CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
IN ARCHITECTURE AND
URBAN PLANNING
ARCHITECTURE AND EXPLORATION
EDITED BY
YILDIZ AKSOY
EFE DUYAN
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN
ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN
PLANNING
ARCHITECHTURE AND EXPLORATION
FALL 2022
EDITED BY
YILDIZ AKSOY
EFE DUYAN
DAKAM BOOKS
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CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING: ARCHITECTURE AND
EXPLORATION
ISBN: 978-625-7034-29-6
Editors: Yıldız Aksoy, Efe Duyan
DAKAM BOOKS - Özgür Öztürk DAKAM YAYINLARI
DECEMBER 2022, İstanbul.
www.dakam.org
Firuzağa Mah. Boğazkesen Cad., No:76/8, 34425, Beyoğlu, İstanbul.
Cover Design: D/GD (DAKAM Graphic Design)
Print: Metin Copy Plus, Mollafenari Mah., Türkocağı Cad. 3/1, Mahmutpaşa/Istanbul, Turkey.
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CONTENTS
THE VALUES OF REPUBLIC PERIOD BUILDINGS - ISTANBUL
BAKIRKOY ISBANK HOUSES
YILDIZ AKSOY.......................................................................................................................... 5
AN EVALUATION OF THE PHENOMENOLOGY LITERATURE AND ITS
APPLICATION IN ARCHITECTURE
SABA MATIN AYGÖREN ......................................................................................................10
TRENDS OF RESEARCH ON INTERIORS: A BIBLIOMETRIC
ANALYSIS OF THE INTERIORS: DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE,
CULTURE JOURNAL
DİLEK YASAR .........................................................................................................................18
NEW MEDIA’S RESPONSE TO THE ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY OF
21ST CENTURY: ARCHDAILY CASE
IŞIL ESEN, PINAR DİNÇ KALAYCI .....................................................................................29
NEW WILDERNESS. THE REGENERATIVE ARCHITECTURE OF
URBAN-INDUSTRIAL NATURE
LUCA ZECCHIN .......................................................................................................................46
THE NEW CONCEPT OF HOME OFFICE STRUCTURES, AS A PART OF
CONTEMPORARY MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING DESIGN AT THE
TIME OF PANDEMIC. CASE STUDY OF CITY OF POZNAN,
POLAND
JAKUB KACZMAREK, ADAM NADOLNY .........................................................................60
ASSESSING WOMEN'S SATISFACTION, SAFETY, AND USE IN URBAN
PARKS: A CASE STUDY OF GENÇLIK PARK
DİDEM DİZDAROĞLU ..........................................................................................................72
THE FAILURE ANALYSIS IN DESIGN OF THE HOUSING PROJECT IN
ISTANBUL ACCORDING TO THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
AND TURKISH CODES
SERKAN YATAĞAN ...............................................................................................................89
MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RAPID CHANGING
HOUSING SETTLEMENTS, THE CASE OF QAFFIN TOWN IN
PALESTINE
ZAHRAA ZAWAWI, MOHAMMAD ITMA, AMNA DEHELIA ........................................98
GENDER EQUALITY :MENTAL AGONY AND KHULA PRACTICE IN
PAKISTAN
MEHREEN QAISAR ............................................................................................................ 107
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THE VALUES OF REPUBLIC PERIOD BUILDINGS ISTANBUL BAKIRKOY ISBANK HOUSES
YILDIZ AKSOY1
ABSTRACT
Isbank houses are an architectural heritage that should be preserved with its unique design approach,
as it contains the characteristics of the period in which it was designed, is an important example in the
emergence and development of the housing culture in Turkey with its cooperative structuring. It also
provides information about the housing policy of the period in which it was built. Isbank Houses carry
the characteristics of a document, as they bear a way traces of the period in which they were built. Thus,
it shows that it has exemplary protection features in terms of both its structures, environmental values
and natural plant character, urban space and open space values, as it will be a document about 20th
century housing structures for future generations. Isbank Houses, was designed by architects Ayhan
Böke and Lemi Varnalı, are a very important example in terms of reading the recent history of
Architecture and should be preserved. The strong identity and imaginability created by the settlement
enable users to adopt and own the settlement.
Keywords: Architectural heritage, identity, urban memory, landscape character
Assoc. Prof. Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Urban and Regional
Planning Department
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INTRODUCTION
Today, housing has lost its feature of being designed as a housing product focused on human needs and
has turned into a real estate tool that can be bought and sold within the economic system. As a result of
urban and housing policies throughout Turkey, housing has lost its former value.
Isbank Houses, which are the subject of the research, are located in Bakırköy. As the majority of the
residential buildings built in the Republican period in Bakırköy District were developed in a feasibilitybased understanding, ignoring the urban memory and values as a result of the application examples that
emerged with the zoning decisions, the Republican period buildings were demolished and mixed new
structures were created by including them in commercial uses.
Bakırköy Isbank Houses is an important place in the green area system of Bakırköy, within its cultural
asset potential which is located between İncirli Street and Yüce Tarla Street and its surroundings,
between Bakırköy Mental Hospital.
It is an important example in the history of Turkish Architecture that should be protected with its
architectural features and plant species that need to be preserved in its garden, and settlement planning
where open spaces have a value of close to 70% within the mass-space balance.
When we look at the situation of twentieth century buildings in the world, it is seen that most of the
large-scale public structures specific to the period such as education, health and administration are used
and preserved with their original functions. However, the situation is different for residential buildings
that give character to the period. Twentieth century housing structures are structures with high
historical value because they contain many historical information such as the ways of meeting the
housing need that developed as a result of the social mobility of the period, changes in the family
structure, newly developed housing areas and neighborhood life (Özkaban, 2014).
Due to the fact that the examples built after 1950 have not been studied both in architectural
historiography and in the discipline of conservation, this research focuses on Bakırköy Isbank Houses,
which were built between 1964 and 1967.
EVALUATION OF IŞBANK HOUSES AS ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
It is necessary to focus on residential buildings in order to understand the modernization in zoning and
construction activities after 1950. As in all modern societies, in this period, housing, as a dominant
construction activity, becomes the main element that guides the modernization process (Bilgin, 1998).
The rapid urbanization process was experienced in the country between 1950 and 1980, and housing
production revealed different forms of presentation and formation such as cooperative houses that
would meet the needs of different social classes.
Although the first years of the republic were more stagnant than the 1950s in terms of urbanization, they
are important in terms of establishing the first housing policies and establishing the first housing
cooperative. First of all, Emlak ve Eytam Bank was established in 1926 in order to find a solution to the
housing problem of the newly established capital Ankara, and it was aimed to provide housing loans to
civil officers. However, in the face of the shortage of housing and the rise in rents despite all the measures
taken by the state, Bahçelievler Building Cooperative was established in Ankara in 1935 and constituted
the first example of housing cooperatives (Sey, 1998).
The efforts to provide housing for state officers came to the fore in the 1940s-1950s. Especially in the
face of the increase in the demand for housing in the cities and the limited housing production with
individual production, cooperatives have been tried to be established with the help of the public, and
housing cooperatives have started to take place in the legal regulations. The change in the economic
stagnation experienced during the war with the end of the war caused the development initiatives
supported by the statist policy to be replaced by liberal economy discourses and the housing production
to be left to free market mechanisms.
In this sense, Türkiye Emlak Bank was established, housing construction for state employees was
supported and housing loans were started to be given through SSK, which was established in 1945.
However, at the beginning of the housing cooperatives, it included state officers who were in the upper
income group and had regular income. Over time, the state emphasized the establishment of housing
cooperatives in Anatolia among low-income groups such as workers (Doğru, 2020).
Bakırköy Isbank Houses, which constitute the subject of the research, were also built with the formation
of Isbank Officers Building Cooperative.
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Modern period residences include many new approaches and experiences in terms of architecture, art
and technique, with their architectural language diversity, holistic design understanding, spatial pursuits,
innovations in the construction system and material usage. “Identity value”, which is one of the important
values, is a value that emerges depending on the physical and cultural environment in which the heritage
product is located. It is possible to explain this value with the role of the heritage in the political, social
and cultural history of the settlement in which it is located. In the definitions made for the identity value,
expressions are used that are "important for the society due to some of its features" and "give an identity
to the city because it is a product specific to the city" (TMMOB Chamber of Architects Committee for the
Protection and Development of Cultural Heritage, 2010).
When we evaluate that the Bakırköy Isbank Houses in terms of urban or individual memories and city
memories, it is an important residential area that gives Bakırköy an identity. Isbank Houses can also be
considered as spaces that create the urban identity as the representative of the modern architectural
movement due to the continuity of urban memory. Isbank Houses are buildings with a high continuity
value since Isbank Houses are still in use as twentieth century buildings.
When the modern architectural heritage is evaluated especially in residential buildings; especially in our
country, due to the disappearance of many modern housing areas under the pressure of intense
urbanization, it is not possible to come across housing examples with group and texture values, except
for a small number of mass housing / lodging applications (Omay Polat, 2008)
Isbank Houses come to the fore with the value of being the first in terms of building types and building
technology built after modernization.
The definition of cultural assets is made in the 3rd matter of the law numbered 2863 on the protection
of cultural and natural assets, amended by the law numbered 5226. Based on this definition, when we
approach the subject in terms of time dimension, there is a definition determined as "prehistoric and
historical periods" in the relevant law. There are no restrictions on the historical process here (Madran,
2006).
Isbank houses were built between 1964 and 1967 as a product of modern architecture, and there are no
restrictions on gaining protection status in terms of temporal dimension.
When we evaluate in terms of quality, it is matter 3 of the relevant law that shows the definitions
section. The qualitative criteria that will be required for the status of the building to be protected are
divided into 3 groups in matter 3. It is said that the dwelling should be related to science, culture, religion
and fine arts (Madran, 2006). Isbank houses, like other 20th century buildings, are associated with
science and art.
According to the 2nd criterion discussed in matter 3, it is the criterion of being a subject of social life in
prehistoric or historical periods. According to this second criterion, the functionality of the building is
emphasized (Madran, 2006).
There must be a functional reason for the creation of every work, and Isbank houses are very important
living proof that modernist housing structures can be produced even on a small scale, even in the period
they are in.
In the 3rd criterion put forward by the 3rd matter, it is the issue that the work must have a scientific and
cultural original value (Madran, 2006).
Isbank Houses are not just a building design, they are settlement planning and design. The size of the
open and green areas is an important place in terms of mass void balance, occupying more than 60
percent of the entire floor area. The open green areas it owns both create social activity areas in the
settlement and have an important role in meeting the physical, physiological and psycho-social needs of
all users.
The COVID -19 we have experienced in recent years has shown us how much we need open green spaces.
Since all the gardens in the blocks in Isbank houses are designed in such a way that every user can benefit
equally, the users of Isbank houses have easily passed the COVID -19 process. For this reason, it is
seriously necessary to reconsider open green spaces while preparing urban transformation projects.
The years when the Modern movement was active all over the world correspond to the early periods of
the Republic of Turkey. In Turkey at that time, modern architecture was built using more traditional,
smaller spans and often pitched, tiled roofs, due to the poverty and constraints of the construction
industry (Bulut, 2005).
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However, since Isbank Houses were one of the examples of modern architecture of that period, terrace
roofs were built in their architectural design and these terrace roofs became one of the main
characteristic elements of the buildings.
The landscape design of Isbank houses has a unique feature. There are many coniferous and broadleaved trees, shrubs in the garden, which is arranged quite simply. Even if there is a single monumental
tree in the open green areas of Isbank Houses, it will be one of the rarest examples of the natural heritage
to be preserved (Photo 1)
Photo 1. Cedrus atlantica
The plant species present in the large gardens at the front, middle, back and sides of Işbank Houses both
complement the green texture of Bakırköy District and create eye-catching silhouettes of the natural
landscape. At the same time, it gives Isbank Houses a unique identity and privilege with the memories
they have from the past to the present.
CONCLUSION AND EVALUATION
Republican period buildings constitute our cultural heritage and should be taken under protection. The
users of the Republican period buildings are often not even aware of the architectural features of their
properties.
Isbank Houses, which we consider as the structures of the 20th century, are an important area that should
maintain its current status as a document and as a part of the urban identity, without being destroyed,
as it is an example of the period. Today, since the buildings considered within the scope of urban
transformation are evaluated on an economic basis, they often turn into projects that end with the benefit
analysis of demolishing instead of protecting them. The same way of thinking has been included in the
restructuring agenda of Isbank Houses and creates a great risk. The environmental values and natural
plant character of Isbank Houses, urban spaces and open spaces have the potential to be sample
protection features.
For this reason, the risk that arises in the construction process is carried out with a feasibility-based
understanding, ignoring the urban memory, environmental values and natural plant character, urban
space and open space values.
In the case of Isbank Houses, “protection of cultural heritage” should be at the forefront so that an
assessment made in financial terms loses its validity. Because, like the heritages of all periods, the
protection of modern architectural heritage is very important because it carries values far beyond
economic value.
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When we look at the proposed urban transformation projects for Isbank Houses (figure 1), they are
projects that will radically eliminate both the architectural value of Isbank Houses, their natural plant
character and the value of urban spaces and open spaces.
Figure 1. Urban Transformation Project proposed by KİPTAŞ
As a result, urban transformation projects should not be carried out by destroying the memory of the
city, eliminating plant species, and eliminating the value of open green space.
REFERENCES
Özkaban, F. F. (2014) Modern Mimarlık Mirasının Korunması Sorunsalı: İzmir Konut Mimarlığı Örneği,
Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, İzmir.
Bilgin, İ. (1998) Modernleşmenin ve Toplumsal Hareketliliğin Yörüngesinde Cumhuriyet'in Imarı.
https://v3.arkitera.com/v1/diyalog/ihsanbilgin/cumhuriyet1.htm
Bulut, Ü. (2005) Teras Çatılar Üzerine Mimari Bir Değerlendirme, Yalıtım Dergisi, Sayı 53.
Doğru, H. B. (2020) Cumhuriyet Dönemi Konut Mimarisinde İdeal Bir Mekân (Okuması) Örneği: Yapı
Kooperatifleri, Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi 13 (71), 359-366.
Madran, E. (2006) Modern Mimarlık Ürünlerinin Belgelenmesi ve Korunması Süreci için Bazı Notlar,
MİMARLIK 332.
http://www.mimarlikdergisi.com/index.cfm?sayfa=mimarlik&DergiSayi=50&RecID=1207#
Omay Polat, E. (2008) Türkiye’nin Modern Mimarlık Mirasının Korunması: Kuram Ve Yöntem
Bağlamında Bir Değerlendirme, Doktora Tezi, Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi, İstanbul.
Sey, Y (1998) Cumhuriyet Döneminde Konut, 75 Yılda Değişen Kent ve Mimarlık. İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı
Yayınları.
TMMOB TMMOB Chamber of Architects Committee for the Protection and Development of Cultural
Heritage, (2010). Kültür ve Tabiat Varlıklarını Koruma Yüksek Kurulu’na götürülecek olan yeni ilke karar
taslakları. Ön Rapor.
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AN EVALUATION OF THE PHENOMENOLOGY
LITERATURE AND ITS APPLICATION IN
ARCHITECTURE
SABA MATIN AYGÖREN1
ABSTRACT
One of the most influential research foundations in contemporary architectural theoretical debates is
phenomenology, which tries to review the concept of place and physical perception by considering the
place of human biological experience and reviving hidden meanings in artificial spaces. Phenomenology
in architecture concerns the quality and form of human experience, the relationship between the physical
subject and the surrounding space, and the ability to receive environmental data. Understanding the
experience of being somewhere as a presence can objectively or subjectively change the architect's view.
It can also improve the architect's relationship with the users of the built environment. In contemporary
architecture, spaces have undergone radical changes, and the qualities that traditionally characterized
human settlements have either been destroyed, degraded, or irreparably removed. The modern
environment has rarely given rise to the sense of wonder and exploration that is the charm of the old city
experience. This situation highlights the spatial experience's character and sometimes the place's spirit.
The strength of phenomenology is that creating a place makes the environment meaningful because, in
architecture, meaning is based on the ability to symbolize human existence or presence and the spatial
experience of the work. Science abstracts from facts to arrive at unbiased and objective knowledge;
therefore, if spaces are indeed a fundamental aspect of human existence in the world and if they are a
source of trust, comfort, and identity for individuals and groups of people, then it is essential not to
overlook how we experience, do, and maintain space.
Considering the inability of human beings to understand the biological space experience, paying
attention to the objectification of existential space through the construction of spaces is considered one
of the essential factors affecting phenomenology in architecture. This case is the characteristic of the
spatial experience and sometimes the spirit of the place. The strength of phenomenology is that creating
a place makes the environment meaningful because, in architecture, meaning is based on the ability to
symbolize human existence or presence and the spatial experience of the work. Modern architecture and
then contemporary architectural designs have led to the loss of architecture's sensory and physical
essence. Science abstracts facts to reach objective and objective knowledge; therefore, if spaces are a
fundamental aspect of human existence in the world, and if they are a source of trust, comfort, and
identity for individuals and groups of people, then it is essential not to overlook how we experience, do,
and maintain. This study aims to investigate the concept of phenomenology and its origin in architecture
with a descriptive method and by referring to library resources. Based on phenomenological concepts, it
is possible to qualitatively examine contemporary architectural spaces and the role of sensory
perceptions in understanding place and feeling this identity with space from the perspective of
phenomenologists and experts in architecture.
Keywords: Phenomenology, phenomenon, Space, Meaning of Space, Architecture.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Saba Matın Aygören. Istanbul Aydın University, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of
Architecture. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0099-9112
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1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, phenomenology as a philosophical interpretation has been influential among architects.
Architecture is so connected with the philosophy that many philosophers have thought about
architecture and architectural issues such as housing and space, and many architects have studied their
works from a philosophical point of view. The phenomenon of space as a residential area has been chosen
and realized as a part of human existence. It is the primary source of the identity of the residents of the
place. On the other hand, the lack of space crisis refers to the inability of living spaces to provide the
necessary content for human settlement. Today, architecture follows its logic and rationalism, away from
the attention of human needs, which are meaningless and cause the spread of forms for speculative
purposes. The architecture of the buildings, which does not allow people to settle in and transforms them
into consumers, does not reflect the basic meanings of human existence, and therefore people are
deprived of the creative use of spaces and eventually lose their sense of belonging to the place by
becoming passive witnesses and spectators. Due to the importance of this subject, the phenomenon of
place is examined in terms of phenomenology in this article.
Modern people abide by the rules of modernity and are smartly concerned with the number of events
rather than their quality. As a result, we witness the definition of living spaces as the shapers of human
life and the indifference to the existence of meaningless places in modern living spaces. Compared to
other philosophical currents and methods, one of the outstanding features of phenomenology is that it
escaped the exclusivity of philosophy and found a practical and applied directly to conduct qualitative
research in other fields of science and art.
Phenomenology has suggested that we set aside questions about objective reality and look to our inner
human experience for answers. In addition, text comprehension looks at the awareness and reality of a
phenomenon, putting another expression from objective experience to transcendental experience. The
method of phenomenology aims to learn and research phenomena that arise indirectly from our direct
experiences, not based on the mentality of pure rationality and the emotions of empirical science. It is
not based on the mindset of pure rationality and experimental science. This is against the view of René
Descartes, who bases philosophy on thought and wisdom and believes that the external world is
independently existing 2.
Architectural models based on phenomenological concepts can contribute to the qualitative evaluation
of contemporary architectural spaces by presenting sensory perceptions in the process of understanding
and feeling the space from the views and thoughts of phenomenologists in architecture. Edmund Husserl
can be regarded as a pioneer in presenting the philosophy of phenomenology, like his successors Martin
Heidegger, Gaston Bachelard, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In the field of architecture, architects such as
Christine Norberg Schulz, Alberto Perez Gomez, Yohani Plasma, Steven Hall, and Peter Zumthor have
taken strides around the approach of mindset and objectivity and attention to the human senses and a
return to objects and experience. The spread of these concepts has had a remarkable reflection in the
international arena, as it has led to the re-acquaintance of architects with the local identity and attracted
new interest (Seamon,2000).
Space is a phenomenon related to daily life, and therefore it precedes all academic concepts and
perceptions. A phenomenology is an approach that acknowledges the complexity of this experience and
seeks to clarify its dimensions without reducing it to a few specific models. From a phenomenological
point of view, while being placed in a particular context and environment, on the other hand, it presents
an aspect of the openness of the world. Spaces should be neutral and "objective" to "single" information.
2. PHENOMENOLOGY
Due to the scattered views of 20th-century philosophers on phenomenology, many observers believe
that a single definition of phenomenology cannot be made. For philosophers and their leader, Edmund
René Descartes believes that the external world independently exists, that our mind can discover it, that we can
only understand things correctly with the power of the mind, and that any sensory perception will lead to error.
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Husserl, phenomenology seeks to explain the immediate situation of subjects and the environment, a
way to hope for an understanding without assumptions and prejudices. In this context, he escaped the
trap of scientific, religious, metaphysical, and psychological prejudices. Dermot Moran sees the primary
purpose of phenomenology as the effort to reach a state of revelation, the place where the studied
phenomena are understood. Subjects are defined in precise and comprehensive ways, and no bias or
preconceived view will interfere with the process of understanding them (Moran, 2005).
The main aim of phenomenology is to return to the essence of things, which means confronting the
nature and meaning of phenomena as they are in our awareness. It is possible to get in touch with the
reality of facts most honestly and purely by moving away from abstract concepts in the cognitive sense,
leaving aside ideological, social, and personal prejudices and presuppositions. (Husserl, 2012).
Phenomenologists guide this explanatory phenomenon to construct explanations about real human
experience or the same biological experience (Van Manen, 2016). Life experience manifests the direct
rediscovery of all dimensions, everyday life, and human existence. Here, life refers to a wide variety of
human experiences, concepts, situations, and events, whether boring or stimulating, fascinating,
suspenseful or magnificent, material or spiritual. For example, are there moments in our daily lives when
we consciously experience the buildings around us more profoundly and memorably? From the
perspective of Sean D. Kelly, phenomenology starts from the fundamental problem of wholly and
accurately describing the inherent features of life experience. The lived experience appears to be an
active and relevant experience we acquire from the world throughout our daily lives. For example, to
hear the sound of the game bell, to see the smile of a friendly face. The most critical assumption of
phenomenology is that acquiring daily life experience is entirely and largely a matter of adjustment that
one has thought about from the very beginning. (Kelly, 2014).
Experience is one of the most important topics discussed in phenomenology. To phenomenologists, the
world is a matter of experience. In a world where we relate to nature and society, everything has a
meaning or a human implication. Every sense experience, every sensory perception, or every judgment
has a pure aspect to explore. Phenomenology explains the meaning of a concept or phenomenon from
some people's perspectives and life experiences and tries to understand the shared experiences of some
people (Schwartz-Shea, 2006). Phenomenology helps to understand the nature and meanings of
everyday experiences (DeMarrais, & Tisdale, 2002). Phenomenology relates everything to the person
and sees the mind as the primary point that leads to forming mental bonds between himself and others.
After taking what happened to him at a specific moment, he shows a particular behavior concerning the
environment. It means studying the interpretation of human experiences to know situations, events,
meanings, and human experiences that occur in everyday life (Von Eckartsberg, 1989). Phenomenology is
a descriptive field that describes the content of human consciousness and studies and explains
revelations (Mitrovic, 2012).
Phenomenology aims to pass the stage of knowing objects and appearances and aims to reach an
understanding of the essence of the facts. Phenomenology tries to prove that knowledge consists of
meaning and cannot be easily doubted. (Berrios, 1989). Based on the views of Van Menen and Moran,
phenomenology can also be described as a way of understanding emphasizing the identification and
interpretation of dimensions of human experience, awareness, and meaning mainly unconscious
understanding. Phenomenology aims to explore and understand the voluntary awareness that shapes
the human experience. Analysis of this experience reveals the precise structure of the world expressed
in shared or multiple meanings, the meanings of things available when confronted with the world.
(Tuohy, Cooney, Dowling, Murphy, Sixsmith, 2013). According to Smith, the basic phenomenology of
various types of experience extends to social activities, including perception, reflection, memory,
imagination, emotion, desire, physical awareness, physical action, and activities (Smith, 2013).
The structure of these forms of experience includes what Husserl calls intentionality. It means that he
has experience or is aware of something. The central structure of any experience is its intention. This
means that experience has objectivity in the world through its content or meaning. Phenomenology
allows us to recognize and ontologically understand our lost world, imprisoned in philosophical
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confusion. Accordingly, we learn that words, symbols, perceptual objects, images, moods of others, and
social conventions exist as ordinary things that occur in a familiar way (Sokolowski, 2008). Therefore,
the purpose of the phenomenological description is nothing but the description of what appears in our
awareness. The phenomenological description is not based solely on the rationalist mentality or the
feelings of empirical science but is a description that will be obtained by giving meaning to the facts in
which social and human phenomena are full of meanings.
