human factors affecting it. The research method is quantitative and qualitative analyses and data is collected through field surveys. Moreover, behavioural mapping was also used for recording privacy patterns in urban spaces as a new method that has not been used before in the privacy field. The results showed privacy in two forms: individual and collective. Individual privacy, generally formed on benches and along main routes; and collective privacy for team games or particular sports areas as formal leisure. The human dimension, particularly age and gender, exerts the most prominent influence over individuals’ privacy. Considering the environmental dimensions, the possibility of contemplation in place had the highest effect on people’s privacy. The design strategies for some parameters that create social environments with desired privacy were mentioned at the end. There are some approaches to providing desirable privacy in urban open spaces, such as the circular arrangement of sits with a supporting angle of more than 45 degrees, using semiopen spaces in the park, installing lights in the green areas of the park to create security, and design pergolas with suitable furniture that can be personalised.

Cite this article as: Asadpour H, Razmara M, Heidari A, Taghipour M. Privacy, patterns, and factors in urban open spaces (Case study: Jannat Park in Shiraz City). Megaron 2022;17(2): 195–208.

3. Determination of the transition strategies to a sustainable and resilient city-region food system using the AHP-SWOT-TOWS methodology for Istanbul
Ebru Seçkin, Güzin Güliz Özdil
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.76259  Pages 209 - 220
Access to healthy food is a topic that has been largely discussed in the literature for about 20–30 years. In many studies, it has been emphasised that the connections between the urban and rural areas should be continuous and strong. The Covid-19 pandemic has shed light on the importance of the issue of feeding the cities and has also revealed the problems in the way the existing system functions. Based on this, the aim of this article is to understand how the food system of Istanbul was affected by the Covid-19 global epidemic and also discuss what should be done to create a resilient and sustainable food system in cities. Within the scope of this research, a strength, weakness, opportunity, threat (SWOT) analysis was conducted to determine the factors affecting the resilience of the food system in Istanbul. Then, the SWOT criteria were weighted using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. The weighted criteria were matched in a TOWS matrix, and strategies to increase the resilience of the food system in Istanbul against shocks and risks were developed. The analysis is based on interviews conducted with industry experts and actors. As a result, it is observed that the long supply chain is dominant in Istanbul and there is a need to strengthen the direct and spatial relations between the producer and consumer. Therefore, it is vital to address the food system while considering the spatial dimension, to strengthen the link between urban and rural areas, to increase the resilience of the food system against shocks as well as to ensure the accessibility of food products within shorter distances.

Cite this article as: Seçkin E, Özdil GG. Determination of the transition strategies to a sustainable and resilient city-region food system using the AHP-SWOT-TOWS methodology for Istanbul. Megaron 2022;17(2): 209–220.

