Esra Islamoglu

Adaptive reuse of the built heritage can often result in damage to heritage values both during the adaptation and reuse processes -in many cases it can bear on building performance and user satisfaction. Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is a well-known method of assessing building performance, and previous studies demonstrated the practicality of employing POE in reused heritage building assessment. Yet, POE’s contribution to heritage conservation has not been comprehensively explored. This paper presents the findings of an indicative POE of a hammam building adapted into a restaurant as a case study.

The case study building was evaluated through a series of walk-throughs, photographs, documentation, and a user survey. The POE has pointed to damage and authenticity loss in the building by reuse based on established conservation principles concerning intangible heritage values and cultural perception, resulting in a series of recommendations to prevent future deterioration and improve the performance of the building. A key observation is that data from the user survey do not coincide with the findings based on internationally acknowledged principles of conservation practice, which indicates that heritage awareness still has not been gained by the wider society. Hence, this study concludes that more research is required to examine the use of POEs in addressing heritage conservation issues and suggests a greater understanding of the role of POE surveys for a more valuable insight into user feedback. It also provides designers and decision-makers with matters to be taken in account regarding the preservation of authenticity when executing an adaptive reuse project for a heritage building.

Like in any Middle Eastern city, the public bath, or hammam, was a vital social institution in Ottoman cities for centuries. Hammams played a primary role in promoting hygiene and public health, but they also served as meeting places where people, especially women, could rest and socialize. Although hammams throughout the Middle East resembled each other in terms of their basic outlines, the articulation of the hammam's structure and its decoration were usually regionally specific. For instance, Ottoman hammams, even those from the early period, are distinguished by certain architectural features and technicalities. Seljuks and Ottomans often built the hammams as part of külliye's, a complex of buildings centered around a mosque, located in residential areas that united the vicinity and residents and served them with its various functional buildings such as schools (madrasahs), hospitals, public kitchens, shops, and fountains. Gaziantep, a city in southeastern Turkey and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, was mainly developed during the Ottoman period. Although historical hammams in Gaziantep were mainly built in the classical Ottoman style, they show significant differences due to the influence of its geographical location and mixed culture. Three of the city's many hammams were built as part of social complexes. This paper focuses on hammams in Gaziantep's külliyes and defines their architectural characteristics and original elements. The methodology adopted in this study includes fieldwork and desk research. Firstly, measured drawings of the hammams were produced. After, their architectural characteristics were analyzed. Plan typologies of buildings, façade characters, space usage, covering systems were studied in detail. Historical documents, oral sources, maps, registration slips, and photographs were also used. It is hoped that the findings of this paper will contribute to the identification and documentation of different characteristics of the hammams studied, and help to decide on possible conservation-restoration interventions in the future.

Onuncu yılını Mart 2021'de dolduran Suriye İç Savaşı, komşu ülkelere büyük bir mülteci akınına neden oldu. Güncel resmî rakamlar, kuzey komşu Türkiye'deki Suriyeli sığınmacı sayısının dört milyona yaklaştığını göstermektedir. Bu veri, Türkiye'nin dünyada en fazla sayıda mülteciye ev sahipliği yapan ülke olduğu anlamını taşır. Siyasî ve sosyoekonomik açılardan Türkiye, Suriye'deki insanî krizden en çok etkilenen ülkelerden biridir.
Türkiye'deki Suriyeli sığınmacıların yalnızca %1,4’ü kamplarda yaşamakta olup, ekseriyetle Suriye sınırındaki illere ve ülkenin büyük metropol alanlarına yerleşmişlerdir. Türk hükümetince misafir olarak nitelendirilen Suriyeli sığınmacılara ev sahipliği yapan önemli şehirlerden biri Gaziantep’tir. Halep'in kuzeyinde, Türkiye-Suriye sınırına bir saat mesafedeki bu metropol, yüzbinlerce insanın kendine mesken tuttuğu bir yer olarak sığınmacı krizinin ana merkezlerden birisidir. 2021 yılı itibarıyla kayıtlı 450.000'den fazla Suriyeli sığınmacıyı misafir etmekte olan Gaziantep, İstanbul’dan sonra Türkiye’de en fazla sayıda Suriyeli sığınmacı barındıran kenttir.
On yıldır devam eden Suriye İç Savaşı, sığınmacı olma durumunu “kalıcı bir geçicilik” hâline getirmiştir. Mekân meselesi bu bağlamda önemlidir, çünkü sığınmacıların hayata tutunabilmeleri ve devam edebilmeleri, mekânın edinimiyle mümkündür. Bu araştırmanın ana sorun alanı, Suriyeli sığınmacıların yaşam pratiklerinin tarihî çevrede geleneksel konutlar üzerine etkisinin incelenmesidir. Daha spesifik olarak, bu araştırma, sığınmacıların barınma ihtiyaçlarını karşıladıkları tarihî konutlar ve çevreleri üzerindeki müdahalelerine odaklanmakta, sığınmacı sorununu tarihî çevre koruma bağlamında irdelemekte ve olası koruma ve restorasyon çalışmalarının sürdürülebilirliği için sosyal ve kültürel sağlıklaştırma çabalarının birlikte yürütülmesi gereğine dikkat çekmektedir. Araştırmanın örneklem alanını, Gaziantep tarihî kent merkezinde bulunan Şekeroğlu Mahallesi ve yakın çevresi oluşturmaktadır. Bulgular, saha araştırması yöntemine dayalı olarak bölgede barınan sığınmacıların tarihsel değerlere müdahale biçimlerinin tespitine dayanmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, seçilen bölgeyi mesken tutan sığınmacılar tarafından yapılan fizikî müdahaleler ile özgün tarihî dokunun zarar görebildiği tespit edilmiştir. Bu müdahalelerin ileriki çalışmalarda irdelenebilecek ekonomik ve sosyokültürel değişkenlere bağlı olduğu düşünülmektedir.