Phenomenology means breaking the foundation in examining the space's attitude, method, and process.
The beginning of this process is a radical change in the way of seeing, a deep, sincere and honest
relationship with space, and acceptance of place as the meaning of existence. The critical point in the
phenomenological approach is based on the assumption that people and their environments are
intertwined so that each creates and reflects the other. Phenomenology refers to a world that includes
people and their environment together so that each defines the other. Therefore, if places are indeed a
necessary aspect and foundation of human existence on earth, a source of trust, comfort, and identity for
individuals and groups of people, it is essential not to lose sight of how we experience, construct and
maintain space, and defining place is the foundation of human ability to settle. According to this approach,
every living thing has its own "soul," with which it acquires its unique character. Therefore, every object
and place has its own "spirit" and peculiarities. Human needs it to understand the spirit of the place by
constructing buildings and constructing the "spirit of the place," one reveals the place that exists and
allows the place to reveal its soul (Schulz, 1980).
The phenomenology of space aims to describe fixed and permanent structures, describe the life of the
world, reveal the different characters and tangible and abstract features of space, remain faithful to the
nature of particular places, generalize its meaning to the broader patterns of main structures and the
interrelationship between people and places.
3. THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL PARADIGM FACING THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY
The philosophy of positivism was the success of Descartes' thought after the 17th century, which caused
the study of phenomena to be done with an analytical and partial approach, paying attention only to
quantities. The change in the definition of subject and object in the Cartesian vision and the primacy of
the human have led to ignoring the richness and complexity of symbolic ideas, the essence of the reasons,
reasoning, and meanings of all phenomena. The emergence and spread of phenomenological thought can
be seen as a crisis pointed out by Edmund Husserl, one of the pioneers of phenomenological philosophy.
This crisis stems from two factors. One is the use of the methods of enlightenment and natural sciences
in the humanities, and the other is due to the duality between the subject and the Cartesian tool, dividing
Man and the world in front of him into two independent categories. In Cartesian's method, the external
world is a world that exists independently of the object and can be obtained by the power of reasoning
and leaving sense perception to itself; That is, this view assumes that there is a world outside and
independent of human consciousness. Starting from the Enlightenment period with Descartes and Kant,
positivists see wisdom as the only tool of human knowledge and believe that science can illuminate all
aspects of existence, such as material and physical nature. The scientific interpretation of the world led
to removing all metaphorical images and mythological beliefs from classical cosmologies and
transforming the world into a mathematical and geometric complex. The world of modernity is an empty
world without ancient legends. Modernity is the story of wisdom's battle with the religious, overriding
traditional ideologies and removing cryptographic methods from the world. The world of modernity is a
simple, one-piece world that can be recognized with the help of science and technology.
The French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty also emphasizes that extreme phenomenology is a crisis
on this subject and that this crisis is still dominant. In this context, Merleau-Ponty believes that his
phenomenology makes a kind effort to solve a problem unrelated to a group (Merleau-Ponty,2013). This
problem has been on the agenda worldwide since 1900 and continues to be effective. Therefore,
Husserl's philosophical effort is a requirement of his mind, which wants to simultaneously solve the crisis
13
of philosophy, the crisis of the humanities, and the crisis of all the sciences that we have not yet been rid
of (Dartigues, 1972). Alberto Perez-Gomez believes that architecture has lost its metaphysical dimension
and that there is no other form of integration and concepts between humans and the world around. Only
phenomenology can overcome the tragedy of the burden that modern philosophy inherited from
Descartes by rediscovering the superiority of perception (Gomez, 2016).
Figure 1. The difference between modern and post-modern viewpoints.
3. EDMUND HUSSERL'S PHENOMENOLOGY AND RE-READING PHENOMENOLOGY IN
ARCHITECTURE
What can be said about Husserl is his activity concerning the central role of meaning in experience. It
describes a detailed account of our conscious experience with the objects of the world around us and
considers phenomenology as knowledge of the essence of consciousness. Husserl determined his
phenomenology as consciousness and ecology, accepted as a type of epistemology. In this context, the
fundamental question of Husserl's phenomenology is how the meaning of the world and objects is
formed in human consciousness. Husserl's pure awareness comes from the perception that something in
the world is not just a mental image but is seen in the mental experience regardless of the presence or
absence of the world. Husserl's method mainly aims to realize the relationship between humans and the
world. That is, we can understand this link's nature and meaning before translating it into subject and
object so we can look at them as two independent categories. Therefore, the meaning of noninstrumental perception is only sensory observations and sensory data. Therefore, what Husserl took for
granted was intuition or direct perception. Intuition is based on accurate observations or experience,
and the next step in the study is its explanation and investigation.
Husserl's phenomenology is both an explanation and an interpreter of the mind and its subject. Whether
that subject has an actual existence and is in harmony with the outside world or whether it has an
external existence and is not in harmony with the outside world. In Husserl's time, there was a consensus
that phenomenology should be descriptive and describe phenomena through direct awareness. The
descriptive words of direct phenomenology are examples of how phenomenology has been used in its
general sense and as a purely descriptive science for concrete phenomena (Schmitt, 1967). For example,
in the design of a building, before considering the features of the space, physical plan, et al., the architect
thinks about the general consciousness and belief regarding the nature of the building through the
immeasurable memory of the environment (Hale, 2013). Therefore, the concept of awareness and
consciousness is considered one of the most fundamental concepts in Husserl's philosophical system.
The aim is to determine the structure and framework of human consciousness to understand the
characteristics of the external world. "Consciousness is not consciousness insofar as it is directed
towards an object, and the object, on the other hand, is not defined unless it is related to a consciousness"
(Dartigues, 1972). Here awareness is like a bridge that softens the connection between mind and eye,
the inner and outer world. We want to return to the essence of every phenomenon, and every
14
consciousness produces a time when it turns to something other than itself. "Consciousness is not
consciousness insofar as it is directed towards an object; on the contrary, the object is not defined unless
it is related to consciousness”(Dartigues, 1972).
The object should not be thought of as the contents of a box, but the object of awareness should be
mentioned. This definition reveals the systematic difference between Descartes and Husserl. Descartes'
thoughts take the form of a philosophy oriented towards an internally assimilated subject. With the
opening of this subject to the world of things, Husserl's discussion, unlike Descartes, is on the movement
that directs awareness to something other than itself and the outside. That is, awareness arises when it
is opened to the outside. Otherwise, there is no awareness. Edmund Husserl wanted to know how
consciousness shapes reality and how the world reveals itself to consciousness. Instead of Cartesian
doubt about everything, Husserl casts aside all his beliefs about an object or, as he says, brackets it to
throw it at that object. Rather than cast doubt on everything in the Descartes way, Husserl set aside all
his beliefs about an object or, according to his own words, set them aside or bracketed them so that he
could look at them from time to time. Husserl saw a kind of unity in things. For example, when he looked
at one side of the box, he argued that the other sides of the box should also be predictable. On the one
hand, Husserl's effort to make phenomenology a method and to equate philosophy and phenomenology
on the other has caused Husserl to be remembered as the founder of the method until today when the
word "phenomenology" is used.
The fundamental question of Husserl's phenomenology is what the world and objects around mean and
how these meanings are formed in awareness. What can be said about Husserl is his activity, which
relates to the central role of meaning in experience. This state describes a detailed account of our
conscious experience with the objects of the world around us. The clear awareness that Husserl seeks
comes from the perception that something in the world is not just a mental image but is seen in a mental
experience, regardless of the presence or absence of the world. On the other hand, Phenomenology is
accepted as the knowledge related to the knowledge of the truth that constitutes the content of
awareness. Based on the cognitive approach, the analysis and descriptive analysis of the phenomenon
begin with mental processes. According to Husserl, sensory perception is the same as perception,
accurate perception is awareness, and all perceptions are related (Husserl, 2012). Therefore, what
Husserl took for granted was intuition or direct perception. Intuition is based on accurate observations
or experience, and the next step in the study is its explanation and investigation.
Phenomenologists guide this explanatory phenomenon to construct explanations about real human
experience or the same biological experience (Van Manen, 2016). Life experience manifests the direct
rediscovery of all dimensions, everyday life, and human existence. Here, life refers to various human
experiences, concepts, situations, and events, whether boring or stimulating and impressive, suspenseful
or magnificent, material or spiritual. For example, are there moments in our daily lives where we
consciously experience the buildings around us more profoundly and memorably? From the perspective
of Sean D. Kelly, phenomenology starts from the fundamental problem of wholly and accurately
describing the inherent features of life experience. The lived experience appears to be an active and
relevant experience we acquire from the world throughout our daily lives. For example, to hear the sound
of the game bell, to see the smile of a friendly face. The essential assumption of phenomenology is that
the acquisition of daily life experience is a problem of adaptation, which one thought from the beginning
(Kelly, 2014). Husserl's effort to make phenomenology a method on the one hand and to equate
philosophy and phenomenology on the other caused Husserl to be mentioned as the founder when the
word phenomenology was used.
We live and work in a world where places are entirely different, but at the same time, we seem to know
very little about how places are created and how we experience them. The place is the fundamental
aspect of existence, and although existence goes beyond it what we call life on earth, it will always be
expressed through the place. Husserl sought to free himself from what he called the natural position.
The naturalistic viewpoint was the viewpoint and approach adopted by scientific positivism in the 19th
and early 20th centuries. With this approach, objects are in a material-free world, and it is possible to
15
obtain them through positive experience. The meaning of this interpretation is to avoid making
judgments about the existence of objects and the world outside of human consciousness and to refer to
the objects themselves with direct intuition without having any preconceptions about them.
4. CONCLUSION
Because the intimacy of an architectural experience depends on the architect's ability to pay attention to
the mind and the body simultaneously, the characteristics of a space based on sensory needs will lead to
a more satisfying experience. Focusing on the phenomenological approach is how architecture can
inform the mind of meaningful experiences. Phenomenology provides the opportunity to improve the
views and attitudes of architects and opens a new horizon for them. While most architects focus on sight,
paying attention to the senses can make the space more meaningful to the user. In the phenomenology
of the built environment, it is essential to understand the environment and its emotions, as the
acquisition of sensory data and its transformation in mental processing, reproduction, and association
of meanings play the most crucial role. The body is connected to the world through sensory perception.
Accordingly, it can be concluded that the Building is about life and contains a sense of continuity,
community, and comfort. This world is where people live and understand it specially, and through it, we
communicate with others. Today we define a house as a roof over our heads and a few square meters of
land under our feet. In other words, we present only a tiny and material view. Today's residential
buildings may be well-designed, easy to maintain and inexpensive, and have adequate ventilation and
lighting, but this does not necessarily lead to people settling and living in these buildings. Heidegger
believes that human settlement has been reduced to construction in the modern age. Activating being
includes the ways we do, see, understand and think.
REFERENCES
Berrios, G. E. (1989). What is phenomenology? A review. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 82(7),
425-428. https://doi.org/10.1177/014107688908200718
Dartigues, A. (1972). Qu'est-ce que la phénoménologie?.
DeMarrais, K., & Tisdale, K. (2002). What happens when researchers inquire into difficult emotions?:
Reflections on studying women's anger through qualitative interviews. Educational Psychologist, 37(2),
115-123. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3702_6
Eagleton, T. (1983). Phenomenology, hermeneutics, reception theory. Literary theory: An introduction,
47-78.
Pérez-Gómez, A. (2016). Attunement: Architectural meaning after the crisis of modern science. MIT Press.
https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10703.003.0012
Hale, J. (2013). Critical phenomenology: architecture and embodiment. Architecture and Ideas, 12, 1837.
Husserl, E. (2012). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2015791
Kelly, S. D. (2014). The relevance of phenomenology to the philosophy of language and mind.
Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315054582
Merleau-Ponty,
M.
(2013). Phenomenology
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203720714
of
Mitrovic, B. (2012). Philosophy for architects. Chronicle Books.
Moran, D. (2005). Edmund Husserl: founder of phenomenology. Polity.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203196632-10
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perception.
Routledge.
Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980). Genius loci: Towards a Phenomenology of. Architecture, 5.
Pérez-Gómez, A. (2016). Attunement: Architectural meaning after the crisis of modern science. MIT
Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10703.001.0001
Seamon, D. (2000). Concretizing heidegger’s notion of dwelling: The contributions of thomas thiisevensen and christopher alexander. Building and dwelling [Bauen und wohnen], 189-202
Schmitt, R. (1967). Phenomenology.
Schwartz-Shea, P. (2006). Conundrums in the practice of pluralism (pp. 209-221). Nova Iorque: New
York University Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814783566.003.0015
Smith, D. W. (2013). Phenomenology. The Stanford.
Sokolowski, R. (2008). Phenomenology of the human person. Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511812804.001
Tuohy, D., Cooney, A., Dowling, M., Murphy, K., & Sixsmith, J. (2013). An overview of interpretive
phenomenology as a research methodology. Nurse researcher, 20(6).
https://doi.org/10.7748/nr2013.07.20.6.17.e315
Van Manen, M. (2016). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological
research and writing. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315422657
Von Eckartsberg, R. (1989). The unfolding meaning of intentionality and horizon in phenomenology. The
humanistic psychologist, 17(2), 146-160 https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.1989.9976848
17
TRENDS OF RESEARCH ON INTERIORS: A
BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE INTERIORS:
DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE, CULTURE JOURNAL
DİLEK YASAR1
ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to investigate the current state and trends of research on the interiors. A
bibliometric analysis method was used in the study and accordingly the Interiors: Design, Architecture,
Culture, a respected journal in its field, was selected as the field of study. A total of 659 articles, including
228 articles published in the said journal between 2010-2022 and 431 articles cited those articles were
analyzed within the scope of the study. Accordingly, the articles were investigated using a bibliometric
analysis method, based on title, abstract, and keywords, and then classified by main themes, sub-themes,
and research objects of the relevant themes. The results were indicative of the fact that the main themes
of design, history, and sustainability were the most frequent research objects.
Keywords: Trends of Research on Interiors; A Bibliometric analysis of the interiors; Interior design;
Interior architecture; Interior.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Istanbul Aydın University, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of Interior Architecture.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9578-6952
1
18
1. INTRODUCTION
“Throughout human history interior space and its experience has served as both the beginning, the initial
inspiration, for the design of architecture, and the end, the final purpose of architecture as it is engaged
in inhabitation” (McCarter 2016). Today, people spend most of their lives indoors. As a dynamic
background of human activity (Cys & Lawrence, 2013), interiors is directly related to human life.
Studies on interiors has become popular and accelerated in the recent decades. Nevertheless, to the best
knowledge of the author, there is no quantitative study in the relevant literature, which investigated the
current status and trends of research in this area. In that respect, it is important to carry out a literature
analysis for interiors.
Bibliometrics, is one of the most frequently used methods for the purposes of quantitative analysis in the
relevant literature (Chai & Xiao, 2012). Bibliometric allows a classification of scientific publications by
certain criteria, including, subject, author, citation, title, etc. with an aim to monitor the development in
the literature.
In the present study, a total of 659 articles, including 228 articles published in the Interiors: Design,
Architecture, Culture journal between 2010-2022 and 431 articles cited those articles were investigated
using the bibliometric analysis method. The analysis results indicative of the direction of the prominent
research trends on interiors in the last decade were presented in the study. In this context, the
distribution of citations from the "Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture" journal by year, the most cited
articles, the distribution of the journal articles by country, the distribution of citations by country, the
most used keywords, and the frequency of their use were investigated. Finally, and most importantly, the
main themes, sub-themes and research objects of those themes were identified based on the research
trends on interiors, which was the point of departure of the present study.
2. METHODOLOGY
As an indispensable tool in scientific disciplines, articles are important studies in which scientific
progress can be captured. The articles help with discovering the past status of the related discipline (Lee,
Wu). & Tsai, 2009) as well as providing information on current research trends. Those resources play an
key role in exploring and identifying the direction, where the relevant discipline is heading to, and they
are of special significance especially today, when access to information and producing information based
on information is important.
Although the articles may structurally vary by the respective publication procedures of the journals, they
are composed of three basic elements, namely title, abstract, and keywords. The title provides important
clues as regards the content of the article (Haskins, 1960; Hartley, 2007; Sagi & Yechiam, 2008). In other
words, it is the most important brief of a scientific article and accordingly it assumes a difficult task of
attracting the attention of the reader (Paiva, Lima, & Paiva, 2012). Another element, abstracts, provide
important information about the article and emphasize the critical points. Although the abstracts, by
nature, do not feature the details of article, they do present the research subject and purpose of the article
and summarize important results and research method, which makes them an invaluable source of
analysis. Keywords serve as index terms with the most important information. They play a crucial role
in extracting correct information tailored to the user requirements (Kaur & Gupta, 2010). Key concepts
are important for both the scholars and readers, the consumers of literature. The scholars carefully
choose their keywords with an aim to increase the visibility of the abstract among the relevant research
topics and provide the researchers with guidance.
In brief, the title, abstract and keywords as integrated elements of articles, provide a key introduction to
relevant article and therefore provide the scholars with important information about the content.
Accordingly, the above parameters were taken as a basis in the analyses to investigate the research
trends on interiors in the scope of the present study. As a reputable journal in the relevant field, the
“Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture” journal was selected as the field of study. The first reason for
the said choice was that it was heavily focused on research on interiors. Besides, the journal embraced
19
rich perspectives from various disciplines and was the journal of choice of prominent and specialized
authors.
The publications, which cited the journal’s publications, were identified via Google Scholar tool.
Nevertheless, the Google Scholar tool retrieved some duplicate or wrong citations. A total of 659
publications were included in the study, upon elimination of duplicates and erroneous citations. Table
1 shows the number of publications included in the study.
Research Area
Range of Years
Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture
2010-2022
Number
Publications
of
228
Journal
Other Publications Cited the Articles
431
in the Journal (Google Scholar)
Total
659
Table 1. Number of Publications Analyzed in the Scope of the Study
The next stage of the study included collection of raw data from the research area. In the context thereof,
information regarding authors, publication years, countries, titles of publications, abstracts, and
keywords of the articles were collected as raw data from the articles and tabulated using the Microsoft
Excel software.
The final stage of the study included the classification of data. In this context, the distribution of citations
from the "Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture" journal by year, the most cited articles, the
distribution of the journal articles by country, the distribution of citations by country, the most used
keywords, and the frequency of their use were investigated. Finally, the research trends on interiors were
assessed on the basis of titles, abstracts, and keywords.
3. RESULTS
Distribution of Citations from Publications Articles Published in Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture
by Years
The 228 articles in question were viewed a total of 56,078 times by the time of study and the total number
of citations was 431. The highest number of citations was from 2010., and although the number of
citations decreased partially until 2013, it increased again by the same year. Furthermore, the number
of citations has decreased gradually since 2013, except for a partial increase in 2018. A distribution of
the number of citations by year is summarized in Chart 1.
20
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2021
2022
Chart 1. A Distribution of Citations by Years
3.1 MOST CITED PUBLICATIONS
The most cited publication was “The Flex-Nest: The Accessory Dwelling Unit as Adaptable Housing for
the Life Span” by Jane Louise Nichols and Erin Adams, dated 2013. This article was cited in 21
publications. Six keywords were used in this publication: Housing; Accessory dwelling unit (ADU); Baby
boomer; Generation Y; Elderly; Nest. This was followed by “On the Unhomely Home: Porous and
Permeable Interiors from Kierkegaard to Adorno” by Henriette Steiner, dated 2010, which was cited in
18 publications. The article had eight keywords: The uncanny; Freud; The haunted house; Søren
Kierkegaard; Theodor Adorno; The domestic sphere; Culture of the interior; Nineteenth-century fiction.
In the third place, there was "Possessions in the Homeless Shelter Experience: “The Built Environment's
Potential Role in Self-restoration” by Jill Pable. Pable used six keywords in this article: Interior design;
Homelessness; Homeless shelters; Possessions; Opportunity restriction process; Consumer culture
theory. The journal articles, which were cited in 10 or more publications, are given in detail in Table 2.
Author
Jane
Louise
Nichols and Erin
Adams
Year
Publisher
Keywords
2013
The
Flex-Nest:
The
Accessory Dwelling Unit as
Adaptable Housing for the
Life Span
Housing;
Accessory
dwelling unit (ADU); Baby
boomer; Generation Y;
Elderly; Nest
21
2010
On the Unhomely Home:
Porous and Permeable
Interiors
from
Kierkegaard to Adorno
The uncanny; Freud; The
haunted
house;
Søren
Kierkegaard;
Theodor
Adorno; The domestic
sphere; Culture of the
interior;
Nineteenthcentury fiction
18
Henriette
Steiner
21
Citations
Possessions
in
the
Homeless
Shelter
Experience: The Built
Environment's Potential
Role in Self-restoration
Interior
design;
Homelessness;
Homeless
shelters;
Possessions;
Opportunity
restriction
process; Consumer culture
theory
2010
The Modern Interior: A
Space, a Place or a Matter
of Taste?
Modern; Interior;
Place; Taste
2014
Tuning
the
Space:
Investigating the Making
of Atmospheres through
Interior Design Practices
Interior design; Material
culture;
Atmosphere;
Eaesthetics; Cultural capital
15
The House of Life and the
Memory Palace: Some
Thoughts
on
the
Historiography
of
Interiors
Decoration;
Design;
Architecture;
Historiography; Memory
14
Aemulatio and the Interior
Approach of Adaptive
Reuse
Adaptive reuse; Interior
architecture;
Historic
interiors;
Heritage
conservation; Restoration
14
Passenger movement and
air
terminal
design:
artworks,
wayfinding,
commerce,
and
kinaesthesia
Air
terminal;
Architecture;
Interior exhibition
14
Objects in Purgatory: How
We Live with Uncherished
Gifts
Domestic space; Practices of
keeping;
Attachment;
Possessions; Value
2013
Jill Pable
Penny Sparke
Mona Sloane
Edward Hollis
Bie Plevoets &
Koenraad
Cleempoel
Menno
Hubregtse
Julia Keyte
2010
2014
Van
2016
2013
16
Space;
15
Art;
Affect;
10
Table 2. Top Ten Countries of Articles Published in the Interiors: Journal Articles, which were Cited in 10
or more Publications
3.2. A DISTRIBUTION OF INTERIORS: FEATURED IN DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE, CULTURE JOURNAL
ARTICLES BY COUNTRY
Top Ten Countries of Articles Published in the Interiors: The 228 articles from the Design, Architecture,
Culture journal came from 23 different countries. The United States and the United Kingdom were the
countries with the highest number of publications. The majority were the European countries, yet there
were also countries from the Asian continent, including Jordan and India. The ten countries with the
highest number of publications are given in Chart 2, and all the countries are given in Table 3.
22
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Tu
rk
ey
De
nm
ar
k
Ne
th
er
la
nd
s
Ze
la
nd
Ne
w
Ita
ly
Av
us
tr
al
ia
Be
lg
iu
m
Ca
na
da
UK
US
A
0
Chart 2. Top Ten Countries of Articles Published in the Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture Journal
Articles Published in the Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture Magazine by Country
USA
Denmark
Austria
UK
Turkey
Finland
Canada
Switzerland
Germany
Belgium
Sweden
Greece
Australia
Norway
Spain
Italy
China
Jordan
New Zealand
Estonia
India
The Netherlands
Japan
Table 3. Articles Published in the Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture Magazine by Country
6. DISTRIBUTION OF CITATIONS BY COUNTRY
The countries of citations were even more diverse and included 38 countries. UK and USA were, again,
at the top of the list of countries of citations. The countries from the Asian continent were more
diversified, including citations from Kuwait, Egypt, Lebanon, and Israel. The 10 countries of citations are
given in Chart 3, and all the countries are given in Table 4.
23
120
100
80
60
40
20
Ne
th
er
la
nd
s
Tu
rk
ey
Ze
la
nd
Ne
w
Ch
in
e
Be
lg
iu
m
In
de
no
si
a
Ca
na
da
Au
st
ra
lia
US
A
UK
0
Chart 3. Top 10 Countries of Citations
Countries of Citations
UK
Portugal
Equator
USA
Sweden
Kuwait
Australia
Iran
Egypt
Canada
South Korea
South Korea
Indonesia
Norway
UAE
Belgium
Russia
Lebanon
Chinese
Austria
Greece
New Zealand
India
Jordan
Turkey
Brazil
Iraq
The Netherlands
Finland
Israel
Italy
France
Spain
Japan
Denmark
Switzerland
Germany
Cyprus
Table 4. All the Countries of Citations
The analyses also included the parameters of field of expertise and gender of the authors. The fields of
expertise included a rich diversity from sociology, literature, and visual arts to textile design, along with
especially the interior architecture, interior design, design history and architecture. Also, the female
authors made up the majority, where two-thirds of all the authors were women.
24
3.3. MOST USED KEYWORDS AND FREQUENCY OF USE
There were keywords in 387 of 659 articles in question. A total of 2320 keywords were used with an
average of five keywords per article. Nevertheless, there were also articles with up to 13 keywords. The
most recurring keywords and their frequency of use are given in Table 5.