4. Dynamics of population mobility in İstanbul metropolitan area
Fikret Zorlu, Ali Cenap Yoloğlu
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.87854  Pages 221 - 234
The aim of this study is to determine how physical expansion and urban redevelopment affect the population distribution and population mobility in the metropolitan area of Istanbul. In the study, the spatial change of the population at the district and neighbourhood level in the 2013–2017 period was examined. In the first stage, the population change, macro-form developments, housing production in the 2000–2017 period were examined and the magnitude of the spatial change was revealed. And in the second stage, the spatial distribution of population mobility in the city was examined. The study covers 39 districts in the metropolitan area of Istanbul. In order to determine the urban change, the built environment in the metropolitan area of 2000, 2007, 2012, and 2017 were compared and for this purpose, the CORINE database, Google, and Yandex maps were used. The population data of the same period were obtained from the general population census and address-based population registration system database for the neighbourhood and district levels. Population mobility between districts was obtained from the TurkStat intra- and inter-provincial migration database. In addition, one of the most important indicators explaining population mobility and spatial concentration in the metropolitan area is building occupancy permits on a district basis, and these data were obtained from the TURKSTAT Construction Statistics database. Some of the variables were obtained from previous studies on Istanbul. “Stratified regression analysis” was used in the study. When the net migration data of the districts of Istanbul received from both other provinces and other districts of Istanbul are evaluated; districts that receive immigration from both other provinces and other districts of Istanbul (Region-I) are Esenyurt, Sancaktepe, Arnavutköy, Tuzla, Çekmeköy, Beylikdüzü, Büyükçekmece, Silivri, Şile, Çatalca, Maltepe, and Başakşehir districts. The districts that give population to other provinces but receive immigration from other districts of Istanbul (Region-II) are Eyüpsultan, Kartal, and Pendik districts. Avcılar, Bağcılar, Bahçelievler, Bakırköy, Bayrampaşa, Beykoz, Beyoğlu, Esenler, Fatih, Gaziosmanpaşa, Güngören, Kadıköy, Kağıthane, Küçükçekmece, Sultangazi, Ümraniye and Zeytinburnu (Region-III) are the districts that give population to other provinces and Istanbul's other districts. Finally, districts that receive immigration from other provinces but immigrate to other districts of Istanbul (Region-IV) are Şişli, Beşiktaş, Üsküdar, Sarıyer, Ataşehir and Sultanbeyli districts. In the 2013–2017 period, 1.4 million people moved out to other addresses within Istanbul. The population movement is bidirectional, from centre to periphery and vice versa. Another dimension of the population mobility in Istanbul is the locational preferences of foreign nationals. According to the study conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Istanbul in 2018, 60% of the foreign nationals (refugees and migrants) in Istanbul live in the 3rd region. In other words, foreign nationals take the place of the locals, moving out of core areas to the fringes. The cost of rent, security concerns, transport systems, urban redevelopment, inclination to work in places with irregular economic activities, and desire to live close to the established migrant population are all elements that contribute to this preference. According to the results of the regression analysis, only the new housing permits determine the inward migration (R2=0.892). Outward migration is determined by the population of the district, quality of life and population density (R2=0.875). Physical thresholds in the metropolitan area of Istanbul prevent urban sprawl and this causes an intense urban development demand. This dense metropolitan development pattern is shaped by limitations such as inadequate public resource allocation for strong public transport infrastructure, and limited or high-cost land to develop new cities, topography, sea, or protected areas. It is observed that the urban area expands more slowly compared to the population growth, so the gross density has also increased. When the population change at the neighbourhood level after 2013 is examined, a significant decrease in the population in the central regions of the metropolitan area and significant population increases along the corridors in the periphery were detected. It has been determined that there is deconcentration and expansion in the metropolitan area, but there is very little change in the form of suburbanisation, decentralisation, sprawl and rural dispersal. Population mobility in a metropolitan area at this scale causes difficulties in estimating population distribution in urban planning. The estimation of the spatial distribution of the population is vital in transport planning, provision of public services, and infrastructure planning. The results obtained in this study can be used in long-term estimates of the spatial distribution of the population.

5. A neo-structuralist perspective on architectural theory of post-truth era: Re-constructing the architect–subject
Rabia Çiğdem Çavdar
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.99835  Pages 235 - 244
The fundamental aim of the article is to scrutinise the transformations and yet pseudodisappearance of architectural theory with an archi theoretical gaze. It is an attempt to reread/write the architectural theory of the 21st century in the shade of the claim that architectural theory was dead. It is obvious that not only in architecture but also in all social-life structures, free-floating meanings began to invade the totality; every concept that constitutes societal life was dislocated after the digital turn. Concepts began to be depicted with the prefix ‘post’; such as post-historical, post-humanist, post-political, post-ideological, post-theory, and even, ‘posttruth’. Under these circumstances, the main argument of the article is that architecture could be run as a ‘point de capitone’ -in Lacanian terminology-, between the subject -described as the sublime object of ideology by Zizek- and the ideology; the role of architecture is to work as a stabiliser on/between the liquid surfaces/grounds. In the context of the main argument, the article is structured on three conceptual domains, which are that ideology, subject and architecture. Architecture as a point de capitone has a significant role in the reconstitution of incommensurable dialectic in the ‘redoubling procedure’, which works for both recreating the lost otherness, and providing social antagonism.

Cite this article as: Çavdar RÇ. A neo-structuralist perspective on architectural theory of post-truth era: Re-constructing the architect–subject. Megaron 2022;17(2): 235–244.