By the end of 2016, the total number of forcibly displaced people worldwide reached 65 million, as opposed to 37 million a decade earlier. 21 million of them are refugees and nearly 5 million of them are Syrians who have fled the armed conflict that started six years ago. Syria’s northern neighbour Turkey has become the country hosting the highest number of refugees, with nearly three million.
One of the Turkish cities where the Syrian refugees, labelled as “guests” by the Turkish government, flock to is Kilis. The city, on the Turkey-Syria border north of Aleppo is at the epicentre of the Syrian refugee crisis, being the first arrival point for hundreds of thousands of people. After having received more than 130,000 Syrian refugees, Kilis is now the only city in Turkey where refugees outnumber locals and the sudden influx of refugees has changed the pattern of urban life in Kilis dramatically.
The ongoing conflicts since 2011 have brought the issue of refugees from a temporary situation to a "permanent temporariness" status. The question of space is important because it is by cause of space and its appropriation that refugees can survive and progress. The right to appropriate refers to the refugees’ right to make use of their urban space. 
In the context of this research, the living conditions of the “Syrian Guests” that have taken refuge in Kilis and the current profile of the city will be discussed. The focus will particularly be on the impact of the Syrian population on Kilis’s traditional city centre and urban conservation sites as well as the protection of these areas, and the negative impact of the Syrian Guests’ on the city’s identity, if any, will be addressed. As a result of this research, the observed results of the current situation are analysed and shared.

Keywords: refugees, identity, Syrian Guests, Kilis, Turkey.

This study aims to build a model for the management and institutional organization to conserve and improve the Yesemek archaeological site in Gaziantep-Turkey. Within the scope of the study, a model that is based on extensive participation and collaboration, that runs governance, socioeconomic, cultural, and financial programs in coordination, is being defined. This model is addressed in detail as a five-stage methodology. The first stage is the Cultural Heritage Governance Program that defines the participation groups intended for the common will in the process of planning, implementation, controlling, and monitoring of the preservation and improvement programs. The second one is the Spatial Conservation-Development Program, which defines the spatial planning program for the conservation and development of the Yesemek archaeological site's unique cultural heritage values. The third stage is the SocioEconomic Restoration Program, which presents the current life and socioeconomic implications of cultural heritage values. The fourth stage is the Informatics Program, which constitutes the cultural memory of Yesemek and will provide the introduction and promotion of cultural memory values existing or lost in the historical development process to future generations. The fifth one is an Economic Sourcing and Investment Incentive-Support Program that will provide alternatives for providing financial resources and support to policies and strategies for the sustainable protection and development of cultural heritage values. As a result of the research, a model of cultural heritage management consisting of governance, spatial, socioeconomic, cultural, and financial programs for sustainable protection and improvement with Yesemek archaeological site is defined.