Most Used Keyword
Number of Articles
Interior design
37
Interior
33
Architecture
24
Design
18
Interior architecture
16
House
16
Modern
14
Technology
Home
14
13
Gender
12
Identity
12
Domestic interior
11
Space
10
Domestic
10
Table 5. The Most Recurring Keywords and Their Frequency Of Use
Keyword distribution was highly diverse. In particular, the "design" term was frequently used in
combination with other terms to produce compound keywords, including "domestic design", "modern
interior design", "design history", "spatial design", and "design research". The extent of the above
frequency was indicative of the fact that design was considered a priority. The keywords “house”, “home”
and “domestic” were also frequently used in the articles, which suggested that the articles mostly focused
on living spaces compared to other spaces. Another remarkable keyword was “gender” with a particular
emphasis on female identity. The frequency of use of keywords is visualized using a word cloud and given
in Figure 1.
25
Figure 1. Keywords on Word Cloud
4. TRENDS OF RESEARCH ON INTERIORS
The present study aimed to investigate the direction of research trends, and accordingly, a total of 659
articles were analyzed by title, abstract, and keyword. Although there was a rather a wide variety of
research topics, the most frequent topics were associated with design, history, and sustainability.
The design theme was mainly referred to in the context of interior design, domestic design, interior
architecture, decoration, and identity sub-themes, where house, home, dwelling and objects were the
most frequently included research objects. Primarily the modernism, Nineteenth Century, and Postwar
sub-themes were investigated under the history theme. The most frequently included research objects
in the articles in question were adaptive reuse, domestic space, and cultural interior, i.e., the spatial
reflections of diverse country cultures. The sustainability theme was generally discussed in the economic
and social context. The research objects associated with the sustainability theme was the adaptable
housing and accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in the context of economic sustainability, and meaning and
humans in the context of social sustainability. Table 6 provides prominent main themes, sub-themes, and
research objects pertaining to the trends of research on interiors.
MAIN THEME
SUB-THEME
RESEARCH OBJECT
House; parts of house; home; dwelling;
furniture; objects, modern interior spaces;
cultural interior spaces; spatial arrangement;
museum and exhibition spaces, ADU, materials;
retail spaces
Interior Design
Home; house; parts of house; dwelling;
furniture; objects; modern interior spaces;
materials; meaning
Domestic Interior
DESIGN
Interior Architecture
House; dwelling; heritage buildings; historical
buildings; modern interior architecture; user
behavior
Home; furniture; objects; materials; historical
buildings; cultural interior spaces
Decorating
26
Identity
Home; furniture; objects; materials; cultural
interior spaces
Modernizm
Modern interior design; domestic space;
cultural interior design; house; interior
architecture; gender; furniture; identity
Nineteenth century
İnterior design; interior architecture; interior
decoration; adaptive reuse; domestic spaces;
objects; house; identity; decorating; heritage
building; historical buildings
Postwar
Interior design; domestic spaces; home;
furniture; objects
Economical sustainability
Adaptable housing; ADU; house; dwelling;
prefabricated interior
Social sustainability
Meaning; older people; women; home; house;
inclusive design
HISTORY
SUSTAINABILITY
Table 6. Prominent Topics in Trends of Research on Interiors
5. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
The present study aimed to investigate the current status and trends of research on interiors.
Accordingly, the articles published in the Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture journal and the studies
cited those articles were investigated by means of bibliometric analysis.
One of the first results was that researches on interiors were internationally distributed over a wide
geography. The countries of original articles were not limited to European countries, including Spain, the
Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. In addition, there were citations from Asian countries, including Egypt,
Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Kuwait, which was indicative of the fact that the journal reached to a
wide audience.
The second result was that the keywords offered a rich repertoire of terms, which suggested that
researches on interiors were carried out in consideration of a wide range of relevant aspects. Therefore,
it was pleasing to see that the studies in question on interior architecture and/or interior design, a
discipline directly related to quality of life, duly included multi-perspectives.
The second stage of the study included a bibliometric analysis on 659 articles by title, abstract, and
keywords. Thereupon, the articles were classified by main themes, sub-themes, and research objects
thereof. The results indicated that research topics covered a wide variety of contexts. Nevertheless, it
was possible to identify prominent themes. Majority of the articles focused on the main themes of design,
history, and sustainability.
Finally, it should be noted that; as with many other studies, this study had its limits. The primary
limitation of the present study was the fact that it was based on the articles published in the journal
Design, Architecture, Culture, and other articles that cited those articles. Nevertheless, given that those
articles were published between 2010 and 2022, they were important to investigate the current trends.
REFERENCES
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Cys, J., & Lawrence, J. (2013). A Place at the Table: Interiors and the Everyday. Interiors, 4(3), 295-314.
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Technical Writing and Communication, 37(1), 95-101. https://doi.org/10.2190/BJ16-8385-7Q73-1
Haskins, J. B. (1960). Title-Rating: A Method for Measuring Reading Interests and Predicting
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551–565.
https://doi.org/10.1177/001316446002000312.
Hollis, E. (2010). The house of life and the memory palace: Some thoughts on the historiography of
interiors. Interiors, 1(1), 105-117. https://doi.org/10.2752/204191210791602267
Hubregtse, M. (2016). Passenger movement and air terminal design: artworks, wayfinding, commerce,
and kinaesthesia. Interiors, 7(2-3), 155-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/20419112.2016.1215678
Kaur, J., & Gupta, V. (2010). Effective approaches for extraction of keywords. International Journal of
Computer Science Issues (IJCSI), 7(6), 144.
Keyte, J. (2013). Objects in purgatory: How we live with uncherished gifts. Interiors, 4(3), 315-337.
https://doi.org/10.2752/204191213X13817427789352
Lee, M. H., Wu, Y. T., & Tsai, C. C. (2009). Research trends in science education from 2003 to 2007: A
content analysis of publications in selected journals. International Journal of Science Education, 31(15),
1999-2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690802314876
McCarter, R. (2016). The space within: Interior experience as the origin of architecture. Reaktion books..
Nichols, J. L., & Adams, E. (2013). The flex-nest: The accessory dwelling unit as adaptable housing for the
life span. Interiors, 4(1), 31-52. https://doi.org/10.2752/204191213X13601683874136
Pable, J. (2013). Possessions in the homeless shelter experience: The built environment's potential role
in self-restoration. Interiors, 4(3), 267-293. https://doi.org/10.2752/204191213X13817427789271
Paiva, C. E., Lima, J. P., & Paiva, B. S. (2012). Articles with short titles describing the results are cited more
often. Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 67(5), 509–513. https://doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2012(05)17
Plevoets, B., & Van Cleempoel, K. (2014). Aemulatio and the interior approach of adaptive
reuse. Interiors, 5(1), 71-88. https://doi.org/10.2752/204191214X13944457108758
Sagi, I., & Yechiam, E. (2008). Amusing titles in scientific journals and article citation. Journal of
Information Science, 34(5), 680–687. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551507086261
Sloane, M. (2014). Tuning the space: Investigating the making of atmospheres through interior design
practices. Interiors, 5(3), 297-314. https://doi.org/10.2752/204191114X14126916211184
Sparke, P. (2010). The modern interior: a space, a place or a matter of taste?. Interiors, 1(1), 7-17.
https://doi.org/10.2752/204191210791602276
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Interiors, 1(1), 133-148. https://doi.org/10.2752/204191210791602212
RESUME
Dilek Yasar holds a master’s degree from Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering and
Architecture, Beykent University in 2012 and a PhD degree from the same university in 2021. She acts
as the instructor and coordinator of the interior architecture project courses at Istanbul Aydın University
since 2016. She is also the co-head of the interior architecture department. Her research interests include
universal design, architectural design and interior architecture, and she published scientific studies on
her areas of interest.
28
NEW MEDIA’S RESPONSE TO THE
ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY OF 21ST CENTURY:
ARCHDAILY CASE
IŞIL ESEN1, PINAR DİNÇ KALAYCI2
ABSTRACT
This article focuses on how the new media of architecture corresponds to the architectural society in the
21st century and how the new media of architecture can have an instrumental power in creating a
response/attitude to the period. Since the ArchDaily platform is the most prominent representation
platform in the field of architecture, it was chosen as the object of the study. All publications of Archdaily
in a specific time period have been examined in the titles; (i) the subject(s) (writers and readers, their
interactions, and participations); and (ii) time (21. century architectural society). These studies were
conducted with the Qualitative research software ATLAS.ti. The hypothesis of the research was founded
on; Archdaily should be equipped with maximum sensitivity to respond quickly/instantly to the
architectural culture in the 21st century. The research findings have determined that Archdaily has
difficulty responding to the architectural society of the 21st century theoretically, and being 'instant' may
lead to a loss of quality. Therefore, it is concluded that evaluating the new media of architecture is
necessary/obligatory to establish more fluent and realistic new media-public-architectural society
relations. In addition, the study proposed a new model to evaluate the new media of architecture.
Keywords: Architectural Society, Architectural Media, New Media Archdaily, Qualitative Analysis
1
2
Yıldız Technical University, Architectural History and Theory, Istanbul. ORCID: 0000-0002-0344-5625.
Prof. Dr. Gazi University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture. ORCID: 0000-0002-1932-9477.
29
1. INTRODUCTION
This study was conducted to evaluate the new architectural media environment.
The Media defines as; 'Mass Media' and 'Medium' in the media and communication dictionary (Chandler
& Munday, 2011). (i.) Mass Media: Various technological tools for distributing cultural forms (especially
news, newspapers, and magazines) to the masses (Chandler & Munday, 2011). (ii.) Medium is the unit in
which communication occurs, usually synonymous with the channel (Chandler & Munday, 2011). This
study evaluates the 'New Media'. According to Manovich, '…New Media today can be understood as the
mix between older cultural conventions for data representation, access, and manipulation and newer
conventions of data representation, access, and manipulation. The "old" data are representations of
visual reality and human experience, i.e., images, text-based and audio-visual narratives – what we
normally understand by "culture." The "new" data is numerical.' (Manovich, 2003).
Manovich states that the new media field began taking shape at the end of the 1980s. He underlines that
in the 1990s, Europe and Japan were the best places to see new media works. And he adds, 'Festivals
have been required places of pilgrimage for interactive installation artists, computer musicians,
choreographers working with computers, media curators, critics, and net artists.' (Manovich, 2003). New
media started in the 1980s and gained recognition in the 90s. Why is new media so crucial in the 21st
century?
According to statistics, as of April 2022, there were more than five billion internet users worldwide,
which is 63.1 percent of the global population (Statisca, 2022). One can claim that, over the past century,
there has been a dramatic increase in new media usage in many disciplines. All this started to change
with the globalizing world and accelerating technologies. Various fields in the world have begun to give
importance to new media. For instance, universities have initiated a degree program in new media
discipline. New professions began to be born. These professions concentrated at the intersection of
media and graphic design. Therefore, the image and its digital representation have gained importance.
Following that, museums have started to exhibit online exhibitions. This way, a new cultural
environment began forming in the new media. New media can be considered more mature in the 21st
century than in the 80's.
The discipline of architecture has also been added to this new cultural environment because it is based
on representation. There are channels to deliver architects' works to the audience/reader. Therefore,
the motivation behind this article is to investigate 'How the new media is responding/answering to the
21st-century architecture culture?' The importance and originality of this study are that it explores the
current stage of architectural representations and their contributions to the discipline. The reader
should know that the study is based on the Archdaily's material in a specific period. ArchDaily has the
potential to be the initial step that can reflect the new media since it is a free and accessible platform for
the whole world, with 14 million visitors every month (Archdaily 2020). Moreover, according to Alexa
statistics, it is the most visited architectural website in the world (Alexa, 2020).
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Having discussed the definitions of 'The Media' and 'The New Media' in the introduction chapter, 'What
New Media actually is?' will briefly sketch this chapter. The short history of the media can be read in 'Rise
and Functions of New Media in Architecture: An Investigation via Archdaily' (Esen & Dinç Kalayci, 2021).
New Media has an important cultural context and should be placed somewhere in the literature. In order
to make this placement, new media will be tried to be defined from different perspectives.
2.1. New Media as a Cultural Platform
According to Manovich, '…new media is concerned with cultural objects and paradigms enabled by all
forms of computing…' (Manovich, 2003). What can be these new cultural objects? New Media is used in
30
developing visual art forms, graphic design, cinematography, filmmaking, art, and architecture. One can
not imagine that a single area of culture exists explicitly in the new media.
It could be argued that no cultural field has so far been more recognized than the new media. Because in
today's modern age, many concepts have been moved to online environments. For instance, a book, a
newspaper and a library, an architectural studio, a museum, a cinema, a market, an office, and so on…
moved into new media. A new culture has been born, and this culture became global and started to be
used by the whole world. Perhaps a common culture that unites the entire world appeared for the first
time in history. While the new media has such a unifying power, it was thought to be very important for
the 21st century.
2.2. New Media as a Faster / Instant Response
It is stated that some cultural forms have been transferred to the new media, and this change has brought
speed with it (Manovich, 2003). For example, considering a newspaper; writing, editing, and sending the
news to the printing house so that the news can be included in the newspaper; after publishing
newspaper must be forwarded to newsstands. The process takes hours to reach its reader. However,
thanks to the new media, the news comes to the reader within seconds in the age of speed. Is faster /
instant always better?
Speed can cause to loss of some critical values. For instance, in the newspaper example, since newspaper
printing goes through several stages, a control mechanism inevitably occurs at each stage. Therefore,
publishing a discourse that is not newsworthy in the newspaper is meaningless and costly. However, if
it is thought that there is no cost in new media3, non-newsworthy discourses can be included. This may
lead to a decrease in theoretical knowledge. For instance; The 'architectural theory is dead' argument
erupted following the release of Assemblage magazine's latest issue; 'The MIT Press published A Critical
Journal of Architecture and Design Culture three times a year (Assemblage, 2000)'. Many architecture
theorists interpret the magazine's end as the 'theoretical aspect' of architecture has been killed, (Graham,
2014). Do theoretical discourses dominate today's media?
2.3. New Media as a Distribution/Representation Platform in Architecture
Colomina emphasizes the importance of altering media consumption for architectural theory (Colomina,
2014). Several studies 4 have shown that the Internet has made New Media one of the most widely
utilized channels for news, communication, and socializing. Following this development, New Media
began to serve the essential needs of architects, such as project announcements and advertising.
Architects now use new media to generate publicity; some have even become star architects. For instance,
Colomina emphasizes that the most successful technique of integrating Le Corbusier's architecture into
the twenty-first century was the mass media, which Corbusier had efficiently utilized (Colomina, Loos, &
Corbusier, 1996). Colomina claims that modern architecture is modern not by the use of glass, steel, or
reinforced concrete but rather because of the introduction of mass media (photography, film, advertising,
publishers, etc.).
Pérez-Gómez states; 'Expecting architectural representations to embody a symbolic order (…) will seem
controversial unless we revise the common assumptions about art and its relationship to human life that
have been with us since the eighteenth century (Pérez-Gómez, 2005)'. It would not be incorrect to assert
that based on Pérez Gómez's discourse, architectural representation is a tool for establishing social and
cultural engagement across cultures rather than being just a symbol for communication between
New media has a certain cost, but it is complicated to explain whose income is this. For example, when one read a
news on the new media, whom do we pay? Is it the computer company or the one who made the news or do we
pay our internet company? This complexity can be explained by the theory of capitalist economies.
4 The following studies can be reviewed; (Standage, 2013), (Whiting & Williams, 2013),(Kweon, Hwang, & Jo,
2011), (Martin, 2003).
3
31
architects and non-architects. However, these assumptions were based on data from over 17 years ago,
and it is unclear if these are still valid.
The majority of studies on the representation of architecture evaluate the relationship of architecture
with the physical environment. In these studies, user requests/profiles, the relationship between the
physical environment and the structure, the relationship between age and the structure, and building
materials were evaluated 5. The subject of this study is not a physical structure; therefore, it cannot be
evaluated by the above methodologies.
2.4. The Archdaily as the New Media
Today, New Media brings architectural works into our lives. It is possible to claim that the contemporary
theory of architecture is being written in more than one medium and multiple ways. In the 21st century,
there are many architectural offices in the world, and almost all of these offices have online pages
(portfolios) in the new media environment. In addition, architecture magazines also have accounts with
online access. It would not be wrong to address these platforms, whose ancestors were magazines, as
new media. Archdaily is one of these platforms.
ArchDaily was founded as a Spanish site Plataformaarquitectura. cl by David Basulto and David Assael in
late 2008 (Archdaily, 2020). Basulto and Assael understood the power of new media and its impact on
the profession and set their goal as creating a big architectural platform and designing a place that offers
new opportunities for the discipline of architecture (Cilento, 2012).
Is Archdaily a New Media? Since the 'Digital Media–Architecture Relationships: ArchDaily As A
Representation Tool' thesis answered this question, Archdaily is accepted as new media in this study6.
To sum up, new media has a complex structure. It is cultural. It is fast. It is instant. It is global. It is
reachable. It is everywhere… The numerous information flows in new media have made the researchers
question; Is the content of such platforms qualified? Therefore it is possible to develop hypotheses for
the study as;
H: Archdaily should be equipped with maximum sensitivity to respond quickly/instantly to the architectural
culture in the 21st century.
Examples of these studies are; (Dinç Kalayci, 2015), (Gür, 2009), (Demirhan, 2019), (Keskin, 2000).
In the methodology part of ‘Digital Media–Architecture Relationships: ArchDaily As A Representation Tool’ thesis,
the 1st stage analysis has proven that Archdaily is a new media platform. For this reason, Archdaily will be
considered as new media in this study.
5
6
32
3. METHODOLOGY
This study aims to measure Archdaily's performance in a specific period and determine its
response/reflex to the architectural culture. ArchDaily's publications will be examined between Jan 1
and to Sept 3. In this period of time, an extraordinary situation, such as a pandemic7, has taken the whole
world under its influence, and Archdaily's attitude towards a new event has been wondered. Archdaily's
response to an abnormal order was considered remarkable and notable. Another reason for choosing
this period is that Archdaily changed its web interface while conducting the research. Therefore, the
study could not be continued in the same way after Sept 3, 2020 because some publications on Archdaily
have changed, altered, or lost. New media's immediate response to a crisis will be monitored, and this
inquiry can provide existing new media(s) with more accurate/strategic developmental proposals.
As mentioned before, the method used in previous studies that examine architectural objects will not be
used in this study because the 'Object' of this inquiry is not a physical object. Therefore, a new model
proposal is required for this study.
Proposed Methodology Model:
The proposed model has three variables, one independent and two dependent variables. The
independent variable is Archdaily. The dependent variables are the subject (writers and readers, their
interactions and participation), and time (21. century architectural culture) (Figure 1). This analysis was
conducted with a qualitative research program called ATLAS.ti.
ATLAS.ti. is a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). The software was
developed at the Technical University of Berlin in Germany between 1989 and 1992 (Friese, 2019). It is
used for analyzing data in visual, written, and even audio form and allows the researcher to interpret the
data.
Wolcott states that the main aim of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software is to close the
gap between the original text and interpretative text (Wolcott, 1994). Parallel to this idea, Friese states,
the ATLAS.ti program minimizes the researcher's subjectivity by creating simultaneous findings and
presenting them as quantitative documents (Friese, 2019). ATLAS.ti was preferred to achieve as much
accuracy as possible because the software enables the researcher to analyze the context using forwardreading, backward-reading, and cross-reading. Qualitative data analysis software is mainly used in social
science, but there are also examples in architecture and planning8.
Figure 1. The proposed model for the new media of architecture.
WHO (World Health Organization) announced Coronavirus as a pandemic on 11 March 2020 (WHO, 2020). A
global crisis has emerged.
8 These studies can be seen; (Özer, 2017), (Ashkan, 2016).
7
33
Previous studies in the literature have approved the environment variable of the proposed model 9. As
is seen in the figure, the model is not a perfect triangle since the New Media is a dynamic and
interconnected structure, and the structure's corners are not sharp, so new media seem to globalize.
Variables tend to interact with each other. The variables of the study will be explained in the following;
The Independent Variable: Archdaily
The independent variable of the study is Archdaily. Archdaily has been recognized as a new media
platform. In order to examine the effects/reactions of Archdaily on the architectural culture, it is
necessary to interpret Archdaily's publications. Since Archdaily is an open-access new media platform,
no restrictions were encountered in accessing this data.
Data collection: All of Archdaily's publications between Jan 1 and Sept 3 have been accessed online10.
Later, these publications were saved on a computer as word documents. Then all word files were
transferred to ATLAS.ti software.
Coding and Managing Data; Firstly, all the content read and citations considered essential for research
were determined by keeping the study's hypothesis and purpose in mind11. The researcher marked five
hundred eighty-six (586) citations from 105 articles12.
Analyses: Each marked citation examined to express the underlying meaning by questioning; 'Says
What?', 'To Whom?' and 'With What Effect?' 13. According to the answers given, ATLAS.ti categorized
these citations and revealed the research findings numerically.
The Dependent Variable 1: Subject
The subject variable is available to evaluate/observe Archdaily's communication with the author-reader.
The evaluation of the author-reader relationships aims to diagnose Archdaily's response to meeting
society's (primarily architectural) expectations.
Archdaily publications and all comments under these publications in the specified time interval are
uploaded to ATLAS.ti for this measurement. Publications with comments are classified under the
'subject' variable for review by the researcher. After this classification, the content of the statements and
their comments is evaluated. Do both comments and publications meet the expectations of the public?
What does Archdaily tell/say/imply about the architectural culture? Those evaluations were carried out
as in the example below.
For detailed information, one can read; (Esen & Dinç Kalayci, 2021), (Esen, 2021).
www.archdaily.com
11 The sentences that could answer the hypothesis were examined. The issues discussed in the literature are
emphasized.
12 Figure 3 can be seen.
13 These questions come from a query method called the lasswell formula, and this query is made for media
mediums (both traditional and new media). Since Archdaily is accepted as a new media, the study was conducted
with these questions in order to understand the content of the message more clearly. For more detailed
information, the following articles can be examined; (McQuail & Windahl, 2015), (Esen, 2021).
9
10
34
Figure 2. Repetitive and abstract reading processes on ATLAS.ti
Figure 2 displays what is meant to be said based on the essential meaning. In this example, the aim is to
reach the text's original purpose most accurately. The researcher coded five stages on ATLAS.ti software;
each step approaches more and more abstract/exact meaning.
ATLAS.ti software tries to bring out the most accurate result by bringing every stage to the researcher
many times. For example, while reading other articles, ATLAS.ti software shows the previous ones in the
side window. In this way, researchers can see their remarks simultaneously, leading to crossover and
more accurate readings.
The Dependent Variable 2: Time
Time is chosen as the dependent variable because Archdaily's reactions may vary for different periods.
Which values regarding time are desired to be examined? The answer to this question can be found in
the literature section. New media has been evaluated from different perspectives in the literature section.
These are features such as being fast/ instant/ rapid, being a cultural environment, and being a
distribution/representation platform. Therefore, whether Archdaily can respond to these concepts will
be examined.
In the information age, the definition of 'time' has modernized and developed on common sense,
according to Giddens's discourse (Giddens, 2013). It was mentioned in the literature that new media is a
culture. Parallel to this idea, Archdaily is supposed to be appropriate to this culture and meet the time's
characteristics.
There are two reasons for the chosen specific time frame; firstly, the appearance of the pandemic is a
situation that resonates around the world, and it was thought that Archdaily's response to architectural
culture could be observed more clearly in such an environment. Secondly, when the evaluation started
on Archdaily, the Archdaily platform changed its web interface. This change has led to the fact that the
inquiry cannot be managed in the same order anymore. Therefore, the research was kept within a
specific date range.
35
The study method is based on detailed cross-reading. Unlike the subject variable, all posts with or
without comments are evaluated in this variable. While reading/evaluating the publications, it was
checked whether Archdaily was fast/ instant/ rapid and whether it created a cultural environment. This
assessment was made by examining how Archdaily responded to events in the world. Quotations were
reviewed by looking for the above-mentioned features of Archdaily14.
Case Study
The researcher analyzed 105 publications submitted to architectural culture via Archdaily between Jan
1 and Sept 3, 2020. By reading the 105 publications in detail, 586 quotations were obtained by dividing
publications into 'Meaning Units.' It should be noted that not every word/sentence was considered
meaningful for the investigation in 105 articles. Text fragments (quotations) that can contribute to the
study's hypothesis are included in the analysis 15.
For this study, a licensed student version of ATLAS. ti has been purchased monthly. The researchers have
trained through tutorials and have reached the required qualification to run this software. Also, a short
training was received by participating in the 'Introduction to Qualitative Coding with Delve' webinar on
Wed, Oct 21, 2020.
14
15
The study was carried out by the method in figure 2.
Figure 3, the parts participating in the study are shown with 'highlight'.