6. Architectural drawing as a ‘kulturtechnik’
Melek Kılınç, Ahmet Tercan
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.72687  Pages 245 - 263
The problem of modern architectural representation points to the shift from the conventional architectural practice in the subject–object integrity to the modern architectural discipline depending on the subject–agent–object mediation, and architectural drawing as the fundamental technique of this shift. Defining architectural representation as a series of mediation, it is aimed to remove the aura that is curtained on the architectural drawing by mystifications made with reference to unknowns. Considering architectural representation as mediation, the medial turn that took place in the 1960s is influential. Expanding the medial turn to post-humanist references and opening up a wide variety of research areas with an interest in all kinds of non-human-centred mediations from human-centred media such as language and text, centralizes mediation as the inseparable and further productive ground of practical and theoretical activities. In this field, German Media Theory, with its kulturtechniken studies (in its posthumanist second phase after the 1990s), continues archaeological research without subjecting the subject–agent–object mediation to any historical and geographical limitations. With its orientation to the material and external conditions of the mediation of human–non-human agencies, it directs the architectural representation crisis which is based on polarisation based on subject–object distance such as theory-practice, image–object, intellectual–corporeal, to the analysis of practices of the sign. In this context, this text will be tracing the kulturtechnik qualities of architectural drawing in the literature of media and architecture. German Media Theory was constituted as a reaction to the hermeneutic and sociological tradition. It is a rebellion against the human-centred, anxious power media analysis of the German intellectuals under the influence of the Second World War on media, communication, and technology; the studies based on the effects of communication media on people with a more linear understanding of history; and hermeneutic researches that point to textual interpretation with the assumption that it is the human subject with a higher mental structure that gives meaning to the material environment. In this context, it is positioned in the expanded field of the media mapped depending on hermeneutic and sociological approaches. Siegert specifies five fundamental kulturtechnik qualities that each of them is dependent on the other. Reading these qualities in the context of architectural drawing can be made possible to understand the conditions of the mediation that take place in the field of architectural practice without privileging the human subject.

(iv) Architectural drawing is a kulturtechnik, mainly because it creates the distinction between intellectual and bodily activities in which it operates. It is a kulturtechnik that emphasises the unity of the separation it reveals and keeps both possibilities of being imagined and being built as potentially current in itself.
(ii) Architectural projection is a media-technical configuration and per se assumes a culture based on the interaction of human and non-human (plural cultures).
(i) The media-technical trace of the projective quality of the architectural drawing is evident in Alberti’s perspective formula. Its quality as a projection ground in modern processes is based on two framings, which he refers to as ‘window’ and ‘velum’. These are operational grounds of both a temporal and spatial imaginary world, giving way to a modern cultural-technical turn (operational chains).
(iii) While the guidelines of the projection space (grid) can signify the subjects in their absence by transforming them into objects, it also points to the ontological creation of the subject depending on the location, by evaluating this signification as a ‘deixis’ (in other words, by being a set of guidelines open to the subject's operationality). It is not only a suitable ground for the demands of planning, certainty, and control of ideal temporal and spatial tendencies, but also includes being open to possibilities, intervals, and conditions of the situation as deixis of temporal and spatial framing. It is a creative, performative framing.
(v) The beginning of modern architectural history is determined by the inclusion of architectural drawing in the field. This is at the same time, the turning point in which the grid (the guidelines of projection) becomes decisive in architectural practice. It is the history of realisations of deixis in mediations between virtuality–actuality, abstract–concrete, imaginary–real. It is the history of the architectural drawing whose codes are territorialised and deterritorialised on this ground, continuously.

7. Space as a source of alienation in the context of migration debates
Serhat Ulubay, Feride Önal
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.97957  Pages 264 - 273
Migration is one of the main agenda items of the time we live in. Migration mobility, which is defined as an act of displacement in its basic meaning corresponds to a process affecting many dynamics. It does not seem possible to make an overarching immigration definition due to the reasons for its emergence, the effect it creates on the social structure and the difference in its results. The phenomenon of immigration existing in the literature with definitions closer to its essential sense such as 'spatial mobility', 'act of displacement', 'transition from one place to another with the intention of settlement' does not contain the content of an absolute border crossing action. Crossing a border does not end the act of migration, but immigrants encounter ethnic, religious, social, class and many other thresholds and borders. For this reason, migration is not just an act of displacement. Immigrants migrate to places, cultures, social structures, life and many other aspects of new geographies. Social elements and spaces established with daily lives are one of the thresholds faced by the immigrant. Immigrants are stuck between the places in their geographies and the places and lifestyles in their new places where they came through immigration. This contrast manifests itself as soon as they step into a new geography and this situation transforms into an element of oppression for immigrants. The migration does not only correspond to the loss of physical spaces, but also to the dissipation of all social and daily life. For that reason, Arent, Heidegger and Blanchot define migrations of the current time period is independent of a physical displacement, alienation from the social and daily life acts to which one belongs and estrangement of the individual from his own essence. Alienation of one’s own self, identity and sociality, drags them into an everlasting migration. For this reason, Blanchot emphasises that immigration starts as soon as the immigrant gets used to the places where he/she migrates, not when he/she fails to get used to the places. It is worth remembering that the space cited here has abstract content as well as concrete construction activity. Space according to Lefebvre exists as a product of the cultural, social and historical acts of societies. For this reason, it is specific to a community. It incorporates not only a concreteness, but also the mentality containing the traces of communities. Space represents a critical threshold in debates about immigration. For immigrants, space is both the grounds for establishing a sense of belonging and preserving their own identity, as well as the source of alienation and mental migration. This contrast is discussed in the study through Derrida’s ‘'hospitality’' statement and the concepts of spatial memory and belonging. Immigrant according to Derrida, encounters a sovereign power defining itself as the owner of the place, in other words, the host, in the geography where he migrated. The host offers a place to the immigrant, whom he/she sees as a guest, and hosts him/her in his home. In fact, the landlord defines where, how and in what way he or she will live, together with the space and draws limits to him/her. That he/she presents his/her way of life to the immigrant as if it were a rule that he/she must abide by. This style of presentation is a kind of imposition, because it doesn’t contain any preference option in it: “I host you in my home. Welcome to my home, save to adhere my language, tradition, lifestyle, laws and rules”. This language of life that the immigrant does not recognise and is not familiar with, is an act of mental ‘violence’ perpetrated against him/her. This act of violence takes place through space. Although the immigrant loses his/her place by experiencing a physical migration, he/she brings all the acts of his social and daily life with him/her through his memory. These acts kept in the memory, stands out as the founding elements of the space in the new lands. Immigrants attempt to create their own spaces and lives through their memories instead of venues and lifestyles offered to them. For this reason, space is also the opposite of mental migration and alienation as the preservation of ego and identity. The space, in the migration actions that took place in the current time period, on one hand, is the main actor of eternal immigration and on the other hand protecting identity. The immigrant is stuck between the space offered to him/her and his/her actions and spatial memory in the new lands he/she has come from. The study aims to examine the situation of the immigrant, to question the source of alienation and (main) migration over this sense incorporated by the space.

8. Assessing adaptation strategies against flood risk in urban coastal areas through Izmir Karsiyaka coastline case
Çağla Ercanlı, Gökçeçiçek Savaşır
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.46666  Pages 274 - 291
Sea level rise and floods have an important majority among the environmental problems due to global warming and climate change in the 21st century. Floods are becoming a threat to the coastal areas where physical and socio-economic focal points are mostly concentrated that may be affected by this change and has a risk of being underwater. Any changes at sea-level rise are thought to have important consequences for coastal cities which are mostly preferred for living and as trade and tourism centres. In addition to the basic problems in coastal cities, such as an increase in population and urbanisation, the effects of climate change reinforce the pressure on cities, which has been resulting in the unbalance between city structure, structure nature, and city-structure-nature. It is important to develop adaptation strategies for the formation of well-balanced natural and built environments that are resistant to the rise in sea levels and related floods. This study is based on the fact that these balances can only be maintained with holistic adaptation strategies that can be developed for the flood risk that is predicted to be exposed in the future projections of urban coastal area, and focuses on the architectural scale effects of this global problem. The main argument of the study is that the sea level rise and floods will constitute a risk in the Aegean Sea due to climate change in the long-term and sudden effects such as storm surges in Izmir Gulf. This study aims to assess different dimensions of flood risk within the framework of possible adaptation strategies on an architectural scale through the Izmir, Karsıyaka case. The first step of the adaptation studies is the holistic balance of the characteristics of the urban coastal areas regarding different parameters such as morphological, spatial, functional and administrative. The study is a case study research which is one of the architectural research methods. It is based on the current situation analysis of urban coastal areas with the parameters of geographical/morphological, spatial/functional and administrative which are extracted from the theoretical research. The study focuses on the question that “What kind of adaptation strategies can be developed for the Karşıyaka coastline in terms of morphological, spatial, functional and administrative aspects?” Adaptation strategies for different coast-urban space-building area relations will be put forward in line with the current situation analysis data. Within the scope of the article, three different study areas were selected within the borders of Karşıyaka district and located in the northern part of the inner bay. Features such as different building typologies, building areas with different functions, important transportation arteries, focal points, different public use, green space density are taken into consideration in the determination of these study areas. Three study areas are; Karşıyaka Pier area which is an important focus point for ferry transportation and public space for the city of Izmir, Bostanlı Sunset View Terraces area which is the open public space with the most intensive use of the coastline and Mavişehir residential area where dense housing settlements are located in close relationship with the coast. As a result of the analyses made with different parameters, it is seen that each coastal area has its own morphological, spatial, functional and structural characteristics and these characteristics can create different threats and advantages. It is possible to say that there are no climate-focused design strategies for the reorganisation of the balance of relations between the coast-urban spaces-building areas against the flood risk and that some practices are insufficient in the current situation. Inadequacies in the planning stages in the local administrative structure and infrastructure services, neglecting the flood risk in the design of urban coastal areas and not considering the flood risk as a design criterion for the new buildings and lack of precautions regarding the existing structures are the main identified problems. The findings support the main argument in this study that the analyses in architecture scale have a significant role in determining effective and correct strategies against the present and future local circumstances regarding the flood risk. The results obtained in the study will allow the multi-parameter assessment of flood risk in urban coastal areas. The contribution of the study to the field is based on its potential to create a track in broader scope for assessing other coastal areas with similarities and differences in terms of threats and possibilities with the Izmir Karsıyaka example.