36
Figure 3. Data coding and reading processes on ATLAS.ti
As seen in Figure 3, the left side of the page is for ArchDaily contents; the right side is used for coding on
ATLAS.ti. Although some sentences addressed more than one code, some sentences were not related to
any code. While making these analyses, researchers kept the research hypothesis and research variables
in their mind. The examination was not taken sequentially hence retrospective readings were made.
4. FINDINGS
The research was completed through ATLAS.ti. software. Figure 4 summarizes the research findings'
relationships with the variables. The most frequently mentioned topics were determined, and ATLAS.ti
analyzed those topics by the 'in vivo coding' feature.
37
Figure 4. The Relationships between Variables
Figure 4 is created to explain that cross-readings and correlation relations were established, and
repeated retrospective readings were done with ATLAS.ti. First, the most mentioned subjects have been
determined with the help of ATLAS.ti. and indicated by arrows in 4 directions (figure 4). As is seen in
Figure 4, there is a correlation between Archdaily (the independent variable) and the dependent
variables. 'In vivo coding', one of the most important features provided by ATLAS.ti, is expressed with a
red arrow. Thanks to this feature, it is aimed to get findings closest to reality16. Finally, ATLAS.ti revealed
the most related findings. All these findings were mathematically analyzed by ATLAS.ti and presented to
the researchers in percentages (figure 5).
Figure 5. Percentage Values of the Depended Variables
16
For more information, one can read (Friese, 2019).
38
4.1. Findings related with Subject
The Author's & Reader's Relationships have been measured via ATLAS. ti software. Two main concepts
were encountered in the context of the data examined: New Normals / Predictions and Community Needs.
New Normals / Predictions:
When Archdaily publications are examined, discourses about pandemic conditions / predictive
statements about the future are encountered. For instance;
'How can architecture, particularly in dense areas, reduce risk for inevitable future pandemics? Will the
anxiety over hygiene instigated by coronavirus have lasting effects on the way architects and urban
planners design going forward?' (Archdaily, 2020).
Asking questions discourses seem to establish a relationship with the reader. Also;
'One good news, however: emissions in cities are on the decline, and nature is running its regenerative course.
But how long will this last?' (Archdaily, 2020).
There is a comment about the changes that come with the pandemic and a question to the reader about
how long it will continue. Such posts have been evaluated under New Normals / Predictions title.
According to ATLAS.ti findings, 586 quotations were labeled on the articles. New Normals/Predictions
were mentioned 131 times, and that makes %22 percent of the whole data.
Community Needs:
Almost every discipline has to consider community needs; hence one can claim that the discipline of
architecture has to consider Community the most. Because architecture is for everyone, it is expected
that new architecture media should publish community-need topics. When Archdaily was examined,
discourses that consider the people's health, economic, housing, and mental needs were encountered.
For instance;
'Moreover, if the COVID-19 pandemic has proved anything, it is that outdoor, public spaces are very much a
necessity' (Archdaily, 2020).
Here, a determination has been made about the needs of the people. Therefore, Archdaily served as a
bridge between the public and their architectural needs. In other words, it can also be interpreted as
establishing a relationship between the reader and the author. It should be remembered that only the
publications with comments are examined in the 'Subject' variable. Another example from Archdaily;
'Perhaps, "smart" architecture and public spaces will reduce the chances of infection. We need to come up
with solutions for better public space in the cities.' (Archdaily, 2020).
A comment has been made that considers public health and calls architects to come up with better
solutions for society. Therefore, a call to the reader has been observed whether s/he is an architect or
not. In such publications, it is seen that there are 586 quotes, and Community Needs were mentioned
152 times, which makes %26 percent of the whole data.
4.2. Findings related with Time
Six findings (Urgent Architectural Solutions, Repeated Discourse, Mediatic Discourse, Applicable /
Applied, Negative Discourse, and Building Transformations) were encountered considering Time
variables.
Applicable / Applied:
When Archdaily publications are examined, discourses about built structures or going-to-be-built
structures, and designs that offer easy/practical production/solution topics are encountered. For
instance;
'With 3,500 containers per vessel, patients would only stay on the ship in the circumstances where there is
no place to deploy the containers. The containers are adapted by having one of the steel doors removed and
39
a perspex panel riveted in place. The perspex also has a hit and miss panel for natural ventilation and a
built-in air-conditioning unit' (Archdaily, 2020).
In this example, an architectural problem seems to have been resolved. Considering that this problem
emerged with the pandemic, it can be seen that Archdaily offered a solution to the 21st-century
architectural culture.
'The building was completed in under 10 days by a team of 7,000 construction workers, a far cry from the
reality many countries are facing as they scramble to quell the outbreak and wrestle with the shortcomings
of their own healthcare systems. With over 14,000 dead and more than 300,000 infected worldwide, not to
mention a shortage of medical supplies and facilities, health systems across the globe are feeling the strain
of preparing for a crisis.' (Archdaily, 2020).
In this example, it is mentioned that an architectural solution was produced in a short time (in 10 days).
Although it is appropriate to evaluate this quotation in the context of Applicable / Applied, different
meanings can be derived from the rest of the sentence. Therefore, this sentence has been assessed as a
quote under different headings. As can be seen, several different interpretations can be made from a
sentence. This way, findings that correlate with each other have also been determined17 . Out of 586
quotations, 97 of them related to Applicable / Applied, which makes %17 percent of the whole data.
Building Transformation:
When Archdaily publications are examined, discourses about 'structures previously used for different
scenarios and now used for other purposes' topics are encountered. For instance;
'...adaptation of pre-existing structures such as market centers, sports fields, and schools in order to convert
them into medical centers.' (Archdaily, 2020).
The example clearly mentions that buildings that serve a particular purpose should be converted into
health centers. Therefore, it has been tried to propose a solution to a concept that creates a crisis in the
21 st century. In this respect, it is thought that that quotation responds to the time.
'Wuhan began constructing three temporary hospitals in Wuhan Hongshan Stadium, Wuhan Salon, and
Wuhan International Convention and Exhibition Center.' (Archdaily, 2020).
Publications related to the pandemic can be thought to respond to the needs of the time. The fact that it
responds to the requirements of the time and announces it to its readers also shows that Archdaily
creates a cultural environment and is a distribution/representation platform. Out of 586 quotations,
Building Transformations were mentioned 33 times, which makes %6 percent of the whole data.
Mediatic Discourse:
It was mentioned that faster / instant responses may not always be a good idea18. Mediatic discourses
usually aim to get readers' attention, and there is no story behind these publications/news. Therefore,
these discourses move away from theory. For instance;
'Without a doubt, the critical scenario we are experiencing today ...' (Archdaily, 2020).
This sentence uses a sharp expression such as 'Without a doubt'. The goal here may be to grab the
reader's attention because no theoretical information about the current situation has been given to the
reader.
17
Figure 4 can be seen for correlations.
18
One can check ‘New Media as a Faster / Instant Response’ in litrature review.
40
'For more information, check www.erco.com, www.arclighting.de or follow him @arcspaces' (Archdaily,
2020).
Here, the reader is directed to another new media environment. Therefore, it can be interpreted that the
necessary theoretical background is not in the Archdaily article. One can state, Archdaily can not fulfill
theoretical needs and redirect the reader to other new media platforms. Therefore, these and similar
publications are also interpreted in the 'Mediatic Discourse' category. Out of 586 quotations, Mediatic
Discourse was mentioned 97 times, which makes %17 percent of the whole data.
Negative Discourse:
Another concept mentioned in Archdaily is 'negative discourse'. Contrary to the solution scenarios
related to the pandemic, these discourses frequently mention the crisis and arouse a sense of panic in
the public/reader. Therefore, one comes across a text that has moved away from constructive/positive
discourses. For instance;
'Each new day seems to add to the uncertainty about the immediate and long-term impact of the
Coronavirus pandemic .' (Archdaily, 2020).
For example, this sentence evokes hopelessness about the future. Especially the word 'uncertainty' tends
to cause alarm in the reader. It can also be thought that this word is used to attract the attention of the
reader. Therefore, this quotation is one of the texts evaluated under both headings, 'negative discourse
and mediatic discourse.' because there is no theoretical information in this sentence.
'The situation is so bad that doctors have been reported to wear diapers so as not to waste time with toilet
breaks.' (Archdaily, 2020).
Here, the severity of the pandemic is intended to be mentioned. But the word 'so bad' draws attention.
Therefore, it can be stated that it is a discourse that will panic society. Archdaily’s quotes that have
'disaster scenarios' and emphasize the 'badness' of the situation were considered negative. Out of 586
quotations, Negative Discourse was mentioned 93 times, which makes %16 percent of the whole data.
Repeated Discourse:
Repetitive discourses are cases of mentioning the same thing over and over again. Therefore, cases,
where Arrchdaily did repetition have been identified. Repeated discourses do not produce anything new;
they just create a crowd of information. The tendency of the architectural media to fall into repetition
does not add any new information to the literature, and it only distracts the architectural society. Some
examples of repetitive discourses are given following;
'Over the course of a few days, the lives of millions of people have drastically changed.' (Archdaily, 2020).
'Home office is a practice that has become quite common during the last years.' (Archdaily, 2020).
The sentences are used in more than one text. Out of 586 quotations, Repeated Discourse was mentioned
101 times, which makes %19 percent of the whole data.
Urgent Architectural Solution:
It can be accepted as a reflection of the speed expectation. Discourses that offer quickly decided
architectural needs with fast construction and instant suggestions have been observed on Archdaily.
'Yale School of Architecture came up with proposal designs on churches, synagogues and mosques that can
be quickly built as "Pop-Up Places of Worship" in refugee camps.' (Archdaily, 2020).
As can be understood from the sentence above, it is mentioned that the structures can be built quicklyrapidly-easily. In the age of speed, rapid architectural solutions have been mentioned on Archdaily.
41
'…The three buildings of this medical center were designed and constructed within 20 days' (Archdaily,
2020).
The idea of rapid production and construction was Urgent Architectural Solutions were mentioned 127
times which makes %22 percent of the whole data.
To sum up, Archdaily should create humanistic, beyond-mediatic relationships with its readers. Keeping
attention to community needs (primarily architectural) and offering architectural solutions would seem
to depend on the authors' choice in the new architectural media. The analyses revealed the importance
of the author's point of view.
Archdaily was expected to bring instant solutions to the challenges of the 21 st century. Although a
significant percentage of Urgent Architectural Solutions, Building Transformation, Applicable / Applied,
and Community Needs were expected to be present in Archdaily, there was also a considerable percentage
of Repeated Discourse, Negative Discourse, and Mediatic Discourse obtained. According to findings, the
hypothesis, 'Archdaily should be equipped with maximum sensitivity to respond quickly/instantly to the
architectural culture in the 21st century.' has been supported.
5. DISCUSSION
Analyzes have shown that Archdaily was not entirely capable of responding to the architectural society
between Jan 1 and Sept 3, 2020. For example, Archdaily was only able to meet the 'community needs'
variable at a rate of 26% (figure 5). Therefore, it is observed that Archdaily, which is considered to be
the new media, did not show a strong connection with the public19. Why would such a result be achieved?
This incapability can be interpreted as a result of the faster / instant response concepts mentioned in the
literature (Manovich, 2003). This speed can sometimes lead to quality deficiencies. Publishing instantly,
especially in the first year of Covid-19 Pandemy might have caused Archdaily to weaken the bond with
the reader.
Parallel to this, repetitive content is another weakness that has entered our lives with new media
(Manovich, 2003). Let's remember the newspaper example given in the literature; it was stated that there
is a control mechanism at every stage while publishing. The convenience brought by the New Media is a
distribution/representation platform as well as faster / instant response. Therefore, this repeated
information, which reaches too many people instantly, can cause a chaotic statement to the architectural
society. One may have difficulty distinguishing between new information and old information. Therefore,
the 'instant' New Media becomes not so instant, even' time killing' for those looking for the correct
information. Repetitions on Archdaily may be due to Archdaily's desire to respond quickly to a crisis such
as a pandemic. Archdaily may have fallen into repetition with the concern of being 'instant'.
Another remarkable issue is; 'building transformations' has a deficient percentage. According to Gropius,
'… architects should operate as a society coordinator, and they should curate architectural solutions for
social problems to steer society in another direction through new forms (Gropius 1965)'. Although
Archdaily publishes architectural solutions20, it is noteworthy that Archdaily could not fulfill them in a
satisfactory amount. Perhaps this is because Archdaily, like many other media, does not know how to
react to an emerging crisis21. It can be claimed that if Archdaily had a solid theoretical background, maybe
it would not suffer from such a problem. It is also necessary to mention the lack of theoretical discourses.
It was explained in the previous sections that mediatic discourses and repeated discourses do not contain
any theoretical information. Therefore, it can be claimed that; if mediatic and repeated discourses are
The public mentioned here can be interpreted as the architectural society or readers who are /are not an
architect.
20 Such as; ‘urgent architectural solutions’, ‘Building Transformations’ and ‘Applicable/ Applied’ (Figure 5).
21 Crisis mentioned here is the pandemic.
19
42
reduced, more theoretical information will be available on Archdaily. And in this way, Archdaily may
fulfill and meet the needs of the age.
6. CONCLUSION
It is crucial to evaluate New Media for the architecture discipline with a comprehensive and appropriate
model. Evaluating approaches based on different perspectives ( subject-time ) and examining these
perspectives in terms of their relationships may develop a contemporary architectural culture
environment. This study should be considered an initial attempt to establish a new model for new
architectural media. The results indicated; Repeated Discourse, Mediatic Discourse, lack of Architectural
Solutions, and Community Needs to be the key factors that could affect ArchDaily's success in meeting
society's (primarily architectural) expectations.
As a result, several undesirable characteristics (such as non-theoretical discourses) were discovered.
Therefore, it was thought that the Archdaily platform should develop its theoretical infrastructure to
strengthen its relations with the architectural culture environment. To address these weaknesses, it is
suggested that an 'Archdaily Academic' platform can be developed as a sub-platform. The Archdaily
Academic platform can theoretically analyse the period, write the history of architecture in the new
media environment, and enhance the architectural culture environment. As a result, the chaotic
atmosphere can be balanced, and the performance of architectural media can improve in terms of readerauthor-time relationships. Therefore, new architectural media tools can be fluid, contemporary, and
realistic and further media-culture-public-architecture relations can be established.
43
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45
NEW WILDERNESS. THE REGENERATIVE
ARCHITECTURE OF URBAN-INDUSTRIAL NATURE
LUCA ZECCHIN1
ABSTRACT
The territorial dimension of the settlements and the new urbanities that incorporate and are
incorporated by Nature, require the transformation of the point of view, establishing regenerative
“minglings” between apparently irreconcilable elements. The Nature for city is at the top of the list of
materials on which to base the composition of the contemporary “landscape-city” and the re-generation
of parts-places of it. An issue that now is intertwined with those of wildness. In our cities, Nature takes
back its spaces, the selva re-emerges as a primary figure and imposes a project, especially in the “urbanindustrial Nature” where natural processes often create completely new habitats based on existing
resources. Its relevance derives from being a refuge for biodiversity and, at the same time, a useful design
material. Observed by the disciplines of architectural and urban design for the spatial composition and
regeneration, in the “new wilderness” the figure of the selva refers to the significant voids and to edges,
thresholds, transitions, fringes that undermine the clear definitions between inside-out, open-closed,
permeable-impermeable. The design operations are those of preserving the boundary void and the
stratification of margins. The intrusive character of “new wilderness” refers to the processes of
colonization of space with figures that undermine physical and perceptual boundaries. The design
operations are those of confusing and re-connoting them. This thematic and figurative imagery is applied
to the project of regeneration and enhancement of a significant fragment of a recent urban landscape in
northern Italy, an ordinary suburb built by commercial and productive sheds along a busy road, large
asphalt forecourts, abandoned or underused intercluded spaces, surviving tracks of amena Nature, weak
and fragmented relationships. Within this framework, the process of wilderness regeneration is
understood first as a methodological approach, which is a question of verifying the potential that
emerging themes for the contemporary project must creatively tamper with the urban architectural form.
Keywords: Architecture, Urbanity, Regeneration, New Wilderness, Urban-industrial Nature
1
Arch. Ph.D., Assistant Professor (RtDb) University of Udine, Italy.
46
1. THE NATURE FOR CITY
Climate change, environmental decay, widespread pollution, rapid consumption of resources, radical
modification of ecosystems, are among the emerging issues for the contemporary project. The modern
design principles, based on the concepts of separation and development, now appear to be ineffective.
The territorial dimension of the settlements and the new urbanities that incorporate and are
incorporated by Nature, require the transformation of the point of view, articulating multiple levels of
interpretation and new paradigms, establishing regenerative “minglings” (Zecchin, 2018) between
apparently irreconcilable elements.
In order that the figures of artifice can weave new regenerative relationships with Nature, able to
produce ecologies rather than destroying them, the project is called to find resources within the figures
themselves, re-conceptualizing the accumulated artificial residues and existing stagnant structures as an
instrument of ecological evolution, a resource to be exploited and enhanced. Taking care of what is placed
“between things and not just what simply is” (Clément, 2015), this approach forces us to renounce to a
project as a pre-determined construction, in exchange for an eco-effective system of goods able to
respond to living and changing conditions. The new project requires a “creative cannibalization” (Clifford
et al., 2017) of the already built “urban materials” in more resilient and performing spatial and ecological
cohabitations. It is a necessity that crosses scales and geographies of the project, in which to specify the
role that Nature and landscape can play in the urban regeneration process.
If on the one hand the mitigation strategies outline long-term scenarios, on the other the effects of the
changed environmental conditions and its crises place cities in the face of increasingly demanding and
cogent challenges to design and recompose adaptive spaces. Green blue infrastructures are at the centre
of these strategies. The first agreements as complex systems of green equipment and “greening devices”,
the second as networks of natural water bodies and “sustainable urban drainage systems”.
The concept of green blue infrastructure describes “a category of artifacts, technologies and practices
that use natural - or artificial systems that simulate natural processes - with the aim of improving the
overall environmental quality and supplying public utility services. In general, green blue infrastructures
use soil and vegetation for infiltration, evapotranspiration and/or recycling of rainwater. Green blue
infrastructures, such as green roofs, permeable floors, rain gardens, and green trenches can supply a
variety of environmental benefits when used as components of rainwater management systems. In
addition to allowing sedimentation and infiltration of rainwater, these technologies can simultaneously
help to reduce atmospheric pollutants, reduce energy demand, mitigate the effect of urban heat island,
and keep carbon monoxide, while also offering to communities’ aesthetic benefits and green spaces” (US
Environmental Protection Agency).
Green blue infrastructures are “multi-functional resources able to offer benefits about landscape quality,
ecological functioning, and quality of life. Their design and management should help protect and improve
the character and identity of places, considering the types of present landscapes and habitats” (Town
and Country Planning Association, London). In the city understood as an ecosystem, they can be designed
as real bio-infrastructures, devices that simulate the functioning of natural systems, “prostheses” of
artificial naturalness designed to replace environmental parts, fragmented by urban development, or to
restore functioning of those compromised. The introduction of green blue infrastructures can be an
opportunity for the urban design culture and the sense and role that Nature can play in the urban
composition and/or re-composition.
The Nature for city - here understood as quality green and blue spaces and infrastructures - is at the top
of the list of materials on which to base the composition of the contemporary “landscape-city” (Bocchi,
2006, Zecchin, 2019) and the re-generation of parts-places of it.
The landscape is central to the morphological constitution of the new city. Marginal spaces, urban and
extra-urban voids, borders between spaces and different uses of the territory planned by zones,
abandoned or underutilized areas, large production platforms and scattered small scraps, appear as the
artificial spaces most available for transformation. They are fundamental occasions of the new urban
47
form and can become the structuring places of “a city basically shaped by the landscape and its
characteristic elements, in which the project of the empty space can become prevalent on the project of
the full space, in which indeed the empty space is potentially the full, the very matter of urban
construction” (Bocchi, 2006). A city that returns to making to the geography the founding character of
its own form, in which the architecture is the necessary measuring instrument within a project-process
of adaptation, strengthening and repair over time. Considering the natural element as a design “outil”,
working on what already exists, these widespread spaces and fragments of space can be composed with
Nature in new relational “armor”: radical landscape-architectures working, together, for human and
environment (Zecchin, 2019).
2. THE NEW WILDERNESS
The issues of Nature for city outlined so far are intertwined with those of wildness. Wilderness refers to
an original condition dominated by a lack of order. The selva (Lat. sĭlva) is the spontaneous plant
association, forest, plants outside the enclosure, area where Nature grows and spreads freely, where
climatic factors, soil and human action create conditions such that the dominant plant species are trees.
It is a space of relations that are not regulated in cultural terms, without human law. The figure of the
selva indicates a multitude of things, sometimes intricate and confusing, collected, miscellaneous, varied
or composed in a non-organic and not definitive form.
In our cities, Nature takes back its spaces (Clément, 2005), suddenly the wild appears, the selva reemerges as a primary figure and imposes a project. As much as we have been accustomed to living in an
artificial environment, we should remember that man comes from natural evolution, depends on it and
without it cannot live. Wilderness that returns to our cities, tests that the barrier effect created by our
structures is fragile and must become more resilient. Preserving, regenerating, and making available
wilderness in our cities and in their ordinary urban declinations are not only measures for the protection
of biodiversity, but embrace wide positive effects in social, recreational, and quality of urban life terms,
as amply highlighted by Aldo Leopold (1949), a pioneer of wildness.
Wilderness is a resource with known characteristics to explore. Urban ecologist Ingo Kowarik (2005)
described four “types of Nature” that can be found in a city. “Nature of the first type” are the remnants of
the original natural landscape such as former natural habitats, forests and wetlands, floodplains, and
embankments, which often found on the edge of cities. “Nature of the second type” are the relics of the
cultivated landscape connected to agricultural areas, arable land, meadows, and pastures, often subject
to strong pressures and where wilderness pushed to the edges between the parts. “Nature of the third
type” are the green landscape areas, the predominant part of the urban green infrastructure designed by
man, from parks to private gardens, in which wildness creeps into areas of transition and non-use.
“Nature of the fourth type” is “urban-industrial Nature”, limited to urban areas and linked to its
development, spontaneous emergence on already built areas or urban-industrial areas waiting,
abandoned or in disuse. Here, Nature claims spaces that have been profoundly transformed by man. This
“urban-industrial Nature” is the “new wilderness” (Kowarik, 2013) because it is natural processes that
often create completely new habitats based on existing resources. Its relevance derives from being a
refuge for biodiversity and, at the same time, material for sustainable urban regeneration.
The liberation of abandoned built spaces, the infiltration of Nature into those still in use, their renaturalization ensures the resilience of systems and the best coexistence between Nature and city, cities
understood as greener, healthier, wilder living systems, to improve the lives of people, wildlife forms and
Nature, for a transformation based on Nature, for sustainable and inclusive cities-landscape. “The return
to Nature and wildlife in our cities is desirable, beneficial and even possible” (SWW, 2015). The idea of a
city that dares wilderness refers to the opportunity to give development to natural successions that take
place in different urban and suburban spaces, to increase the diversity of species and habitats and the
quality of life.
48
Cities and their ordinary urbanities can be regenerated as frontier places where “disruptive
interventions based on natural models” can be applied, because “extreme pragmatism is the path to true
creativity” that “the inherently artificial reality of our planetary condition” requires us (Bratton, 2019).
It is precisely during the condition of suspension of the as usual model in which we are immersed that it
is worth to pose and overcome the challenge on “revealed pathologies” (Bratton, 2019), on how to ensure
a future based on coexistence with vital, healthy, and resilient natural systems, starting from these
frontier places that cities are, creatively interpreting its emerging figures.
3. THE DESIGN FIGURES AND MODES
Observed by the disciplines of architectural and urban design for the spatial composition and
regeneration, in the “new wilderness” the figure of the selva refers to the significant voids and to edges,
thresholds, transitions, fringes that undermine the clear definitions between inside-out, open-closed,
permeable-impermeable. The design operations are those of preserving the boundary void and the
stratification of margins (Zecchin, 2012).
In architecture, preserving an empty space means push to the edges to free up space. Freeing spaces
means not feeling the need to fill them, it means working at the edges of what is already there. The empty
space appears the primary design resource, a prerogative of value rather than defect. The empty space
available, rich in potential and prolific, becomes the true matter of composition. Building thresholds is
used to open or close a space and to preserve objects along the edges necessary for its operation without
occupying it. The margin gets thickness, complexity and meaning and not to the mere separation of two
realities, it becomes space where it is possible to live on a different scale. In many cases the margin is the
only workable way of intervention, a clean-up action. The need to open and close a space and to preserve
objects necessary for its operation without occupying it, and the conformity as a place from which to see
and in which to be privileged, makes these architectural devices deeply necessary, not at all accessories,
intense and precious. It is the poetics of the mismatch between conterminal spaces, in which matter
focused on thicknesses able to gradually enlarge to increase its ability to contain and the hollow structure
as a generator of architectural configurations that result in a multidimensional phenomenological
experience.