9. An analysis of architectural research in Turkey
Gizem Alataş Temel, Ruşen Yamaçlı
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.27790  Pages 292 - 312
Architectural research presents a discipline-specific practice, which is frequently examined by academics today. The distinction of architectural knowledge with its production and transmission requires architectural research to have unique tools, methods and forms of dissemination. This study developed on the question of whether the architectural research in Turkey is carried out with an awareness of this specific distinction. The aim of the study is to determine which dissemination tools and objectives of the architectural research carried out in Turkey, which collaborations are offered and which audience they appeal to. It is also aimed to reveal the contributions of different institutions and organisations doing research to the production, translation and dissemination of architectural knowledge. In order to set a reference, the history of architectural research, its formation and goals and approaches of research in different countries were examined. In order to determine the ways of information production, translation and dissemination methods targeted by researchers in Turkey during the architectural research process, the current architectural research agendas of RIBA, AIA, ACSA and EAAE were examined and a reference table was created concerning the research goals and approaches. As a result of the examination of the development process of architectural research in Turkey, four different researchers stand out as leaders of architectural research in our country; university research centres, architectural offices, workshops, research groups and doctoral researchers. University research activities, architectural offices, research groups and workshops are within the scope of research. The literature review is the main research method of this study. Information on the research objectives of university research centres was obtained from university websites. Since it is not possible to gather data from all architectural offices in Turkey regarding time and resources, nine architectural offices which have clearly defined their research objectives were selected as a focus group. All workshops and research groups that are currently active in the field of architecture and have clearly defined research goals are included in the scope of the review. All data on these researchers have been compiled from information published on their official websites. The defined objectives of those are grouped under titles of production of architectural knowledge, translation of obtained knowledge, and dissemination of knowledge. The research goals of each researcher were evaluated proportionally within their practice. For this evaluation, first of all, the main research targets and the number of actors that have adopted each target are determined and given as an input to the web program that will create the chord diagram, with a predefined fixed rule. The program outputs a diagram that defines the proportional weight of the target groups to each other, and similarly the proportional weight of the targets within the main target groups. These diagrams are discussed among themselves and the prominent goals and approaches for architectural research carried out by researchers. The reference table for goals and approaches is compiled from the current architectural research agendas of RIBA, AIA, ACSA and EAAE. University research centres, selected architectural offices, workshops and research groups were compared in terms of research goals, approaches and which researcher converged with which global research agenda. Accordingly, research conducted in architectural offices largely aligns with the RIBA agendas, which stand out with their practice-based research goals. Architectural research carried out in university research centres includes the approach of all four agendas. It has been observed that architectural research carried out by workshops and research groups mostly converge to the ACSA agenda, and they are the researchers that target social participation in the production, translation and dissemination processes of architectural knowledge the most. However, some deficiencies and problems were identified as a result of this comparison regarding the architectural research attempts in Turkey. These include global architectural research problems such as the lack of financial resources for architectural research and the lack of a common quality standard for evaluating architectural research; it also includes problems at the local level, such as the inability to provide an efficient and creative dialogue between policy-makers, practitioners and researchers, and the inability to ensure the continuity of research started at the university in practice. It is aimed that the findings and suggestions of this study regarding the current situation will contribute to the literature and architecture as a science by laying the groundwork for dialogues between researchers, policy-makers and practitioners and financial resources.

10. A typomorphological reading on the articulation of multifunctional semi-public/private spaces to the urban texture in Beyoğlu; arcades, passageways, dean ends, sites
Ayşe Derin Öncel
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.65390  Pages 313 - 340
The transformation of Beyoğlu which started in the mid-XIXth century as a part of modernisation process of the Ottoman Empire can be defined as a period in which different typologies on architectural and urbanistic scales are observed and consequently, during the same period, the very first examples of apartment buildings and arcades inspired by occidental references to appear in Ottoman architecture. This study mainly focuses on these arcades as well as passages, dead-ends and sites, which are still a part of the vitality of Beyoğlu with their semi-public and multifunctional aspects. It also analyses the motivations behind their construction, their incorporation into the existing urban tissue and their functions. The main aim of this study is to answer the absence of research on the integration of these buildings at the urban level. Moreover, this study targets to create a database on these samples that are considered specimens representing the passage from traditional Ottoman hans to Occident-inspired arcades. This database can be used in future studies that will deepen the study on the subject. Another point is to show the social and commercial potential created by the incorporation of these spaces, to encourage new projects of the same order. The present phase of the rapid transformation of the Beyoğlu brings a heavy sequence of restorations and demolishments, which results in many cases a partial or total loss of functionality of these constructions. This fact is another motivation for this study and adds a hint of emergent necessity. The methodology applied here is the “building typology-urban morphology” approach, which is based on a system of interdependence between architectural and urbanistic scales. Researchers who developed the typology-morphology approach analyse the logic that shapes a city on the basis of relations between the whole and its parts. According to that approach, different phases of typology research are the following; making an inventory of samples, generating clusters, comparing samples and regrouping similar specimens. In this survey that concentrates on arcades, passageways, dead-ends and sites, foremost a geographic parameter is defined and 23 buildings and/or buildings complexes that are constructed before the beginning of the XXth century, were elected. One of the most important findings of this survey is the motivation to build these arcades. Although the investors were targeting, exactly like their occidental pairs, to create more comfortable and attractive commercial spaces, isolated from the disadvantages of the streets and open-air areas, they were also financially speculating on the rarity of habitations in the same districts. As a result, these edifices propose more residential solutions than similar buildings in occidental cities. These buildings and sites belong to the individuals and this specificity separates them from the traditional Ottoman hans that belong to foundations. On the other hand, the way that they integrate the urban area imitates hans. Nevertheless, studied samples resemble the occidental ones in the way of the following points; making accessible the central part of the city block, creating public spaces in individual properties, creating its own distribution system and creating access between disconnected parts of the district. From the historical point of view, 9 out of 23 samples are identified in the cadastral plan of 1858 1860. The majority of them were built after an elaborate preparation and evaluation of the potential of each and every parcel, the definition of their existing cadastral situation, and the possibilities of creating easy and continuous pedestrian access. As a result, they were easily integrated into the urban environment. Relatively recent samples are usually individual buildings or arcades between two streets. Most of the time, they were constructed on empty parcels that had no prior arcades or dead ends. This information indicates a possible change of form in respect of integration to the urban tissue throughout the period examined. The form of the arcade of an individual building is closer to a defined geometrical form compared with earlier examples and the crossing of this type of passageway usually has the same defined geometrical form. Contrarily, earlier samples follow the existing urban tissue and try to find the easiest way to provide fluid pedestrian access within the limits of the urban environment. The intention of this study is to contribute to the existing technical literature which is solely focused on the architectural issues, by its original global approach that deals with the functionalities of arcades, passageways, dead-ends and sites and their incorporation into the existing urban environment.

11. External fire-escape stairs risk analysis: A case study in İstanbul
Erkan Avlar, Ezgi Korkmaz, Hüsniye Sueda Yıldırım
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.66743  Pages 341 - 356
External fire escape stairs are used in many countries. They are recognised as building elements that can minimise loss of life in case fire safety precautions are inactive or inadequate. However, external fire escape stairs pose more risk than fire exit stairs, and they have characteristics that pose hazards during access or usage in terms of fire safety. A pilot study conducted in 10 districts of Istanbul showed that the risks are high in external fire escape stairs in the city. According to the results of this study, the districts with the highest number of hazard sources on the external fire-escape stairs are Beyoğlu, Beşiktaş, and Şişli. The aim of this study is to reveal the risks related to fire safety and to prevent or reduce the harm that these risks may cause to users by reviewing the physical conditions of the fire escape stairs in the buildings in the three districts of Istanbul, where the number of hazard sources is the highest, in order to ensure that escape from the buildings in fires is both easy and fast and does not pose a danger to the safety of the user. In this context, using a model consisting of three stages a case study was carried out in the Şişli, Beşiktaş, and Beyoğlu districts of Istanbul. Data on hazard sources were collected in a total of 600 buildings, including 200 buildings with external fire-escape stairs in each of the three districts where the case study was conducted. The risks that may be experienced in the fire escape stairs in these districts were analysed, the results of the analysis were discussed and district-based risk maps were created. The number of hazard sources questioned in the pilot study was increased by new hazard sources identified in the research project. According to the results of the analysis study, a total of 3,580 hazard sources were determined in the interrogation conducted on 18 hazard sources. Among the three districts, the district with the highest risk value is Beyoğlu and the district with the lowest is Beşiktaş. In these districts, necessary actions are decided and recommendations are developed to control the risks and eliminate or reduce the effects of the hazard sources on the users.