The construction by accumulation of successive layers over time and, in contrast, the decay of the
construction that allows the layers to appear for the first time, corresponds to a project-palimpsest. In
some cases, this means using a preventive project that governs architectures and landscapes in
transformation, the result of the coexistence of various times - geological, plant, human - in which time
is project material. These operations recall the destructive force that creates beauty. Beauty can be
produced by tragedies, by the radical transformations of a place or a single point, destruction understood
as a transformation that produces beauty. Spaces of rationality are contaminated by deliberate
destruction or the passage of time revealing the disorder and disintegration of order. The stratification
of time produces a new form, distinct at every moment from the previous and next conformation: a
changing architecture shows together with the other forms, those of Nature, a new characteristic unit.
The proliferation of wilderness in the order spaces requires a reflection on the conceptual and
operational tools useful to reconstruct the relationship lost with the natural. The combinatorial space
between Nature and artifice can be identified as a privileged place of research. The artifice flexes and
opens a renewed dialogue of closer contamination with the materials of Nature to express an invention
always inspired by the reality that teaches us to see. Research that urges us to think more creatively
about the relationship between the two terms. Moving away from the truth of Nature, another truth, a
combinatorial path that no longer belongs exclusively to one or the other, is generated by their
experienced and renewed relationship. On the one hand, the urgency of responding to issues related to
the environmental, climate and ecological crisis requires us to put our work to this reality in
dimensionally and conceptually radical terms. On the other hand, the reality with which architecture
works today, at least for much of the territories we inhabit, is a compromised amalgam where Nature
49
can play a design and procedural role that starts from reality to return it to a construction that is only
analogous to Nature itself. And it suggests a contaminated spatiality, an intense dialogue between
architecture and Nature. The project becomes the process of assembling and concatenating sequences
that change over time, working with empty space, margins, and fragments. The pre-existing elements,
first selected, can contaminated with each other and with the new elements within new narrative
structures, through the tools of fragmentation and combinatorial composition that folds space on itself
and in many directions, marking the coexistence, promiscuity, the border, and the absence of the border.
This means tying the parts together through a general goal, considered in the context of space-time
changes, through movement and perception, to assimilate intrusions and feed on them.
The intrusive character of “new wilderness” refers to the processes of colonization of space with figures
that undermine physical and perceptual boundaries. The design operations are those of confusing and
re-connoting them (Zecchin, 2012).
Camouflage, hide, mimicry, imitate, are actions of the intruder who changes appearance to adapt,
working on the dissolution between being and not being. Intrusive strategies are useful to the project
that must contend with the possibility of its existence with everything already there. The intrusion
proves dialectical relationships between foreign bodies and pre-existing structures. The intrusive Nature
of architecture refers to its ability to colonize by veiling itself and adapting revealing reality. The
intrusion does not express a renunciation attitude of the project, belongs to the enhancement of the detail
in a background structure impossible to erase. Both aims need to support the distinction between the
object and its context, and certainly not its deletion. Parasites or lichens, viruses or bacteria adopt the
devices of contaminating by dissolving, defence actions and ambushes necessary to survive. To escape
attacks from predators, fragile bodies reproduce shapes and colours of the surrounding environment. In
architecture, camouflage can show a close link with the place, become an instrument of interpretation
and reverberation of the context. As Neil Leach argues, “the desire to assimilate potentially contains
within it a specifically architectural concern, in that assimilation involves a process of relating to the
environment” (Leach, 2006). The art of camouflage perpetuates the purpose of invisibility, architecture
loses definition to blend in with the environment, the intruder duplicates the host’s identity to escape
recognition and gain a strategic advantage. An architecture-intruder hides through dialogic forms in
relation to the physicality of the place and uses the properties of camouflage with, and the mirror of,
context. Camouflage is as much the outer casing of a building that is enveloped by vegetation as an
architecture that belongs deeply to a geography and appropriates its elements: an architecturelandscape that is structured through co-existing relationships and without fractures, which to dissolve
duplicates the place in an indistinct whole. The stated attempt to blend in makes this architecture more
powerful than its presence. Uncertainty that dissolves identities, in the name of the environment and its
potential, is the peculiar characteristic of such contaminations.
The intruder is a stranger, crossing a threshold it undergoes the experience of transformation. The
transmutation of the morphological characters of architecture, to adapt to the found conditions, is
manifested when a building tends to imitate or explicitly refer to a reality belonging to a world outside
it, distorting with this its own morphogenetic code. The indefinite is obtained by cutting any reference
to an organically articulated compositional grammar, an architecture without defined margins or limits
where the perception of the size and the real entity of space is confused to connotate as an environment
with no apparent end. The informal is the arrangement of things in space, an architecture that adapts to
the place dispersing between its folds. It generates a perceptual instability that does not allow the natural
to be distinguished from the artificial in a dialectic of overlaps and dispatched pieces. A found
architecture that adapts to the minor signs of a place, an architecture of traces of which can not be said
exactly where it begins and where it ends: contaminating the place, the architecture takes possession
until it becomes the place itself. And such contamination can deeply affect the soil, the textures of the
pre-existing signs, the topography. The topography of the site lends itself to architectural manipulation
operations such as cuts, lifts, stratifications, at the end of which it is no longer easy to draw the
boundaries in a masking-unveiling chase of the architectural space that becomes the measuring body
50
and device of knowledge. Contaminate, infect, are actions to re-connote space. It is the inclusion in the
pre-existing of empty spaces, relationships, architectural bodies, which allow a rediscovered habitability.
We need these places because they make it possible to multiply space bending it; a beauty that is
corrupted by reality and that in turn contaminates it, an architecture that allows re-inhabiting the Earth
in the Heideggerian sense.
Reading the host context ensures that its specific conditions can be used as a potential generator of the
project until it produces an interpretation. Let us think to Leon Battista Alberti in Rimini contaminating
a Gothic church with a powerful neo-Roman vestment, to Giovanni Battista Piranesi who intervenes on
the slabs of the prisons twenty years after their execution by infecting the images with new contents, to
Gordon Matta Clark who pierces, and cuts pre-existing buildings contaminated by the vacuum. All these
contaminations are the result of a plurality of design operations reunited by time. Similarly, it is the life
in time of the building that requires its continuous redefinition, it is the changes of taste that impose a
series of transformations, it is the same time that wears down the buildings, inevitably reducing them to
ruins. In all cases, contamination is a process that activates the potential or repressed meaning of a place,
expressing the need for sudden mutations. Ignasi De Sola Morales describes this type of process as an
“analogue procedure”. “The analogue procedure is not based on the visible synchronicity of
interdependent forms, but on the association made by the observer over time” (De Sola-Morales, 1995).
New or hidden meanings are unveiled, architecture gets a greater significance that reactivates the
narrative and perception of space-time. It is about putting the new in tension with the pre-existing.
Belonging in context is the architecture that is introduced into a space as if it had always belonged to it;
in other cases, the architecture sets up a stated contrast relationship with the host context, allowing the
character of each to exist in a strongly independent way. From this meeting will be born a new synthesis,
marked by a typical complexity, impossible to replicate starting from the tabula rasa.
The dialectic between intruder and context, together with the reduction of means and forms, concerns
the necessary character of architecture. Architectures such as tools define places with minimal gestures,
such as bony skeletons carried by the current, able of returning depth to space. Alternative settlement
logics include “vagabond architecture” (Vidler, 1999), with legs, by conception and statute. Their strength
lies in the exploration of types with legs, pointy and diffuse, bacterial cultures related to pre-existing
structures of the most varied species and origin, in a continuous going between being and not being. In
contrast to a rigidly defined architecture, these models’ welcome space and movement together. Radical
architectures for settlement logic, devices to inhabit, equip and make perceive the places that have
become hostile, accessories necessary to repopulate the interstitial spaces of the wilderness regenerated
city.
4. THE ARCHITECTURE-NATURE OF A WILDERNESS REGENERATION
The issues addressed so far constitute the thematic and figurative imagery of some recent personal
design experiments. Among these it is useful to recall, at the end of this paper, which relating to the
project of regeneration and enhancement of a significant fragment of the territory south of the city of
Pavia. The problem is that of a recent urban landscape, an ordinary suburb (Bonomi, 2013; Koolhaas,
2006) built by commercial and productive sheds along a busy road, large asphalt forecourts, abandoned
or underused intercluded spaces, surviving tracks of amena Nature, weak and fragmented relationships
(Figure 1).
51
Figure 1.
What has been structured over time, along the axis of the SP35 is a succession of commercial activities,
typically with the formula of the average sales structure, which have contributed to the creation of a welldefined identity of the municipality with respect to the surroundings. From the morphological point of
view, these commercial settlements appear accessible by car, great availability of appurtenant parking
areas and direct access to the main sliding axes, but the same cannot said for the pedestrian and cyclepedestrian part. This is due to the promiscuity between spaces dedicated to the car and pedestrian spaces,
if not to the total absence of the latter along the road axis, finding a multitude of situations of insecurity.
Added to this is an extremely low overall comfort of the spaces, almost repulsive for the user without a
motorized private vehicle. The picture worsens if we consider that half of these commercial spaces, to
the east, dialogue with the part of the city dedicated to residence and living spaces, but which with this
manages to structure few virtuous situations. What happens differently on the west side of the sliding
axis: here the relationship relates to the rural space, but at the same time the points of connections
between the two functions are lacking in quality. The redevelopment of the axis is therefore not only a
necessary act aimed at improving a degenerate situation, but the attempt to regenerate one of the
strongest centralities of the newly formed urban context.
Within this framework, the process of wilderness regeneration is understood first of all as a
methodological approach, that is a question of verifying the potential that emerging themes for the
contemporary project - the abandonment and wilderness of many spaces, distance and emptiness as
essential elements, climate change, environmental decay, widespread pollution, rapid consumption of
resources, radical modification of ecosystems, etc. - have to creatively tamper with the urban
architectural form.
The project of redevelopment and urban enhancement of Provincial Road 35 dei Giovi (commercial road
west of the municipality of San Martino Siccomario that connects Pavia with the over Po), composes with
urban and “urban-industrial Nature” a significant piece of city-landscape. And it does so through the
contamination of parts and elements: presence of vegetations, green blue infrastructures, urban
reforestation, preventive planting or “preverdissement”, sustainable urban drainage systems, slow and
safe relationships.
The project of the regenerated open air commercial park is based on three principles.
The first: it is not a mere road infrastructure, a road, but a piece of landscape. It is a park, an urban garden,
between Nature and artifice, by the presence of green open spaces, designed with variety and balance.
52
This is the ecological proposal, a commercial road-park (Figure 2), a garden for shopping, leisure, culture,
sport. A park that produces landscape, well-being, quality of life. In addition to the forms responsible for
shaping commercial spaces, productive buildings and dwellings, the garden system expands and
enhances the pre-existing public open spaces and proposes new ones, to rebalance the relationship
between full and empty spaces and between permeable and waterproof soils. A new piece of eco-city that
recovers, heals, and compensates a park territory of which traces and plots survive.
Figure 2.
The second: it is not a line, the road, but a wider thickness. Only a cross-sectional look (Figure 3) can
return figure and meaning to the current longitudinal system. At the base of the project, the need to
redesign the space between the historic center, public places, pre-existing gardens, recently urbanized
areas, rediscovering the matrix of signs of the historical agrarian landscape. It is the re-weaving of
relationships, cycle paths of connection safely between the various parts of the urban fabric and these
with the agricultural and peri fluvial park that lap it. The new cycle and pedestrian connections ensure
the complete accessibility of the commercial park, mitigated by the acoustic and visual impact of vehicle
traffic, with protected crossings and new bus stops.
53
Figure 3.
The third: the new commercial park, the place of intersections, threshold space from where all the
filaments start and arrive, is an ecological and hydraulic machine (Figure 4). It is a soil as much as possible
recovered porous, permeable, natural. The urban system consists of the arrangement of the soil through
a permeable surface, a multipurpose carpet that can offer friendly spaces for outdoor encounters. Green
canals, gardens of graminacea and tree-lined rows serve as a counterpoint to the new urban soil: a
topography made with systems of green equipment, greening devices, and sustainable urban drainage
systems. In addition to allowing the sedimentation and infiltration of rainwater, they help to reduce air
pollutants, reduce energy demand, mitigate the effect of urban heat island, and keep carbon monoxide,
while providing communities with aesthetic and social benefits. The landscape architecture also includes
parterres of trees, with monothematic essences chosen by the owners, which characterize the forecourts
recycled over time (Figure 5).
54
Figure 4.
55
Figure 5.
Elements with essential design, repeatable, suspended from the ground to relate, articulate, and define
the new spaces, are architectures with legs, in steel and climbing. Their structure is lightweight, made
with tubular square-section pillars and steel mesh. In memory of the bressanelle (Figure 6), these
compositional devices favor visual and functional connections. An aerial multisystem that is support for
vertical green, info-surfaces, energy systems, light sources, and that accommodates in an orderly manner
all commercial signs. The alternation and variety of the screens give the whole a pleasant and interesting
landscape image, the perspectives widen and narrow to give rise to different spaces, adaptable, flexible,
modular (Figure 7). The new open air commercial park of San Martino Siccomario is a garden
architecture built with Nature and with an essential schedule of repeatable elements that give quality to
the urban environment and its relations with the landscape. The attention paid to the green points
system and the green space factor, superimposed on the presence of three-dimensional figurative
expressions (Figure 8), of ever-changing rhythms in perspectives, are essential qualitative factors of a
landscape in transformation over time: a multi-dimensional architecture that finds in wilderness
regeneration its theme and its figures.
56
Figure 6.
57
Figure 7.
Figure 8.
58
REFERENCES
Bocchi, R. (2006). La città-paesaggio. In (edited by) Bonometto, V., Ruggiero, M.L., Finestre sul paesaggio.
Roma: Gangemi, p. 8-22.
Bonomi, A. (2013). Il capitalismo in-finito. Indagini sui territori della crisi. Torino: Einaudi.
Bratton, B. H. (2019). The Terraforming. Mosca: Strelka Press.
Clément, G. (2005). Manifesto del Terzo Paesaggio. Macerata: Quodlibet.
Clément, G. (2015). L’Alternativa ambiente. Macerata: Quodlibet.
Clifford, B., Marshall, D., Addison, J. Muhonen, M. (2017). The Cannibal’s Cookbook: Mining Myths of
Cyclopean Construction. Boston: Matter Design.
De Sola-Morales, I. (1995). From contrast to analogy. In: Lotus International n. 46, p. 42-46.
Koolhaas, R. (2006). Junkspace. Per un ripensamento radicale dello spazio urbano. Macerata: Quodlibet.
Kowarik, I. (2005). Wild urban woodlands: Towards a conceptual framework. In: Wild Urban Woodlands,
p. 1-32.
Kowarik, I. (2013). Cities and wilderness. A new perspective. International Journal of Wilderness n.19, p.
32–36.
Leach, N. (2006). Camouflage. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Leopold, A., (1949). Wilderness Values. The Living Wilderness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
SWW (2015). Städte Wagen Wildnis. In: www.staedte-wagen-wildnis.de.
Vidler, A. (1999). John Hejduk: architettura vagabonda. In: Lotus International n. 68, p. 55-68.
Zecchin, L. (2012). Marginal Spaces Architecture. Trento: Trento University Press.
Zecchin, L. (2018). The Architecture of Matisse: (Un)searchable Depths and Minglings.
Trento/Barcellona: LISt Lab.
Zecchin, L. (2019). Grey Green Blue. Compose with nature the landscape-city. In: (edited by): A.
Gospodini, Proceedings of the International Conference on Changing Cities IV: Spatial, Design, Landscape
& Socio-Economic dimensions. Volos: University of Thessaly UMLAB, p. 677-690.
59
THE NEW CONCEPT OF HOME OFFICE
STRUCTURES, AS A PART OF CONTEMPORARY
MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING DESIGN AT THE TIME
OF PANDEMIC. CASE STUDY OF CITY OF
POZNAN, POLAND
JAKUB KACZMAREK1, ADAM NADOLNY2
ABSTRACT
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic.
SARS-CoV-2 is a new type of virus that has spread around the world in a noticeably short time. As the
virus spread increasingly fast, the gradual closure of commercial and service facilities began, and
enterprises, offices and schools switched to remote work. Home office, which was introduced, turned out
to be in some or even most cases difficult to implement in many countries, including Poland. In many
cases, living spaces in multi-family buildings turned out to be insufficient for running a businesses or
learning.
As part of the research, the authors would like to focus on the search and redefinition of the concept of
common parts in the existing and planned residential development investments. The creation of new
workplaces, a kind of cooperation between a collective of residents and architects would undoubtedly
be a valuable change. As research material, this article will present one existing investment. The authors
will show the possibilities of transforming individual parts of a building into places where it will be
possible to safely work remotely. In the article there will also be shown a system in the building
controlled by mobile applications (opening, closing the door, operating the elevator etc.)
All transformations proposed on the basis of detailed studies will have a positive impact not only on the
attractiveness of given development investments, but above all, on increasing health safety and efficiency
of people who work remotely.
Bearing in mind the economic issues of investments, an attempt was also made to diagnose the costs of
the proposed transformations. These activities will also be aimed at drawing attention to the fact that,
with the assumed activities, the costs of their implementation will not be as high as one might suppose.
Keywords: social distance, home office, multi-family housing, semi-public spaces.
1
Jakon TM sp. z o.o., Poznań University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Poland.
2
Poznań University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Poland.
60
1. INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic that began in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, is having a significant impact not only
on people's health, but also on the economy. The first cases of SARS-CoV-2 appeared on December 31,
2019 in the Chinese province of Wuhan, where 59 cases of pneumonia were reported, possibly related
to a new type of coronavirus that later turned out to be known worldwide as COVID-19.
The coronavirus is transmitted directly from one person to another. It is possible to become infected
through close contact with a sick person. SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by airborne aerosols generated by
e.g. coughing or sneezing [1][2]. They can enter the body through the mouth or nose e.g. when breathing,
straight into the lungs [5]. Aerosols are infectious particles that can remain in the air for up to 3 hours
and typically cannot travel more than 2 meters from their point of origin[6]. Nevertheless, simulations
examining the effects of aerodynamics on the spread of these droplets suggest that physical activities
such as running or cycling increase the range they can travel [7]. In 80% of cases of COVID-19 infection,
symptoms such as fever, dry cough and shallow breathing occur. Severe cases of infection showed
symptoms such as dyspnoea in 44% of patients, hypoxia (depletion of oxygen in body tissues) in
approximately 50% of patients and high fever in approximately 14% of patients [8]. However, in some
cases, people who were confirmed as being infected with COVID-19 go through it asymptomatically,
nevertheless, they can still spread the disease [9]. For this reason, and the long incubation period of the
virus of up to two weeks, COVID-19 requires extreme safety measures to minimize transmission and
morbidity [10]. After the first cases of coronavirus were recorded in Wuhan Province, the situation
worsened month by month and COVID-19 began to spread beyond Chinese borders. On March 11, 2020,
the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic. European countries began to introduce
restrictions on the movement of people. Initially, state authorities closed airports and borders to reduce
the likelihood of "importing" the virus from abroad. Then, as the pandemic progressed, restrictions were
imposed on the economies of the concerned countries. And so, initially, restrictions on the number of
people in shops were introduced while cinemas, theaters, gyms and hotels were closed. In Poland, the
first lockdown (shutdown of the economy in a strict sense) was to last two weeks, it is mid-2021 and still
not all sectors of the economy are fully open.
With regards to remote work, and due to COVID-19, it is necessary to create a safe place to work or study
in terms of health. The main point of this article is to provide a systematic review of previous studies and
then show how developers, housing associations or inhabitants of housing buildings could redesign
common places into work places.
2. RESEARCH METHODOLODY
The adopted research methodology was a systematic literature review, thanks to which it was possible
to organise knowledge about the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus, labour market and remote work. This was
necessary to integrate the conclusions from all studied domains. The authors focused on qualitative
methods in previous studies. The method resulted from the complexity of the topic related to the COVID19 pandemic, which affects a wide range of life aspects, and the need to focus on research related to the
impact of the pandemic on the housing market. The deductive thematic analysis allowed the authors to
create the hypothesis that it is possible to redesign common places into safe and healthy work places.
Then, implementation scientific research was carried out, which may concern every aspect of
implementation, including factors influencing the implementation, the implementation itself and the
results of the implementation [4]. The research is related to the implementation of design assumptions
that will allow one to create safe spaces for office workers.
61
3. THE LABOUR MARKET IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC
In order to broaden the possibility of remote work, initially it is necessary to analyze the tendencies on
the labour market with regards to both the employees and the employers. What has changed as a result
of the pandemic and what is the general state of labour market in Poland.
Initially, COVID-19 had a significant impact on the economic consequences. They most often concerned
employees by decreasing their salaries, greater stress related to the possibility of losing one’s job and
less prospects of changing the job. Currently, according to a study by pracuj.pl [11] portal, conducted on
a group of 810 people, 33% of the respondents believe that concerns about the impact of the coronavirus
on work have decreased, for 40.5% they have remained unchanged since the beginning of the pandemic
and 26.5% of people admit that their fears have increased [Figure. 1].
Figure 1. Source: Own study based on data from pracuj.pl website February 2021, n = 810 portal users
who are employed
It should be mentioned that the employed respondents are more often afraid of deterioration of the
current working conditions (lowering the salary or changing the employment rules). In reference to
previous research carried out by pracuj.pl [11] in September 2020 and April 2020, there is a tendency to
reduce employees' concerns about losing their job or a salary reduction. [Figure 2.]
62
Ownership sector
The share of employed people working remotely due to the epidemic
situation by ownership sector
private
public
0.
6.25
12.5
Q1/2022
18.75
Q1/2021
25.
Q1/2020
Figure 2. Source: Own study based on data from pracuj.pl February 2021, n = 810 portal users who are
employed
Figure 3. Source: Own study based on data from GUS, Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on selected areas
of the labour market in Poland 2020-2022
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, employers have been struggling with the problem of morbidity and
COVID outbreak in their company. Therefore, from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e. from
March 2020, more and more companies are opting for the remote or hybrid work model.
In 2017, about 4% of employees in Poland worked remotely, where the average for the European Union
was 5.5% [12]. In the first quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was announced, the number
of employees in the public sector who started working remotely increased to 18% and in the private
sector to 8.5% - giving an average result of 13.25% [13]. The first quarter of 2022 brought a significant
decrease in remote work. In the public sector it is 4% and in the private sector 6% - an average of 5%
[14]. Comparing 2017 with 2022, almost 90,000 more people switched to the remote work system. [15]
3
63
Why did entrepreneurs decide to change the model of work? Of course, this is largely related to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the fear of creating an infectious outbreak that may cause staff shortages, but at the
same time reduces the employer's costs related to preparing a workplace for an employee [16]. An
entrepreneur who decides to hire or send an employee to work remotely reduces the costs associated
with providing the employee with Internet access, electricity for his workplace, fees for cleaning the
office, etc. An additional advantage for the employer is also the probability of reducing the number of
sick leaves. It is governed by the fact that an employee who is sick but has appropriate conditions and is
able to work from home will still work. Thanks to this, the employer reduces the costs related to sick
leave, and the employee receives 100% of the salary.
The danger for both employers and employees is the reduction in the number of face to face meetings.
This may generate problems such as: limited access to information, poor understanding of the tasks
entrusted to the employees, limited supervision over employees. [17]
Some people who have achieved success with stationary work may not be able to cope with working
remotely. Lack of suitable conditions at home, lack of organization of work outside the workplace, these
are challenges faced by employees and their employers. For this reason, the hybrid model is gaining more
and more popularity. According to a study conducted by pracuj.pl in February 2021, 88.5% of
respondents would like to continue working remotely after the pandemic is under control. However, it
should be noted that only 13% would like to work remotely full-time. The vast majority, i.e. over 70% of
respondents, want to be able to come to the office once a week or on single days of the month [11].
Figure 4. Source: Own study based on data from the pracuj.pl portal April 2020 n = 683, September 2020
n = 333, February 2021, n = 810 users of the portal working remotely.
Despite good reception by employers and remote work employees, and a positive attitude towards
online meetings - 62% of respondents perceive this model of meetings positively, the effectiveness of
teleconferences is lower than that of face to face meetings – as 53% of respondents said (pracuj.pl).
It is related to such problems as: problems with the Internet connection 53%, delays in image or sound
transmission 42%, noise from the participant's microphone 41%, interference by third parties 36%,
speaking with the microphone off 29%, problems with the operation of the internet camera 20% [Figure.
5].
64
Figure 5. Source: Own study based on data from the pracuj.pl portal April 2020 n = 683, September 2020
n = 333, February 2021, n = 810 users of the portal working remotely.