Cite this article as: Avlar E, Korkmaz E, Yıldırım HS. External fire-escape stairs risk analysis: A case study in İstanbul. Megaron 2022;17(2): 341–356.

12. A comparative analysis of energy performance for external wall types in practice
Sevgül Limoncu, Seda Serbest Yenidünya
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.56492  Pages 357 - 370
Urban regeneration has accelerated after the establishment of the Law on Transformation of Areas Under Disaster Risk and has been carried out intensively. Building renewal, especially at a parcel scale, cannot deal with environmental problems on an urban scale and accordingly, the sustainability principles cannot be addressed holistically. Since building renewal at a parcel scale affects a large area throughout the city, it is required to include design criteria for environmental impacts. In this context, it is important to reduce heating and cooling energy consumption, which constitutes a large part of the total energy consumed in the use of buildings, and to take environmental measures. This study aims to analyse the energy performance of external walls in new buildings constructed after 2012 in the Suadiye Neighbourhood and to determine the most appropriate wall section. For this purpose, external walls were determined with a field study, and scenarios related to building orientation, the distance between buildings and external wall sections were created on a sample building. The scenarios were analysed with DesignBuilder simulation and TS825 calculation. The results for the scenarios were evaluated comparatively. The study differs from existing studies with its scope by dealing with both building renewal and energy efficiency and analysing the external wall types in different scenarios with DesignBuilder and TS825 for the temperate humid climate zone. As a result of the study, the most suitable wall sections for the scenarios were determined and suggestions were developed. The results of the study contribute to the country's economy by ensuring the efficient use of resources.

Cite this article as: Limoncu S, Serbest Yenidünya S. A comparative analysis of energy performance for external wall types in practice. Megaron 2022;17(2): 357–370.

13. Life at home with the pandemic design strategies of housing, for during and after the COVID-19
Derya Adıgüzel Özbek, Armağan Seçil Melikoğlu Eke
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.78642  Pages 371 - 388
People’s lives are changing rapidly with the Covid-19 outbreak, which was declared as a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization (WHO). Although almost two years have passed since the beginning of the pandemic, the process affects the economy, social relationships, education, spaces, working conditions; in short, the whole life, especially public health, and makes people question what is known as the truth in all disciplines. While lives fit into the home, houses are undergoing a multi-component change in parallel. It is foreseen that after the epidemic, different spatial realities and meanings imposed on houses will be demanded to meet different spatial needs, as well as to create a new atmosphere in the houses. The main purpose of the article is to discuss the possibilities of usage of the existing housing stock and the design strategies for new houses to be built at the end of the research process in which the changes and transformations in houses during the COVID-19 pandemic process are questioned. In this direction, the changes, demands, and expectations caused by the COVID-19 process in homes have been questioned with the research design in which qualitative and quantitative research techniques are used together in a dialectical structure. In the first step of the research design, the survey technique, which is a quantitative research method, was applied in line with the conceptual framework of the study, and then the data obtained in the first step were deepened with semi-structured interviews, which is a qualitative research technique. The results obtained from the research were analysed holistically, and the possibilities of using the existing housing stock and the design strategies for the new houses to be built were developed. The design strategies were developed within the scope of the Home + [COVID] workshops, which were organised at three different levels to allow discussion of different probabilities and possibilities. The workshops were held with the contribution of lecturers and professional partners, with the participation of architecture and interior architecture students in undergraduate and graduate courses on housing and space for different purposes. An informal dimension was brought into a course in formal education by integrating the workshop setup into it, while the theoretical knowledge obtained through research was transformed into design practice. Thus, a multi-layered process model from research to design has been developed. The research findings showed the changes in the houses during the COVID-19 process, the psycho-social and physical condition of the house, the hygiene measures added to the house during this process, the social life needs, remote working and distance education situations and their reflections on the space. The research showed that although the participants stated that they did not need the spatial arrangements they made due to the uncertainty of the pandemic’s processes, they felt the desire to continue and the need to act for the future in order to adapt to the situations that emerged due to the pandemic. In addition, the changing expectations of the participants on housing were achieved through the experience gained in this process. These findings were transformed into design proposals under four design strategies as, Space Intervention Styles, Multiple use scenarios, Hygiene systems and Internal-external Relationship Solutions, in three workshops organised at different levels. When we look at the focus of design strategies, it is understood that there is a need to expand the scope of user interventions at the level of furniture and decoration in the pre-pandemic housing. Users feel the need to intervene and control their houses systematically as a result of the radical transformations experienced in homes with COVID-19, increasing functions and usage patterns. There is a need for transformable and changeable systemic solutions that will enable the user to make the changes they need. In this context, design strategies have been developed to expand the scope of user interventions in residential spaces and furniture. With this study, which extends from research to design strategy, the research results are transformed into applicable design strategies for residential design and production. For professional practitioners focusing on housing design, the information revealed within the scope of the study is a guide. On the other hand, the effects of the COVID-19 virus continue, and the time cycle and its reflection on the home space are changing with different quarantine measures. In these ongoing processes, the need and importance of the design strategies developed within the scope of the study increases.