4. CO-WORKING
The problems previously described regarding third party interference etc. can be resolved through
coworking spaces. What are Co-working places? According to Oxford Dictionaries: "Coworking - the use
of an office or other working environment by people who are self-employed or working for different
employers, typically so as to share equipment, ideas and knowledge” [18]. As office-renting facilities
where workers hire a desk and WI-FI connection, these are more importantly, places where independent
professionals live their daily routines side-by-side with professional peers, largely working in the same
sector”[19]. To sum up, these are rooms, places where everyone can come - whether for a fee or for a
specified time, it depends on a given coworking office, and work from this place instead of, for example,
the company's headquarters. They are mainly used by people who run their own business, because
renting such a place is free or cheaper than renting a "regular" office for work [20].
For the purposes of this study, efforts were made to "re-interpret" and transform the meaning of
coworking. As is well known, and as the research conducted above shows, most office workers switched
to home office during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it should also be remembered that it is not only
office workers who have started working from home, these are also children who have switched to
remote model at school, and children who have closed nurseries and kindergartens. In Poland, in the first
quarter of 2021, according to the Central Statistical Office, the average area of a flat completed in multifamily buildings was 52.8 m2 [21]. This is an important indicator because it shows that two adults can
live in such a size of a flat, but also two adults with two schoolchildren can do so. Approximately 52m2
flats usually consist of 3 rooms with a kitchenette. So with 4 people working or learning remotely there
is no space where they can work so as not to disturb each other. Therefore, referring to coworking spaces,
it is necessary to create a place for residents of housing estates where they will be able to work or at least
hold a videoconference.
5. DESIGNING COMMON SPACES - COWORKING PLACES
The above assumption applies to residential investments, which of course have not been completed yet,
but are at the design stage. Unfortunately, the pandemic affects us all here and now, therefore, first of all,
one should look for solutions that can be applied to existing investments. In some existing housing
estates, developers decide to build or create a place for residents, commonly known as the Resident’s
Club [24]. In such rooms there are usually tables, sofas, a billiard or table tennis table. Residents can book
this room through a notice board in the stairwells or through a group on social networking sites. Such
places can be converted easily and at low cost into coworking spaces - the purchase of 3-4 desks together
with 3-4 chairs costs about PLN 3,500, plus temporary partition walls [24]. In the Resident's Club there
is usually access to a public WIFI network, there are power sockets, good lighting and the possibility of
ventilation. A. Bonemberg and M. Lucchini developed guidelines for work or study places in apartments:
65
These should be rooms that provide insulation and privacy
They should be places that are well lit, especially with natural light
Furniture and workstations should be ergonomic and easy to clean and disinfect
There should be appropriate background during the videoconference [16]
Figure 6. Source: Jakon Inwest data - already existing common place at „Kórnicka” investment in Poznań
city
What are the benefits of that for the residents? The biggest benefit, as has already been mentioned, is the
possibility of using such a place while working from home. Another advantage of transforming the
common space into a coworking space is its proximity, thanks to which an employee of a given company
saves time on access or commuting to the workplace, because the room is in the same building as their
apartment.
66
Figure 7 Source: Jakon Inwest data. – already existing common place projection at „Kórnicka” investment
in Poznań city
Figure 8. Source: Jakon Inwest data, proposed office layout with ventilation system
A proposal to increase sanitary safety is, in the common spaces, the possibility of installing an air supply
and exhaust ventilation system within the technological shafts [Figure 8]. In combination with gravity
ventilation installed in the windows - in the absence of such an installation, it is enough to open the
window for a certain period of time and the air flow in the room is significantly increased. The amount
67
of forced air and exhaust air depends on the size of the ventilation unit. The cost of adapting, buying and
adapting the room itself to the installation is about PLN 5,000-6,000 [22]. The proposed solution is an
up-to-date idea that was created in the Jakon office building. In the case of a common part in a residential
building, the ventilation is only designed to force in and extract air to ensure its constant flow, while in
an office building, it also has the functions of air filtering, heat recovery, heating and cooling.
In addition, to increase sanitary safety in the common room, but also in all common parts of a given
building, an HVAC room automation system should be introduced – by using this system one can not only
reduce the costs related to heating, air conditioning and ventilation, but also automate all these aspects
via sensors installed in the rooms [23] .
Figure 9. Source: Siemens data [23]
It is also possible to attach a door control system to the common areas through a mobile application - the
system can work in two ways, either unlock and open the door after entering the application on the
phone, or work in the same way as, for example, some barriers on motorways in Poland, i.e. it
automatically raises the barrier, there is no need to turn on the application manually [23]. Thanks to
these improvements, one gets a space that will be safer than „ordinary” coworking offices in terms of
sanitation and will be located in the same building where the user of this room lives. It is worth
mentioning that the assumptions given above do not only apply to the so-called Resident’s Club. The
concept assumes that you can also transform rooms such as a bicycle or pram storage - these are places
that are less illuminated and less adapted to a longer stay of people there, but they can still provide the
sometimes necessary place to work. If it is not possible to transform a given room into a multi-family
building, it is possible to rent or purchase portable offices. The costs of preparing such an office for
residents are more expensive than the above-mentioned transformations, because it involves rental of
above-ground parking spaces - current development projects intensify the development at the expense
of the space on the estate. Therefore, it should be assumed that parking spaces are the only place to
organise a portable office. In Poznań, the cost of renting one parking space is about PLN 200 per month,
plus the purchase of a portable office - about PLN 80,000 [24].
The advantage of these offices is that they can be sanitary secured more easily. It is much easier to keep
such a room clean – things inside are limited to a minimum like a desk, a chair and a lamp. In addition, if
the residents find that they do not need such an office anymore, it is very easy to move it and take it away
68
so that it does not occupy parking spaces. Other things related to epidemiological safety remain
unchanged. HVAC systems monitor the rooms in terms of temperature, ventilation, air conditioning and
heating, and the entrance door is fully automated so that there is no need for direct contact.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the way we work. It forced most companies
to switch from stationary work to a remote or hybrid one. This led to many consequences, for enterprises
it limited the costs associated with office maintenance, saved time the employees spend on commuting
to work. Despite the large number of benefits, there were also problems such as worse communication
between the employer and employee and tele technical problems related to poor Internet connection,
lack of experience in remote work, and simply the whole family’s presence at home, i.e. the lack of
appropriate working conditions.
We can treat the emergence of the pandemic as a threat on the one hand, and as a design challenge on
the other. The presented statistical data shows a very interesting picture of a contemporary user, a space
in a sense an“office” in residential buildings. The need for space to work on one hand has decreased,
while on the other hand, the expectations and demand for space for relaxation and professional activities
in the vicinity of the house have increased.
This work was aimed at indicating certain design assumptions, thanks to which the inhabitants of
development estates will be provided with appropriate conditions for remote work in their place of
residence. The introduction of small amenities and the use of common spaces in residential buildings can
become, as mentioned, an interesting alternative.
69
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71
ASSESSING WOMEN'S SATISFACTION, SAFETY,
AND USE IN URBAN PARKS: A CASE STUDY OF
GENÇLIK PARK
DİDEM DİZDAROĞLU1
ABSTRACT
To enable women to take an active part in open spaces, their needs and expectations should be
considered. Moreover, the barriers or threatening factors limiting their existence should be identified
and eliminated. In Turkey, gender equality has become a forgotten feature in the spatial design of open
spaces. This study aims to contribute to the necessity of considering the needs of women users with an
example of an urban park in the design of open spaces in Turkey. To this end, Gençlik park is selected as
the case study. Gençlik Park is the first established urban park of historical importance within the
borders of the old city center. With the expansion of the city over the years and the degeneration of the
old city center, the park lost its popularity and became neglected. This study seeks to provide an
overview of the current state of Gençlik Park. For this purpose, an on-site questionnaire survey is
conducted to identify the demographics of women visitors, their preferences for using the park,
satisfaction levels, concerns about their safety, and their ideas for the improvement of the park. Based
on the survey findings, several recommendations are proposed to create a comfortable environment
designed around their needs. In the light of this study, the park has a great potential to serve the whole
city, but it has been detected that many problems should be considered for women users. This research
provides the following contributions to knowledge: (1) providing an understanding of gender-related
challenges in the design of urban parks; (2) offering a set of gender-sensitive recommendations to
overcome these challenges identified by the survey study; (3) presenting important insights for
landscape architects and urban planners to enable women to utilize open spaces in a safer and better
way; (4) increasing awareness of administrative authorities about gender-inclusive urban planning and
design, and; (5) encouraging local governments to improve the functionalities of open spaces in Turkey
by promoting recreational infrastructure and facilities for women and other disadvantaged groups.
Keywords: Ankara, Gençlik Park, Gender, User satisfaction, Urban park
Dr. Lecturer. Bilkent University, Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture, Department of Urban Design and
Landscape Architecture. ORCID: 0000-0003-2501-4356.
1
72
1. INTRODUCTION
Public spaces are essential for turning cities into liveable, sociable, and enjoyable places by nourishing
and sustaining community life (Mitrašinović and Mehta, 2021). Public space is defined as “a special space
in common use which is a product of civilization irrespective of the form of ownership, and its public
character follows from the way it is used” (Mierzejewska, 2011, p. 41). Public spaces have many different
types that include but are not limited to squares, plazas, streets, marketplaces, parks, and alternative
forms of urban green spaces. These spaces provide several benefits (Francis et al., 2012; Gehl and Svarre,
2013; Garvin, 2016; Madanipour, 2017; Carmona et al., 2019). In terms of economics, a public space of
good quality may turn into an essential tool for business and marketing to attract companies, customers,
and services alike. In addition to offering numerous employment opportunities, it enhances the local
economy. It affects real estate prices and tax revenues positively. In terms of social aspects, it assumes a
significant role in influencing human relations by the way it happens, and who communicates with whom,
and is strongly related to the content of the interaction. This urban relationship brings people together
and closer and contributes to improving ties between the members of the society. Additionally, a public
space that is used on a regular basis, decreases the rate of crime and other safety issues concerning public
safety. In terms of environment, public spaces offer a healthy environment for people and other living
beings. Finally, these public spaces encourage movement through walking, cycling, or public transport in
and between spaces.
Gender is one of the crucial aspects of influencing public spaces and how they are experienced (Soraganvi,
2017). According to the literature, limited time and money, restricted mobility, social isolation,
insufficient recreational opportunities, lack of public services, negative emotions, domestic
responsibilities, and oppressive socio-cultural norms are considered to be the main barriers to women’s
experiences in the use of public spaces (Fenster, 2005; Rosenbloom, 2006; Jarvis et al., 2009; Lacey et al.,
2012; Henderson and Gibson, 2013; Currie et al., 2016; Jiang et al., 2018; Zibell et al., 2019; Yerkes et al.,
2020; Ceccato and Nalla, 2020). Women are more often engaged in housework and childcare activities,
which restricts their flexibility for the use of public spaces as well as traveling long distances to visit
public spaces (Jorgensen et al., 2013). Similarly, Williams et al. (2020) indicated that women prefer
visiting local neighbourhood open spaces to centrally placed public spaces. Their dependency on public
transport influences the range and timing of their movement. Many women do not have economic
independence; hence, they spend little money on recreational activities (Lofland, 2017). Insufficient
public services such as childcare and health facilities, transportation, and education affect women's
usage of public spaces (Gardner et al., 2017). Women prefer minimal interaction in outdoor
environments where they do not feel safe (Polko and Kimic, 2022). The time of day also significantly
effects women's use of public spaces. Kondo et al. (2021) reported that women respondents do not prefer
walking in their neighbourhood and never take public transport alone after dark. Some scholars
highlighted that women feel unsafe in public spaces such as closed car parks, dimly lit alleyways, vacant
urban parks, and isolated transit stops (Cohen et al., 2021; Sillman et al., 2022). Access to wellmaintained public toilets and other women-friendly facilities is another design consideration. These
facilities allow women to spend more time walking or moving around the city (Beebeejaun, 2017).
Women are less likely to use public spaces with poor physical accessibility (e.g., stairs without ramps or
elevators), especially when traveling with strollers or baby carriages. Furthermore, accessibility is vital
for people with disabilities to provide opportunities for recreation or relaxation in public spaces (Derose
et al., 2018). Based on the findings of these studies, there is a need for designing gender-inclusive built
environments and physical infrastructures to achieve gender equality in cities.
Urban parks are significant public spaces where people living in the city come together for recreational,
cultural, or social purposes in their leisure time. Many factors contribute to a well-designed urban park.
The quality of a park is based on the design and the embodiment of orientation, cleanliness, street
furniture, amenity areas, pavements, aesthetics, planting, and lighting. The variety of uses and activities
in and around must satisfy the visitors’ needs since the shared experience is a significant aspect
attracting people to visit an urban park. Properly and successfully designed parks serve as tremendous
assets for local communities. These assets, however, have the potential of turning into significant issues
73
once parks become unsafe places, thereby losing value, as well as the advantages they provide to the
local community. Many studies report that there are several factors associated with people's feelings of
safety in urban parks (Özgüner, 2011; Mehta, 2014; Maruthaveeran and Van den Bosch, 2014; Rigolon,
2016; Costamagna et al., 2019; Talal and Santelmann, 2021; Basu and Nagendra, 2021; Mak and Jim,
2022). As mentioned in these studies, well-maintained green areas, a diversified number of recreational
activities, environmental convenience, proper lighting, along with security precautions such as security
guards, police presence, and surveillance cameras, enhance the perceived safety and attractiveness of
the park. On the other hand, physical and visual barriers created by the vegetation of the park, visitors'
feeling of anxiety when trying to find their way in the park, elements of urban furniture that are both
neglected and unfitting to the atmosphere, graffiti, and litter decrease the safety and comfort of the park.
Specifically, the relationship between the use of an urban park and safety regarding gender has been
emphasized by several researchers (James and Embrey, 2001; Wesely and Gaarder, 2004; Krenichyn,
2006; Wattis et al., 2011; Sreetheran and Konijnendijk van den Bosch, 2015; Sanchez de Madariaga and
Neuman, 2016). In her study, Krenichyn (2003) suggested that if women are in a social relationship with
family members, friends, acquaintances, and strangers, they feel more secure during their visit to the
park. The presence of other people and the possibilities of random meetings provide further social
support and allow visitors to develop positive feelings for any possible activities and uses in the park.
Results of the study conducted by England and Simon (2010) indicate that fear serves as a constraint
against the accessibility of parks. It represents the social inequalities in society that often influence the
usage behaviours of public spaces, leading to a tendency not to use specific areas in the park during
specific times of the day. In another study, Wilbur et al. (2002) pointed out that wardens or rangers in
certain park areas during the day make women feel more secure in such areas. These studies
demonstrate that being afraid of potential violence and harassment makes women feel uncomfortable
and less secure in urban parks. Women's access to urban parks is restricted, especially when they are on
their own; hence they cannot make use of various recreational activities as much as men do.
In the light of the literature review presented above, this study aims to investigate the women's
satisfaction, safety, and use of Gençlik Park, which once played a significant role in women's participation
in public life during the early-Republican era of Turkey. According to several studies, Gençlik Park used
to be a secure and comfortable environment for everyone until the 1970s (Durakbaşa and İlyasoğlu,
2001; Demir, 2006; Özaloğlu, 2006; Şengül, 2007; Memlük, 2012; Ekinci and Sağlam, 2016; Akkar Ercan,
2017). However, rising crime levels and political protests of social movements during the 1970s reduced
physical accessibility to the park. This decline was exacerbated by the increasing predominance of lowincome groups (rural migrants and squatter dwellers particularly), such as the unemployed and the
homeless in the park. The park became a prominent spot among off-duty soldiers wandering around or
watching a football game on TV in tea gardens and cafes on weekends. In these years, the park was
apprehended by male dominance, forcing the elderly, families, and women to become intimidated, thus
diminishing the social accessibility of the park. In later years, the project for renovating the park between
2005 and 2009 managed to enhance both the park’s physical and social accessibility. New design,
management, and control policies were introduced to provide order and discipline to the park and bring
comfort and convenience to park visitors. However, some challenges for women visitors still need to be
addressed. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current state of Gençlik Park. For this purpose,
an on-site questionnaire survey is conducted to identify the demographics of women visitors, their
preferences for using the park, satisfaction levels, concerns about their safety, and their ideas for the
improvement of the park to enhance their park experience. Based on the survey findings, several
recommendations are proposed to increase the number of women visitors by creating a comfortable
environment designed around their needs. This paper is structured into four main sections. Following
this introduction, the second section provides background information on Gençlik Park along with the
research method. A summary of the study's findings is introduced in the following section. As a result of
identified problems and needs, recommendations for future park development are presented in the final
section.
74
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the first stage, to evaluate the state of the study area from past to present, literature research has been
performed, and historical documents, reports, and previous studies related to the Gençlik Park have been
reviewed. Secondly, the literature on women’s experiences in public spaces was reviewed extensively
during the development of the questionnaire. The last stage includes writing a discussion and
conclusions based on the analysis and synthesizing the findings in the light of literature.
2.1. Study Area
The 27,5-hectare Gençlik park is located in southwest Ulus and remains within the borders of the
Altındağ District Municipality. The park is built around the central station, and being at the heart of the
public transport, it welcomes visitors arriving by train as the city's first image. The park is surrounded
by historical architecture and notable sights, which include the Ankara Citadel, ancient Roman bath ruins,
the Column of Julian, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Ankara Opera House and Symphony Hall,
numerous museums and theatres, culture centers, a large sports complex, hospitals, schools, commercial,
public and government buildings (Figure 1). The park's history dates back to the 1920s. The Declaration
of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 initiated a drastic change in society's structure and its relation to its
environment. The capital city, Ankara, was shaped by the master plan of the German architect and
planner Hermann Jansen to establish a new nation-state and culture. As part of the plan, a healthy built
environment was designed to enhance urban life where public spaces have been developed through
parks and recreation areas in the new city centre. Gençlik Park, being the first established urban park by
Theo Leveau, a French planner and landscape architect, was designed in 1943 within the borders of the
old city (namely, Ulus functioning as the commercial centre). Gençlik Park was designed as a new and
modern public space to support cultural identity by creating a sense of community and urban citizenship.
It served as a meeting spot for resting, relaxing, interacting and socializing, and made significant
contributions to both the cultural and social life of the citizens. It functioned as a symbol of democracy,
unity, and solidarity, reflecting the spatial configuration of the Republic of Turkey's modern capital city
(Demir, 2005; Özer, 2005; Akansel, 2009; Tekcan, 2009; Akkar Ercan and Memlük, 2015).
Figure 1. Land-use Map of Gençlik Park (Map Data: Google Earth, ©2020)
The cycle of republican transformation has taken enhancing women's participation in public life and
their appearance in social life as one of the main objectives after the creation of the Turkish Republic in
75
1923, and several legislative changes were undertaken in citizenship, and civil law to make this happen.
With their growing involvement in education and business life, the number of women grew significantly
in urban public life. Women became prominent in urban life during this era which affected the physical
structure and the design of public spaces (Tuncer, 2014). Gençlik Park provided a peaceful and pleasant
atmosphere with various activities reflecting the modern lifestyle and needs during the early years after
it was opened. The park's secure and decent image served as an impetus for both families and women to
use it freely (Demir, 2006). A wide range of sports, cultural and recreational activities (a large concrete
pond for activities such as swimming, rowing, sailing; ice-skating, exhibition hall, open-air theatre,
playgrounds, casinos, cafes, and restaurants) were utilized to attract more citizens from diverse social
backgrounds, genders, ages and ethnic groups to the park, thereby spreading modernization efforts to a
larger portion of the community (Memlük, 2012).
The urban fabric in Ulus started to change because of the rapid population growth during the 1950s. The
city’s economy boomed with the rapid growth of industry and service sectors. The rapid urbanization
and industrialization attracted a large influx of rural migrants to Ankara, causing the development of
illegal squatter neighbourhoods around the city's centre. The city's peripheries in the north, south, and
east directions became dominated by large squatter district clusters in the 1960s. The city centre shifted
from Ulus to Kızılay, which progressively turned into the city’s new Central Business District (CBD).
Functions of the CBD extended towards the south of Kızılay following the 1970s, hosting high-income
residential areas, international embassies, and the Presidential Palace. This section of the city maintained
its prestigious image during the following years by establishing art galleries, international company
headquarters, hotels, business and shopping centers, cafes, restaurants, pubs, and shops (Akkar Ercan
and Memlük, 2015).
Over the years, Gençlik Park was left unattended and unmaintained since it has lost its allure, popularity,
and value as the city’s old centre has degenerated. Other factors that accelerated the park's deterioration
even further during this timeframe were the 'arabesque' culture, rising crime levels, and dangerous and
unpleasant environments caused by the unemployed, male, and homeless population (Demir, 2005). The
park has undergone a renovation project between 2005 and 2009 to restore its former allure of the park
by providing high accessibility for public transport passengers and drivers as well as improving safety
and comfort due to rising measures of control on the public space, such as security guards and ClosedCircuit Television (CCTV) systems. The project involved redesigning and expanding the existing
commercial facilities and adding even more kiosks, cafes, and tea gardens (Figure 2). Nowadays, the park
mainly serves entertainment and commercial purposes. The southern part of the park is currently
occupied by a large parking area and funfair. To that end, the park's vegetation was destroyed to a great
extent. Unfortunately, the park's former impressions and functions were neglected, and the park's
historic appearance and architectural qualities were lost.
76
Figure 2. Views from the park (Source: Aynur Çiftçi, Didem Dizdaroğlu)
2.2. On-Site Questionnaire Survey
The survey was conducted between 1 May 2021 and 1 August 2021. The number of participants (n) for
the study was determined as 384 by using the formula of simple random sampling given below:
!=
# ! $%
&!
Where n is the sample size, p is the probability of success, q=1-p (probability of failure), d is accepted
sampling error (5%), t-value = 1,96, and α is the significance level (5%).
However, a survey of 400 questionnaires was conducted to prevent data loss and inconsistencies in the
responses given by survey participants. The participants were randomly selected among the visitors of
the park coming from the city's various districts and among the people residing in the Altındağ District.
People, who participated in the questionnaire, were surveyed at different hours of the day, both on
weekdays and weekends. Different socio-demographic characteristics were considered during the
survey as a representative sample of the total population. A mix of multiple-choice and open-ended
questions was used to encourage respondents to think about the issue from various perspectives and
construct their responses. The data obtained from the questionnaires were evaluated using the IBM SPSS
Statistics 23. While evaluating the data, frequency distribution (number, percentage) is given for
categorical variables. The Chi-square technique was used for statistical comparisons, and p<0.05 was
accepted for statistical significance. Statistically significant relationships are presented in tables in the
results section.
The survey consists of six sections;
Socio-demographic characteristics: Parameters examined under socio-demographic characteristics
included age groups, marital status, level of education, and employment status of women visitors.
77
Transportation: To identify the transportation status and accessibility to the park, women visitors were
asked questions regarding where they reside, where they come from to the park, and what type of
transportation means they utilize to reach the park.
Park usage: Usage of the park was investigated according to women visitors' intended use of the park,
frequency of their visit, preferred hours, utilization during leisure times, and their reasons for preference.
Urban furniture elements: This section involved investigating the use and sufficiency of the park’s urban
furniture elements and equipment.
Level of satisfaction: The factors that cause a disturbance and opinions on park maintenance and
potential improvements that would enhance their experiences in the park were inspected to determine
the level of satisfaction.
Perceptions of safety and security: The security concerns of women visitors and their recommendations
for improving the park’s security were investigated.
3. RESULTS
3.1. Socio-Demographic Characteristics
The majority of visitors to the park are between the ages of 18-44 (69%), followed by visitors between
the ages of 45-64 (24%). The visitors aged 65 and over (7%) use the park rarely. The proportion of single
women (54%) who do not have children (55%) is the highest among the park's visitors. The majority of
the park's visitors consist of university and high school graduates (43%; 37%). A percentile breakdown
of the park's visitors indicated that 29% are students, 29% are housemakers, 24% are employees, 9%
are retired residents, and 9% are unemployed.
3.2. Transportation
It is observed that 60% of the park’s visitors use public transport to get to the park while 24% prefer
coming by car and 16% prefer walking. Visitors’ distribution based on the districts they reside revealed
that visitors who reach the park by public transport and by mainly walking reside in the immediate
vicinity of the park (40% Altındağ district), whereas visitors who reach the park by their private vehicles
come from distant districts (18% Etimesgut; 15% Çankaya; 15% Yenimahalle; 12% Keçiören). When the
visitors were asked where they come from the park, 45% of visitors stated that they came from a trip,
and 37% came from home, while the rest of the participants expressed that they come from shopping
and school with equal rates of 9%. According to the chi-square test, visitors between the ages of 18-24
get to the park by walking from the Çankaya district, visitors between the ages of 25-44 choose to use
their private cars and mostly come from the Etimesgut district, and visitors aged 45 and over prefer
public transport to visit the park from Keçiören and Altındağ districts. Visitors between the ages of 1824 visit the park after school, visitors between the ages of 25-44 spend time in the park after shopping,
and visitors aged 45 and over come to the park from home (Table 1).
Table 1. Chi-square test results between age and transportation variables
Mode of transport
Age
Car
Public transport
Walking
p
N
%
N
%
N
%
18-24
20
20.8
80
33.3
44
68.8
25-44
52
54.2
72
30.0
8
12.5
45-64
20
20.8
64
26.7
12
18.7
78
0.000*
>65
4
4.2
24
10.0
0
0.0
Location of residence
Altındağ
Etimesgut
Çankaya
Yenimahalle
Keçiören
N
%
N
%
N
%
N
%
N
%
60
37.5
20
27.8
32
53.3
12
20.0
20
41.7
52
32.5
36
50.0
16
26.7
24
40.0
4
8.3
28
17.5
16
22.2
12
20.0
20
33.3
20
41.7
20
12.5
0
0.0
0
0.0
4
6.7
4
8.3
p
0.000*
Where do they come from to the park?
Home
School
Shopping
From a walk
N
%
N
%
N
%
N
%
24
18.8
28
77.8
4
11.1
88
48.9
20
15.7
8
22.2
24
66.7
60
33.3
64
50.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
32
17.8
40
31.3
0
0.0
8
22.2
0
0.0
p
0.000*
*p<0.0
5
3.3. Park Usage
62% of the park’s visitors stated that they rarely (a few times a year) come to the park, 28% of the park’s
visitors said that they come to the park a few times a month, while the 10% stated that they visit the park
regularly (every day or a few times a week). The visitors use the park mostly on afternoons during
weekends (46%). Whereas 30% of the visitors prefer to use the park in the evening during weekends. It
is observed that visiting the park in the evening after 20.00 during both weekdays and weekends is not
preferred due to security concerns. 43% of the users spend 3-4 hours in the park, while 41% spend 1-2
hours there. It is noted that the majority of the park's visitors prefer to visit the park with their families
and relatives (51%) or with their friends (44%). On the other hand, visiting the park alone (5%) is less
preferred. According to the chi-square test, visitors between the ages of 18-24 come with friends
frequently, visitors between the ages of 25-64 come with their families or relatives rarely, and visitors
aged 65 and over visit the park alone daily or weekly (Table 2). When the visitors of the park were given
the right to make more than one choice and asked about their purpose for using the park, 34% of them
stated that they come to relax and spend time in nature, 25% said they come to meet their relatives and
friends, 17% of visitors said that they come to eat and drink, while 13% of visitors stated that they come
to visit the funfair.
79
Table 2. Chi-square test results between age and park usage variables
With whom do they come to the park?
Age
18-24
25-44
45-64
>65
Alone
Family or relatives
Friends
p
N
%
N
%
N
%
8
40.0
44
21.6
92
52.3
4
20.0
88
43.1
40
22.7
0
0.0
52
25.5
44
25.0
8
40.0
20
9.8
0
0.0
0.000*
Frequency of park use
Daily and Weekly
Monthly
Rarely
p
N
%
N
%
N
%
20
55.6
48
42.9
60
23.8
8
22.2
20
17.9
104
41.3
6
16.7
32
28.6
76
30.2
2
5.5
12
10.7
12
4.8
0.000*
*p<0.0
5
3.4. Urban Furniture Elements
When the visitors were granted the right to state more than one preference and asked about which of
the urban furniture elements they use the most, 29% of the visitors said that they use the equipment for
sitting, 17% of visitors stated that they use green areas, 16% of them said play equipment, 12% eating
and drinking establishments while 10% of visitors stated that they use the walking paths in the park
(Figure 3).
80
Figure 3. Urban furniture examples from the park (Source: Aynur Çiftçi, Didem Dizdaroğlu)
3.5. Level of Satisfaction
The majority of the visitors stated that they are satisfied with the park’s overall condition (75%) and the
maintenance works (72%). According to the chi-square test, visitors between the ages of 18-24 and
visitors aged 65 and over are satisfied, while visitors between the ages of 25-64 are not satisfied (Table
3). When the unsatisfied visitors were asked about the factors that disturb them, 28% of the visitors
stated that the park is overcrowded, 24% of the visitors complained about the level of noise in the park,
21% of visitors stated that they are disturbed by the smell of garbage, 14% complained about the amount
of dust caused by the heavy traffic, and 13% of visitors stated that they feel discomfort because of the
insufficiency of green spaces. Based on the open-ended responses, the suggestions set forth by the
visitors to improve the use of the park may be summarized as follows;
Reopening the pond for water sports and creating living habitats for birds, swans, and ducks in the pond,
Providing cleaner playgrounds for children, diversifying the playground equipment, and increasing the
number of sitting areas around the playground,
Increasing, maintaining the green spaces, and decorating green spaces with planting,
Redesigning parking areas and equipment to be suitable for the use of the disabled,
Organizing various cultural events such as music and dancing shows, theatre performances and
exhibitions, and;
Ensuring that establishments for eating and drinking and the public toilets are well-maintained and clean.
81
Table 3. Chi-square test results between age and satisfaction variables
Satisfaction with the overall condition of the park
Age
Yes
No
p
N
%
N
%
18-24
116
39.7
26
24.1
25-44
88
30.1
42
38.8
45-64
64
21.9
34
31.5
>65
24
8.3
6
5.6
0.006*
*p<0.05
3.6. Perceptions of Safety and Security
77% of the visitors stated that they feel safe when strolling around the park alone in the morning, while
88% said that they do not feel safe when strolling around the park alone after dark. According to the chisquare test, visitors between the ages of 18-44 and those aged 65 and over feel unsafe in the morning
and after dark. On the other hand, visitors between 45-64 feel safe all day long (Table 4). 90% of the
users reported a lack of implementation of crime prevention and control systems in the park. Almost all
the visitors (97%) stated that the number of security guards in the park should be increased. When an
open-ended question was asked to the visitors to determine their recommendations for increasing the
park’s security, the visitors suggested that more lighting elements, surveillance cameras, and emergency
call boxes should be installed. Moreover, surveillance cameras should be installed in the playgrounds,
and the number of security guards should be increased in these areas. One of the visitors suggested that
a library should be established in the park so that the visitors may become conscious and protect the
park themselves thus, there will be no need for security in the park.
Table 4. Chi-square test results between age and safety variables
Feeling safe in the morning
Age
18-24
25-44
45-64
>65
Yes
No
p
N
%
N
%
44
47.8
100
32.5
28
30.4
88
28.6
8
8.7
16
5.2
12
13.0
104
33.8
0.000*
Feeling safe after dark
Yes
No
p
N
%
N
%
57
44.2
40
14.8
36
27.9
109
40.2
32
24.8
93
34.3
4
3.1
29
10.7
*p<0.05
82
0.003*
4. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
According to the survey results, most of the park's visitors consist of single women between the ages of
18-24. The statistical analysis results show that concerns about safety and security lead to less use of
park services by women aged 25 and over. Visitors aged 25 and over visit the park only a few times a
year, and the amount of time they spend in the park does not exceed a few hours. It is also observed that
the visitors do not feel safe when they stroll in the park alone. The park is not used in the evening after
20.00. In order to increase the security in the park, visitors have demanded that more lighting elements,
surveillance cameras, and emergency call boxes should be installed. As reported in several studies in the
literature, other factors that cause Gençlik park to be rarely used could include limited access to womenfriendly facilities, and poor physical accessibility (e.g., stairs without ramps or elevators), especially
when traveling with strollers or baby carriages, and inadequate recreational facilities the park offers.
The high number of visitors who get to the park using public transport indicates that the number and the
frequency of trips by bus, subway trains, and taxis are sufficient. On the other hand, the survey results
indicate that the infrastructure to let visitors arrive at the park by riding their bicycles or on foot is
inadequate. The statistical analysis results demonstrate that visitors mostly come to the park from their
homes (i.e., 45 and over age group) or from a walk (i.e., 18-44 age group). The park is visited
predominantly by students studying in surrounding schools and housemakers who live close to the park.
Visitors aged 25 and over visit the park from Keçiören and Altındağ districts. The survey findings support
the literature stating that women cannot travel long distances due to their limited time with housework
or childcare activities. Therefore, they prefer using parks in their neighbourhood.
Based on survey results, the visitors utilize the park to rest, meet their relatives and friends, and spend
some time in nature. As mentioned in the literature, well-maintained green areas along with a diversified
number of recreational activities increase the attractiveness and use of the park. However, the park does
not have any areas or paths that may be used for physical activities such as riding a bicycle or exercising.
A significant portion of the park is occupied by car parks, funfair, and establishments for eating and
drinking. Available green spaces neither possess the quality nor the quantity to satisfy the needs of
visitors who wish to spend some time in nature. Since the most frequently used urban furniture elements
in the park are the seating units and play equipment, it is understood that the visitors bring their children
to the playgrounds inside the park and come to chat with one another. These findings confirm the
previous studies conducted on the presence of other people and the possibilities of random meetings to
provide further social support and allow women visitors to develop positive feelings for any possible
activities and uses in the park. Lastly, the crowd, noise, and the smell of garbage are stated to be the most
disturbing elements for visitors to the park.
On-site questionnaire surveys are an essential data source for the design, planning, and management of
urban parks and for satisfying the needs of the visitors and ensuring that urban parks can function
properly. Questionnaires allow for identifying shortcomings and insufficiencies of urban parks and
developing new strategies to render them more useful for citizens. A survey is a flexible research
approach, and participation is voluntary. As a limitation of this study, people, who participated in the
questionnaire, may not reflect the views of all types of park users. Another limitation is that survey
questions were developed by the researcher through literature review and according to the scope of the
study. For this reason, if some aspects of the topic are not included in the survey, they will not appear in
the results. In the light of the survey findings, the park's current condition should be re-evaluated, and
the necessary arrangements in line with the issues and needs identified by the visitors should be carried
out. Considering the characteristics of the women visitor profile and their recreational demands, the
following recommendations should be taken into consideration:
Park amenities and facilities, including playgrounds, sitting areas, spaces for community events,
pathways, public toilets, tea gardens, and restaurants, need to be improved. Necessary improvements
should be made considering the needs and accessibility of individuals with disabilities.
83
The concrete pond that is currently unused needs to be turned into an artificial wetland to provide a
habitat for fish and wildlife, control potential floods, and preserving water quality. The artificial wetland
to be created may also be used for recreational activities such as rowing or sailing.
The diversity of green spaces must be maintained and increased to attract more visitors. It should be
noted that being in contact with a rich and diversified natural environment will improve the health and
well-being of the visitors and social activities.
A safe and convenient pedestrian and cycling accessibility to/from Gençlik Park should be created to
encourage citizens to use the park actively.
The park's quality and use throughout the year rely on its performance in meeting recreational
requirements. Various cultural and social activities that will enable women to come together must be
coordinated to allow women to meet, socialize, and make their presence known within the park.
Crime control and prevention systems (i.e., surveillance cameras, security guards, panic buttons, and
emergency phones) should be provided across the park to increase public safety and surveillance in highprofile areas such as playgrounds. Moreover, the number of security guards should be increased across
the park.
It should be noted that lighting is one of the most crucial factors in improving the quality of a pedestrian's
environment during night-time. Strategic interior positions in the park should be provided with
pedestrian-scale lighting.
Night-time events should be organized to attract visitors to the park after dark for enhanced convenience
and security.
Signs and maps need to be conveniently and strategically positioned across the park to offer consistent
directions to critical points of interest, such as the locations of public toilets, exits and entrances, park
events, and public transport.
The park needs to be maintained regularly to prevent vandalism and ensure that women visitors feel
safer and at ease.
To sum up, gender has a fundamental role in using open spaces. To enable women to take an active part
in open spaces, their needs and expectations should be considered. Moreover, the barriers or threatening
factors limiting their existence should be identified and eliminated. In Turkey, gender equality has
become a forgotten feature in the spatial design of open spaces. This study aims to contribute to the
necessity of considering the needs of women users with an example of an urban park in the design of
open spaces in Turkey. To this end, Gençlik park is selected as the case study. Gençlik Park is the first
established urban park of historical importance within the borders of the old city centre. With the
expansion of the city over the years and the degeneration of the old city centre, the park lost its popularity
and became neglected. In the light of this study, the park has a great potential to serve the whole city, but
it has been detected that many problems should be considered for women users. This research provides
the following contributions to knowledge: (1) providing an understanding of gender-related challenges
in the design of urban parks; (2) offering a set of gender-sensitive recommendations to overcome these
challenges identified by the survey study; (3) presenting important insights and lessons for landscape
architects and urban planners to enable women to utilize open spaces in a safer and better way; (4)
increasing awareness of administrative authorities about gender-inclusive urban planning and design,
and; (5) encouraging local governments to improve the functionalities of open spaces in Turkey by
promoting recreational infrastructure and facilities for women and other disadvantaged groups.
84
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88
THE FAILURE ANALYSIS IN DESIGN OF THE
HOUSING PROJECT IN ISTANBUL ACCORDING
TO THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND TURKISH
CODES
SERKAN YATAĞAN1
ABSTRACT
The failure analysis has an important role during the design process. Since the failures should be
determined during the design, the failures which occur during the construction may be obstructed or
decreased. These codes and regulations help to determine the failures and supply the suitability of the
design to the codes and regulations. Besides, the owners’ requests are also taken into account during the
design process. Sometimes, the owner’s requests are different and not suitable to the codes. Therefore,
it is important to specify the right alternatives. The failure analysis forms the alternative solutions and
makes the architects and engineers decide which solution is best suited for the construction. In this paper,
the design process of the competition project in Balikesir is evaluated and analyzed for the failures
according to the Turkish codes and regulations. Generally, the structural system and services are
analyzed for the failures that occur during the construction. By the help of this analysis, the questions
like which structural system should be used in earthquake zone or is it suitable to use different structural
systems together or how and where the service systems are settled or constructed are tried to be
answered.
Keywords: Failure, regulations, design process, Turkish codes
Dr. M. SERKAN YATAĞAN, Istanbul Technical University, Architecture Faculty, Department of
Architecture.
1
89
1. INTRODUCTION
The first Turkish seismic design code was written in 1940 which was followed by the codes written in
1944, 1949, 1953, 1962, 1968,1975,1997 and 2007. Twenty two years after TEC 1975 (Turkish
Earthquake Code), first TEC 1997 and then Tec 2007 which include significant changes, were put into
effect. The first basic seismic analyses begin with 1949 Earthquake Code. Until TEC 1997 with seismic
precautions and changes were put into effect, most of the buildings in Turkey were constructed in
accordance with TEC 1975.
Due to the damage occurred during 7.6 Kocaeli Earthquake, the issues related to the material quality,
improper aggregates and poor concrete, short columns, strong beam-weak columns, corrosion of
reinforcements, stirrup interval and hook length problems, unreactive detects, workmanship errors and
inadequacies in TEC 1975. After Kocaeli Earthquake, in the following earthquakes, it’s seen that the same
problems have been repeated. Moreover, during the evaluation of collapsed or severely damaged
buildings, it has been ascertained that the most of these buildings were not constructed in accordance
with the code of that two ones had significant design adequacies.
According to the observations, after the past earthquakes, damages are mostly due to architectural
design. At this point, earthquake codes play a crucial role to lead the designer.
1.1 Common Seismic Design Faults Due To Architectural Design
There are various facts that should be taken into consideration with the criteria of the seismic design in
Turkey are determined.
A. Seismic Design Faults in Plan [1]
A.1 Torsional Irregularity
The center of building mass is generally considered as the geometric center of the building and the center
of rigidity is considered as the center of vertical elements of the structural system. The center of rigidity
of a building should coincide with the center of mass. When the center of a building mass does not
coincide with the center of rigidity, torsion and stress concentration occur in the building when it is
subjected to seismic loads (Figure 1). Eccentric between the centers makes the building rotate due to the
seismic forces.
The Turkish earthquake code mentions the torsion eccentric as follows: “The case in which the Torsion
Irregularity Factor which is defined as the ratio of the maximum story drift to the average story drift at
any story, exceeds 1.2 in any one of 2 perpendicular earthquake directions.”
In order to avoid torsional deformation, it is desirable to have symmetry bot in the building configuration
and structure. The vertical structural elements of the lateral resistance system should be emerged in
order to approach the centers of mass and rigidity to each other and in order to produce high resistance
to torsional effects on the building [2, 3].
A.2 Floor Discontinuities
Diaphragm which transfer forces between vertical structural elements are needed to connect them and
to make them resist to the seismic forces as one body. Architectural Institute of Japan states that they
behave like columns when the lateral forces are considered as the horizontal forces.
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Figure 1. Torsional Irregularity [6]
Architectural requirements such as necessities for vertical traffic within a multistory building, visual
integration of stories and other purposes result in a variety of diaphragm penetrations such as staircases,
elevators, atriums, duct shafts, skylights and so on. The size, location and even shape of the penetrations
are critical to the effective of the diaphragm. Diaphragm penetration and their geometrical irregularities
weaken the load carrying capacity and the lateral rigidity leading to torsion and stress concentration.
The Turkish earthquake code describes floor discontinuity as follows: “The cases in Figure 2 in which;
1. The total area of the openings including those of stairs and elevators shafts exceeds 1/3 of the gross
floor area of any story.
2. Local floor openings making the transfer of seismic loads to the vertical structural members difficult
or even impossible.
3. Abrupt reductions made in the in-plane stiffness and strength of floors.”
Figure 2. Floor Discontinuities [6]
The irregularity is not strictly forbidden in code but it is obligatory to show with calculations that the
transformation of lateral loads to the vertical elements is safely achieved.
If the relative size of the penetration in a diaphragm is a reasonable one, placement of reinforcement for
the edges and corners of the opening and adequate diaphragm width at the opening may be sufficient for
the integrity of the continuous diaphragm. However, if the penetration in a diaphragm is quite large, the
diaphragm should be separated into small and regular parts for maintaining the continuity of the whole
diaphragm [7].
A.3 Projections in Plan
Architectural form determines the strength of the building because the building behavior depends on the
form. If the plan of the building is not considered of simple and regular geometries, there will be big
stresses especially at corners of the building during an earthquake.
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The Turkish earthquake code describes the projections in plan irregularity as follows: “The cases where
projections beyond the re-entrant corners in both of the two principal directions in plan exceed the total
plan dimension of the building by more than 20 % in the respective dimensions (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Projections in Plan [6]
Seismic behavior is related with the mass of the building and every molecule creates loads of inertia
proportional with the earthquake energy. If a structure consists of too many building blocks with
different natural periods and lateral rigidities, these blocks will move individually during an earthquake.
It is not always possible or architecturally desirable to design a building having a symmetrical plan. In
fact, most of the time, due to the requirements of the building program, functional and aesthetical
concerns the architects decide to create more complex building forms. Even so, if the projection are
absolutely necessary, the structural engineers should be consulted for additional reinforcements. If
possible, the structure should be divided into several sections with structural joints [4].
B. Seismic Design Faults in Elevation [1]
B.1 Weak Story and Soft Story
Weak story is related with the total cross section areas of columns and shear walls. Weak story
configuration describes structure where one story of a building is more flexible and/or weaker than the
one above itt from the perspective of seismic forces. On the other hand, soft story is a ratio about the
relative displacement of the building. If there is a soft story in building, total displacement of building
that should be in upper floor, occurs only in one floor where soft story is. These two irregularities are
similar to each other (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Examples of soft and weak storey configurations:
Stiff and strong upper floors due to masonry infills, the columns in one storey longer than those above,
Soft storey caused by discontinuous column [6]
If there is a soft or weak story in a building, more displacements occur in one floor where it is. This
unexpected displacement in these wrong application cases in collapse of the whole building.
Ambrose and Vergun stated that if relatively open ground floor is necessary there are some possible
solutions to reduce soft and weak story effects [2]:
1. Bracing some of the open bays. If designed adequately for the forces, the braced frame (truss) should
have a class of stiffness closer to a rigid shear wall, which is the usual upper structure in these situations.
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However, the soft and weak story effect can also occur in rigid frames, where the soft story is simple
significantly less stiff.
2. Keeping the building plan periphery open, while providing a rigidly braced interior.
3. Increasing the number and/or stiffness of the ground floor columns for an all rigid frame structure.
4. Using tapered or arched form for the ground floor columns to increase the stiffness.
5. Developing a rigid first story as upward extension of a heavy foundation structure.
B.2 Discontinuity of Vertical Structural Elements
Forces applied to buildings must travel from their points of origin through the whole system and into the
ground, in the design for lateral loads. The force paths must be complete. Where there are interruptions
in the normal flow of the forces, problems occur. In a multi-story building, columns and shear walls must
be stacked on top of each other. If a column is removed in a lower story, a major problem is created,
requiring the use of a heavy transfer girder or other device to deal with the discontinuity in Figure 5 [2].
The Turkish earthquake code describes Discontinuity of Vertical Structural Elements as follows: “The
cases where vertical structural elements (columns and shear walls) are removed at some stories and
supported by beam or gusseted columns underneath, or the structural walls of upper stories are
supported by columns or beams underneath.”
Figure 5. Discontinuity of Vertical Structural Elements
Although these items of this irregularity were not forbidden in 1998 earthquake code, structural
elements like columns and shear walls must be continuous through the entire building height according
to 2007 earthquake code. Discontinuity of the structural elements of the buildings may make a story
weak or create torsional effects.
C. Common Seismic Design Faults by Configuration of Structural Elements [1]
It is an important subject that structural elements should be well placed and sized besides their surfaces
in numbers. Poor decisions may increase the stresses in structural elements and cause damages.
C.1 Short Columns
If both long and short columns exist in the same story, instead of distributing the loads equally among all
of the columns, the columns experience different shear forces due to the height differences (Figure 6).
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The lateral loads are passed from the longer and more flexible columns to the shorter and the stiffer ones,
and concentrated on the short columns. As short columns are not designed for overloading, failure occurs
along the line of short columns before the longer and more flexible ones, which simply deflect without
cracking [5].
Figure 6. A short column on a sloping site, Columns ‘shortened’ by beams, Columns ‘shortened’ by Masonry
or concrete infill
There exist solutions in order to avoid short columns formation. These are;
1. It is necessary to keep the heights of the column and a façade approximately equal. If the unequal
height of the columns are needed, horizontal bracing can be inverted to equalize the stiffness of the
columns of varying heights. Another solution is to obtain the usual effect of unequal heights of the
columns with the help of non-structural architectural elements where the column heights remain same,
actually [6].
2. Short columns may turn into a shear wall.
3. Non-structural walls should be isolated from columns by developing architectural details. Placement
of elastic or flexible material in between the infill walls and the structural members is necessary to obtain
independent displacement of the frames system for infill walls [7].
4. As an engineering attribution, proper arrangement of reinforcing for short column solves the problem.
An architect should be aware of the reasons of the short column formation. Therefore, coordination
between the architecture and the structural engineer is important and is needed to avoid the problem in
architectural design process [7].
C.2 Strong Beam-Weak Column Configuration
In case of an earthquake, the structure must be able to absorb the maximum energy by ductile
deformations in column-beam connections, which the lateral stability of the building is preserved. If the
beams of a building are more rigid than the columns, ductile deformations will occur at the top and both
ends of the columns. Excessive displacements will cause additional moments and the columns will easily
lose their lateral stability. Since the greatest earthquake forces occur at these coulombs, they will collapse
first, probably causing the destruction of the entire building.
If the columns are more rigid than the beam, ductile deformation occurs at the end of the beams. Beams
can absorb a lot of energy by ductile deformations without an important loss in the load carrying capacity.
In the system, all the beam-column connections in the building have to fail before the collapse of the
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ground floor columns. Architects should know that strong column-weak beam design is not only
advisable but also obligatory according to Codes.
2. EVALUATION OF ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION PROJECT IN BALIKESIR ACCORDING TO
TURKISH EARTHQUAKE CODE
In the competition project for Balikesir Metropolitan Municipality Building, there is one basement at 1.50 m and the building should be used as social usage. The area of the building floor is 550 m2 (Figure
7).
Figure 7. The plan of the competition project
The structural system of the building is reinforced concrete. The dimension of the column is 30 x 30 cm.
The building is cut in the dilatation when the width of the building is over than 40 m. In the basement
wall, stairs and elevator sections wall, the curtain wall should be used. Also, in the conference hall, due
to the large width, curtains walls should be used in the reinforced concrete structure system.
Since the Balikesir region is in the first degree earthquake zone in Turkey, the efficient coefficient of the
ground acceleration (Ao) is determined as 0.40. The importance coefficient of the building (l) is 1.50
because the building is in the class of government buildings, hospitals, fire stations, the communication
buildings, transportation buildings and energy buildings. The participation coefficient of the live loads is
determined as 0.30.
When the design faults are investigated according to Turkish Earthquake Code;
1. There is no torsional irregularity (A.1).
2. There is no floor discontinuity (A.2). The amounts of openings are ¼ of the floor in the entrance
building and is 1/5 of the floor in the governance building. Since the amount of the opening is lower than
1/3 according to Turkish Earthquake Code, this building provides the condition of the floor discontinuity.