14. Risky play and adventure playground
Okşan Tandoğan
doi: 10.14744/megaron.2022.63496  Pages 389 - 408
Risk play, which is a form of children’s play, is generally defined as “a high level of physical activity” as well as “exciting forms of physical play that involve a risk of physical injury.” Risky play, which is primarily seen in outdoor environments such as playgrounds and natural areas, is a form of play that contributes to the overall development of children and helps them deal with challenges that can be encountered throughout their lives. Previous studies have highlighted that restricting children’s access to risky outdoor play opportunities for safety concerns can negatively affect children’s development. The type of playground that offers more risky play opportunities in a safe environment is adventure playground. Adventure playgrounds are commonly called “informal playgrounds” where children can play in a designated place under the supervision of playleaders, with an abundance of building and scrap materials, a set of tools and facilities, and materials necessary for feeding animals and outdoor cooking. The term “adventure” is used to describe a child’s play experiences in the sense that “adventure” is in the child's mind while playing. Playgrounds are generally classified into three types: traditional, contemporary, and adventure playgrounds. When all these playground types are compared, it becomes apparent that adventure playgrounds are more effective in enhancing children’s social, emotional, physical development, and creativity. The number of existing adventure playgrounds is lower than the number of other playgrounds. Adventure playgrounds do not yet exist in Turkey. The design of areas that support child development and respond to a child’s developmental needs is one of the important issues of planning, architecture and landscape architecture. However, there are no studies available on the risky game and adventure playgrounds in the existing literature. The fact that parents perceive urban settings as potentially dangerous places where children can be harmed and that the increasing parental concerns about child safety restrict children’s outdoor play in urban spaces, as well as influence children's participation in risky play and children’s choices of play spaces. A semi-structured interview was employed to determine the parents’ attitudes and opinions towards the risky play and adventure playground that provides a broad range of play opportunities. To this end, 12 parents who have children between the ages of 3 and 11 were interviewed. The results of the interviews conducted with the parents indicated that the parents did not have any idea about the concept of risky play and adventure playgrounds. However, all parents agreed on the lack of adventure playgrounds in Turkey and expressed their support for the adventure playground. Even if the parents do not let their children participate in risky play, they reported that they would gladly allow their children to play in the adventure playground since they found it safe. The most important reason for this is the presence of a play leader (s) on the playing field. In addition, during the interviews, some parents mentioned the similarities between adventure playgrounds and the play areas where they played as kids. For this reason, they stated that adventure playgrounds can replace play areas such as streets or empty lands where their children are currently deprived of. Further, during the interviews, parents reported their concerns about their children who used traditional play equipment in different and sometimes potentially dangerous ways. Thus, it can be implied that when the playgrounds are not exciting and interesting enough for children, they engage in risk-taking behaviours to challenge themselves. In view of the findings of the study, it is clear that parents support the concept of adventure playgrounds. Adventure playgrounds can be effective in boosting children’s socialisation, reconnecting with nature, especially in today's world in which access to the streets is restricted and open spaces are gradually decreasing, particularly in megacities. This study has limitations in that a certain generalisation cannot be made considering the number of interviewers. Yet, the results may provide insights into the parents' perspective on children's risky play and adventure playgrounds. It is hoped that the study presented here will attract the attention of non-governmental organisations and local governments to encourage studies on adventure playgrounds and remove the obstacles to the implementation of adventure playgrounds.