3. There is no projections in plan.
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4. There is no weak or soft story (B.1) in the building. The structural system has symmetrical verticals
structural system (B.2).
5. There is no short column (C.1) and strong beam-weak column configuration (C.2).
CONCLUSIONS
By the past earthquakes, it was understood that there was a strong relationship between architectural
design and building resistance. The architecture should design the structural system correctly and
understand the dynamic behavior. To do that, the seismic codes which are important keys should be used
actively when designing structures [8].
The most significant part of earthquake code for architecture is irregular buildings. Architecture should
know that regular and symmetrical buildings are stronger against earthquake forces and irregular
buildings have weak parts that may not resist earthquakes. Thus, these weak parts may cause damages
even collapse of buildings. It should be noted that because the earthquake code is not prepared with an
architecture-friendly approach, especially the irregular types created by geometric arrangements such
as projections in mass and gallery openings are widely misunderstood and often undeservedly objected
by architects. The earthquake code does not forbid the existence of such architecture elements but
simply calls for attention to the consequences of using these elements in terms of the seismic behavior
of the building [8].
Earthquakes will not affect human’s lives negatively as a result of buildings designed and constructed
according to earthquake-resistant design principles. For preventing negative effects of earthquakes,
following topics must be taken into consideration immediately:
1. Basis of earthquake codes must be taken in architecture students’ undergraduate programs.
2. Existing buildings must be reinforced and repaired according to the regulations given in earthquake
codes.
3. During the construction period, the new structures must be inspected attentively to be adapted to the
earthquake code [8].
In conclusion, the architecture project should be designed according to the earthquake codes. However,
the architecture design is aesthetic, unique and different. Sometimes, the design of these properties is
not suitable for the earthquake codes. It is important to provide the earthquake code with these
properties. In the architectural education, the relationship between the architectural design and safety
regulations in the earthquake code should be described very well. Therefore, both architectural design
and safety should be arranged together and the architectural originality with the regulations in
earthquake code should be obtained.
REFERENCES
[1] Specification for Structures to be Built in Earthquake Areas, Ministry of Public Works and Settlement,
Government of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara, 2007.
[2] Ambrose J., Vergun D., Seismic Design of Buildings. Wiley-Interscience Publication, New York, 1985,
pp.45-46.
[3] Wakabayashi, M., “Design of Earthquake-Resistant Buildings”, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York,
1986.
[4] Tezcan S., Depreme Dayanıklı Tasarım için Bir Mimarın Seyir Defteri, Istanbul: Turkish Earthquake
Foundation, 1998, pp.303.
[5] Lagorio, H. J., Earthquakes, “An Architect’s Guide to Non-structural Seismic Hazards”, John Wiley &
Sons. Inc., New York, 1990.
96
[6] Zacek, M.,(Çeviri: Akbulut, M. T.), “Depreme Dayanıklı Yapı Tasarımı Ön Proje Asaması”, Depreme
Dayanıklılık Semineri, 18-19 Kasım 1999-Fransa, Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Basım-Yayın Merkezi,,
Istanbul, 2002.
[7] Gonencen K. The arrangement of seismic behavior in architectural design, Teknik Publications,
Turkey; 2000, pp. 45–46.
[8] Harmankaya, Z.Y., Soyluk, A., “Architectural Design of Irregular Buildings in Turkey” International
Journal of Civil & Environmental Engineering IJCEE-IJENS Vol: 12 No: 01, pp.42-48, 2012.
97
MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
RAPID CHANGING HOUSING SETTLEMENTS, THE
CASE OF QAFFIN TOWN IN PALESTINE
ZAHRAA ZAWAWI1, MOHAMMAD ITMA2, AMNA DEHELIA3
ABSTRACT
The paper addresses the morphological characteristics in the rapidly changing urban form of the
Palestinian settlements choosing the town of Qaffin as a case study. Qualitative methods are used to
address the analytical and historical transformation. Thus, the urban form of Qaffin tells a lot about the
political, social, and economic factors of change in Palestine in the last century. The main finding of the
study accentuates the rapid changing of housing forms and density while the continuity of streets and
plot patterns. Hence, the Palestinian towns are still able to conserve their organic character, but the rapid
change could cause over-densification in the future. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for a plan for
the deceleration of the change of urban form in Palestinian towns, which in turn will play a role in
preserving the Palestinian identity and cultural stability.
Keywords: Urban morphology; urban form; urban transformation; Qaffin town; borderline towns.
1
Dr., An-Najah National University, Department of Urban Planning, Nablus, Palestine
2
Dr., An-Najah National University, Department of Architectural Engineering, Nablus, Palestine
3
M.A., An-Najah National University, Department of Architectural Engineering, Nablus, Palestine
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INTRODUCTION
The vernacular compact fabric of rural Palestine was the predominant style in the country, encompassing the
Palestinian landscape with uniform and coherent forms (Miller, 1985). The existing environment was the main
influence on the vernacular character of traditional architecture in Arabic countries, as well as that in Palestine
(Rapoport, 1969). As Palestine's traditional architecture began to disappear and urbanity spread at the expense of
rural areas, the remaining villages transformed to towns and developed new diverse and fragmented urban forms
(Ragette, 2003). Those forms differ drastically from the north to the south of the West Bank, reflecting the spatial
isolation of Palestinian communities caused by the country's political struggle. (Ghadban, 2000) However, villages
located in the same regions share common characteristics and similarities (Senan, 1993).
Moreover, Palestinian settlements are considered as one of the most rapidly changing areas during the last decades
(Itma, 2016), the change is an important direction force in transferring settlements into high dense areas (Itma,
2014).accordingly, this paper tries to understand the influence of such rapid transformation of the urban form of
housing settlements in the last decades and up until now, choosing Qaffin town as a case study as shown in Figure1.
It attempts to examine how far the urban form has changed in these towns, what changed and what continued. The
analysis also highlights changing the indigenous identity of such villages into a complex urban form with
disintegrated and non-homogeneous architecture.
Figure 1. Qaffin’s location in the Tulkarm Governorate
The urban expansion of Qaffin between the years 1993-2017
Source: (Elections.ps2019, edited by Authors)
Urban morphology and urban landscape formation have been explored by academics through the last century, yet
not completely nor thoroughly (Živković, J. 2020). As there is a problem between syncing the theoretical base of the
field to its practical application of it (Sadeghi & Li, 2019). In many cases, the historical development of towns or
cities is hard to acquire, and in other cases, morphological analysis and research is a time-consuming process and
has complicated procedures (Bergamini, 2019), as the analytical work isn't only limited to the physical nature of
urban areas, but also integrates it with the societal values of their communities (Conzen, 2004), (Siksna, 2006).
However, urban form is mostly influenced by sociological anthropological, technological and political factors
(Sorauf, 2015). Social relations aren't just expressed and communicated through our daily lives, but they are found
and embodied in buildings' spatial organization, and settlement patterns. Built space is an expressive form of
culture and lifestyle and the alterations that the social structure experience through time (Calvet, 1979). There are
99
many factors to be considered in studying urban form, whether environmental, cultural, economic, technological,
or aesthetical. And it's vital to understand each context's exact situation to identify its influences.
Scholars working on urban morphology were highly influenced by the environment and the region in which they
studied, and this resulted in different methodologies and approaches to the point of changing the principles of the
discipline of urban morphology (Oliveira, 2016). And according to this variance, Moudon has categorized them into
three leading schools of thought on urban morphology; those being British schools, Italian schools and French
schools (Moudon, 1997). Although there are different schools and approaches to analyzing the urban form of towns,
it is possible to develop an appropriate framework for studying the specific urban form of a country to understand
how far different events change said form. Figure 2 shows the analytical frame meant to be used in the case study,
the elements and sub-elements of urban form are chosen based on data available for analysis.
Figure 2. Elements of Urban Form
Source: developed by Authors 2022
METHODOLOGY
Qualitative methods are used in this paper that includes collecting statistical information about Qaffin, such as
population increase, town area decrease, statistical numbers regarding housing units, number of buildings and
housing unit size, etc. Figure 3 shows the selected zones for urban form analysis. Areas are set to cover parts of the
old town of Qaffin and the later construction bursts. They are also selected to include different land-use patterns,
residential, commercial, and public land use. These zones include buildings built in different periods through the
last century and have been utilised differently to include all possible varieties of urban form in Qaffin, which will
serve to present a clear understanding of the morphological characteristics of the town’s urban form. The selection
of these zones has been based on the grid division of Qaffin Municipality’s Master plan.
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Figure 3. Master plan Grid (Qaffin Municipality) (a), selected zones (b), master plan (c)
Source: developed by Authors 2022
THE NORTH OF QAFFIN: THE OLD TOWN AND ITS PERIPHERY (ZONE 1)
The first selected area, which is shown in Figure 4, is chosen on the periphery of the old town of Qaffin and is a part
of the northern area. Old town Qaffin is the oldest inhabited area of the town, and some archaeological shrines
within the area, like the Al-Nabi Othman shrine, are said to be more than 700 years old. Consequently, old town
Qaffin has the oldest streets and buildings and has witnessed more extensive alterations. It is worth mentioning
that the northern area was originally an agricultural field before urban expansion reached it through the Israeli
occupation period, and traces of its agricultural identity can still be seen to this very day.
A brief look at the town plan -see Figure 4- shows the difference between the old town and its neighbouring area to
the north. It can be noticed that the old town has a compact building fabric where mostly all blocks are fully occupied
with buildings and houses are close to each other and at some points form cluster buildings. On the other hand, the
Northern side of the zone shows a less compact pattern with the building which are spaced apart noticeably. These
spaces are either completely vacant or occupied with greenhouses, see Figure 4. a. The building scale varies in each
region, as public buildings like schools, the municipality building and mosques have the largest areas. Residential
buildings also vary in size in this area based on the housing type-single house, villas, semi-attached or multi-story
buildings.
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Figure 4. Building Pattern (a), Block Pattern (b), Street network pattern (c, d), Land use (e)
Source: developed by Authors, Geomolg 2022
The block analysis, in Figure 4. a, and e shows almost the entirety of old town Qaffin, zoned into one continuous
block, which is the largest block in the Master plan stretching horizontally with irregular boundaries. It is noticed
that it is unlike the town ground plan which stretches from north to south. The change of urban growth direction is
mostly caused by having confines on the horizontal direction; the separation wall on the west side, and illegal Israeli
settlement expansion on the East.
The street network analysis, shown in Figure 4. c, shows more interlaced and tangled narrow routes to serve the
dense building pattern, which is very similar to the paths and alleyways of Palestinian old towns, those refer to the
villages and towns which have developed at the first of the 20th century and still make up the core of contemporary
villages and towns. The difference is clear in Figure 4.d between the planned street network and the existing one As
previously mentioned, the planned street network is only designed between blocks, and so the old town being only
one plot has no planned streets that go through it. Crossing the boundaries of old town Qaffin, the street network
gets less complicated and more regular.
For zone 1, land use classifications of the old town which can be seen in Figure 4.d, have special regulations that
allow minimal or no setbacks, and maximum built-to land area percentage. However, those regulations are not fixed
and every case is reviewed by the municipality council to determine the building utilization, its ground dimensions
and its allowed number of stories. The rest of the zone is classified as Residential B, except for a public use parcel
that is used as a cemetery.
THE MIDDLE- EASTERN AREA OF QAFFIN (ZONE 2)
Zone 2 is selected on the western side of the ground plan, see Figure 5. Urban development of this period started
through the Israeli occupation period and picked up pace through the Palestinian authority period. In Figure 5, the
built area takes multiple forms and has different patterns.
The building pattern is shown in Figure 5. a is a nonlinear cluster pattern and spreads unevenly according to the
land use classification of the plot. The building fabric of this zone is loose, with irregular and scattered building
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density that ranges between a semi-compact and an open fabric pattern. The arrangement of houses is affected and
follows both street patterns and plot patterns. It is vital to note that some houses are positioned without following
street direction as the biggest influence on buildings' position in such towns is land ownership.
Figure 5. Building Pattern (a), block pattern (b), street pattern (c), land use (d), ground plan, and aerial photo
Source: developed by Authors, Geomolg 2022
The block pattern is in Figure 5. b shows large irregular and interconnected blocks, as well as small-sized irregular
blocks. The plot pattern lacks any kind of linear or curved lines and is considered rough with a primitive rural form.
Blocks are drawn to suit the topographical nature of the town and have kept the same outline since before the
year1948. Blocks are not even divided into parcels, as the Regional Palestinian Master plan committee has not
surveyed Qaffin as of yet, and thus the Master plan is yet to be prepared.
As for the street pattern, which is shown in Figure 5. c, the streets have followed the plot pattern and not vice versa.
The blocks (or blocks) of Qaffin have been drawn, and with the urban expansion, the streets have followed the
pattern of those blocks, which expectedly resulted in the irregular and rough pattern of the streets. Most streets in
town are narrow, except for the main street, which is the widest and runs from the centre of old town Qaffin to the
south. Streets are few compared to the size of the block and have few crossing points. The land use pattern in Figure
5.d, in the selected zone has interacted and unclear streets, for public building land use follows the previously built
location of the town’s schools which was chosen by the town people more than 40 years ago
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THE SOUTH OF QAFFIN (ZONE 3)
Zone 3 is selected on the southern side of Qaffin, and is considered one of the newest zones that have witnessed
urban development in the town. Urban development in this zone had started through the Palestinian authority
period and quickened pace over the last decade. In the ground plan in Figure 6, the building density increases near
the main street of Qaffin and decreases moving farther from the streets, as the west side of the zone is almost vacant
of buildings.
The building pattern is shown in Figure 6. a, as mentioned previously, is denser on the main street side. This is
because the main street comprises the most vital commercial area of Qaffin, and like many different towns and cities
in Palestine, the main street presents commercial potential and future development, for they are the vines that
connect to neighbouring towns. The block pattern in Figure 6. b albeit still irregular, shows more uniform shapes
compared to the previous two zones. It can be noted that the blocks almost form square shapes in some areas and
are also smaller in size.
Figure 6. Building Pattern (a), block pattern (b), street pattern (c), land use (d), Ground plan, and aerial photo
Source: developed by Authors, Geomolg 2022
The existing street network is in Figure 6. c, mostly follows the planned street network, except for undeveloped
areas, while pathways and narrower streets branch out of the main roads to connect the newly constructed
buildings to the street network. In the land-use classification in Figure 6.d, the blocks nearer to the old town are
classified as residential C, while those farther away are classified as residential B, meaning the farther the plot from
the town centre, the lesser the building density. The land aligned along the sides of the linear street of Qaffin, which
is also expected to have a more vital commercial activity, isn't all classified as linear commercial. However, the
residents of Qaffin expect this classification to be changed soon.
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DISCUSSION
It can be noticed from the upper analysis of the three selected zones that the building pattern within the stable block
patterns is more prone to reflect the changes that Qaffin has witnessed compared to street network and plot
patterns. The building pattern has rapidly changed through the last century, while streets and plots were slowly
changed. The following will summarize the results of applying the proposed theoretical framework of this paper to
the three selected zones of Qaffin in terms of buildings-blocks, street networks, and plots patterns:
Random Expansion of Buildings:
The urban form of Qaffin has shown very distinct qualities that are most apparent through the building pattern of
the town. While the block pattern hasn’t changed at all through the last century, the most prominent change which
has happened to the town plan is the high rise in building pattern density For as the town plan is almost packed
with buildings, it appears from the analysis of the three selected areas that the building form of the village is
characterized by:
Increasing the density of buildings in most areas, especially those closer to the village centre (Zone 1 is an example,
see Figure 4)
The footprint of the buildings increases as we move from the old centre towards the outskirts as a result of changing
building laws (zone2 is an example, see Figure 5)
Random or scattered growth from all directions due to the absence of natural obstacles that determine a specific
shape of the village (zone3 is an example, see Figure 6)
Stability of the Street Network, and the Possibility for Future Densification:
Street networks have shown little alteration with time, as streets stretched linearly, they still had their original
spontaneous arrangement and organic pattern. The street network maintains to some extent this organic character,
which is characterized by frequent bends to suit the geographical nature of the village with the presence of narrow
streets that lead to the residential areas. However, the pattern of streets become less dense as we moved to the
outskirts which are likely to increase the built area in the future growth of the city and allow for high densification
as highlighted in zone 3.
Irregularity of Plots Pattern:
From the study of the selected zones, on one hand, it is possible to trace the shapes of irregular buildings in all zones,
which indicates the existence of a random division of plots. Compound buildings follow the boundaries of the land,
which often take an irregular shape. Complementing this pattern is the spontaneous sense of the extension of the
village with the presence of the organic network of the streets. On the other hand, land use classification has slowly
changed until the period between the year 2001 and 2017, which allows for greater setbacks and much-fragmented
fabric in the outskirts of the village.
The contrast of density: the densification in some parts of the village and fragmentation in other parts.
The contrast of organization: the absence of order, or systematic relations between buildings and the absence of a
repetition of spatial patterns.
The contrast of building forms and footprints: the high variation of building types and forms, in terms of footprint
size, height and layout.
CONCLUSION
It is acknowledged that the urban form of any town cannot be simply fixed or frozen, but the sudden transformation
of this town in a limited period can cause negative changes in the national identity and cultural stability. This study
attempted to track the rapid transformation of urban form in bound Palestinian villages in the past few decades, in
order to verify elements of continuity and element of changes in the morphology of such towns.
105
As a result, there is an urgent need for a plan on political, social, and economic levels, to slow down the shifting and
changing of urban form in Palestinian towns in terms of building form, thus preserving Palestinian identity and
cultural stability. It is recommended for the contributors to conduct further studies in the future that address the
changing of urban form in other parts of the West Bank and Gaza. It is also recommended to learn from international
experiences, to develop slow-changing plans in the Palestinian urban form.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit
sectors.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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GENDER EQUALITY :MENTAL AGONY AND KHULA
PRACTICE IN PAKISTAN
MEHREEN QAISAR1
ABSTRACT
Khula is a basic right granted to women 1400 years ago. Pakistani constitution also grants right to Khula to Muslim
women. Marriage contract (Nikah Nama) is an important document in which delegated right of divorce is given to
women but Khula is rarely practiced due to cultural reasons that’s why many women resorts to delegated right of
divorce to end abusive marriage. This paper aims to address issues related to Khula practice in Pakistan and
misogynist mindset of Pakistani society. This paper will address misogynist religious interpretation of Khula right
by the clerics who issues anti-women fatwa against Khula right which is granted to women by the religion itself.
Keywords: Khula, Family law, Gender equality, Women’s right, Pakistan, VAW.
1
Lecturer, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
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1. INTRODUCTION
According to Islamic Feminist Islam is an egalitarian religion and Islam has granted women right to Khula, a form
of divorce in which women has to return her dower in case to end marriage. Khula is a basic right granted to Muslim
Women in Islam. In Pakistan Khula right is enshrined in Muslim Family Law ordinance 1961.Although delegated
right of divorce is given to women in Pakistani constitution however it is rarely practiced mostly women opt of
Khula to end abusive marriage. Khula right for women in Pakistan ensures gender equality between women and
men. For Khula husband’s consent is not required to end marriage if women agrees to return dower. The word khula
literally means to remove or putt off and signifies the removal of the matrimonial bond.
According to Rashida Patel 2003 Khula is the most common ground for the cancellation of marriage in Pakistan and
for Khula the most common ground is irreconcilable differences between husband and wife. And in Case of Khula
women has to forgo her Dower which she has received at the time of marriage. Before Partition of subcontinent
Khula was only form of Divorce to end marriage but at that time husband consent was required to end marriage.
(Rashida Hussain Patel, 2003, p. 100-101)
2. ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE ABOUT KHULA
In the Islamic history we can witness various examples of Khula one famous case is Habiba/Jamila and her husband
Sabit. Habiba came to holy prophet SAW and complained about her husband that he is not good in looks and that
thing made her despised her about husband and she said he is short and not handsome and she finds him ugly on
hearing that holy prophet SAW said to Habiba/Jamila are you willing to return the garden that he gave you she said
yes and even more. The Holy Prophet Said no more but you return the garden that he gave you and then holy prophet
said take the garden and divorce her.(Ibne Maja Vol 1 p. 63)
Second famous Hadith is about Barairah who was married to slave Mughis she did not live with her husband she
was unhappy with her husband. The Prophet SAW advised her to go back to her husband she said is this an order?
The Prophet SAW said that it was merely a recommendation she then refused to go back to him and said I have no
need of him. This shows that women can’t be compelled if she has a fixed aversion to her husband. [Sahih Al Bukhari
- Book 63 [of divorce] #2062
In Surah al Baqarah 2:229 Khula concept is mentioned:
A divorce may be [revoked] twice, whereupon the marriage must either be resumed in fairness or dissolved in a
goodly manner. And it is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you have ever given to your wives unless
both [partners] have cause to fear that they may not be able to keep within the bounds set by God: hence, if you have
cause to fear that the two may not be able to keep within the bounds set by God, there shall be no sin upon either of
them for what the wife may give up [to her husband] in order to free herself. These are the bounds set by God; do not,
then, transgress them: for they who transgress the bounds set by God-it is they, they who are evildoers (Muhammad
Asad’s Translation)3
Khula Concept in Quran Implies that if a women fears she cannot live with her husband within the prescribed limits
from GOD she can apply for the Khula. Surah Al Baqarah verse 2.229 is a milestone for women’s right to seek Khula
if she feels she can’t no longer live with her husband and wants to end her marriage. This verse is quoted by various
jurists in Muslim countries who are in favor of Women’s unilateral right to end marriage. Jurist are of view that
“Women have rights against men, similar to those that men have against them, according to the well-known rules
of equity.”
Quran expressly says that husband should should either retain a wife according to well recognized custom ( Imsak
un bil maroof) or release her with grace (Tasreehun bi ihsan).The Word of GOD enjoined the husband to not cling
the women in order to cause her injury. Another Hadith declares Lazarar wa lazarar fil Islam. Let no harm be done
nor harm be suffered in islam. If husband proves recalcitrant and doesn’t agree to release the woman from the
marital bond the Qazi (judge) may well intervene to give redress and enforce Quranic injunction. (Rashida Hussain
Patel, 2003, p. 103)
2
3
https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=63&translator=1&start=0&number=206
https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/2/229/
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In pure Sharia doctrine, Khula normally dependent upon the consent of the husband. Maliki authority (and one
Shafi'i view) might have been claimed for the power of the arbitrators appointed in case of discord between spouses
to enforce a Khul' divorce, but, as it stands, the text of the report implies that the role of the husband is always
limited to demanding material compensation. 'About Khula, that is divorce sought by the wife, there is a consensus
of opinion that Islam has granted this right to the woman if she forgoes the mehr or a part of it, if it is so demanded
by the husband. (N.J Coulson, 1957, p. 140)
3. LEGAL BATTLE FOR KHULA CASES IN PAKISTAN
If we talk about Khula practice in Pakistan for Khula usually women have to file for their case in the court then court
decides fate of women after decision from court the case is forwarded in the arbitration/Union council if there is no
reconciliation arbitration council issue the divorce certificate. For Khula case it is sufficient for women to claim that
she can no longer live her husband within prescribed limits of GOD that’s sufficient for her to win her case in the
court however this was not situation in the early years of history of Pakistani court’s judgement.
In both Umar Bibi and Sayeeda Khanam case the Lahore Court remarked on the danger of liberalizing a woman's
right to divorce If a woman were allowed a divorce simply on the ground that she didn't like her husband, or even
that she hated him, said the Court in Umar Bibi “It will then become possible for any woman to get rid of the marriage
tie-fickle minded and impressionable, as she temperamentally is-on account of a passing fancy [I]t will reduce the
marriages into more or less a farce “The sentiment was echoed by the Full Bench in Sayeeda Khanam If wives were
allowed to dissolve their marriages, without the consent of their husbands, by merely giving up their dowers, paid
or promised to be paid, the institution of marriage would be meaningless as there would be no stability attached to
it. (Lucy Carrol, 1996, p.101)
Muslim wife has the right to demand a dissolution of her marriage on grounds no more substantial than that she
disliked her husband's appearance if she were prepared to forego her mahr (dower) The judges in Pakistan relied
particularly on Maulana Abdul Ala Maudoodi's Haqooq-uz-Zaujain, and the Maulana's interpretation of the hadith
concerning Jamila/Habiba and her husband Sabit ( Lucy Carrol,1996 p.103)
Most often judges grant khula, a divorce in which the wife foregoes her dowry, even in cases where women are
clearly entitled to a judicial divorce under the terms of the law. Women who initiate a divorce can be essentially
penalized and forced to buy their freedom (Ali, 2000).The Supreme Court of Pakistan confirmed the principle laid
down in the above judgment in 1967 in Khurshid Bibi v Baboo Muhammad Amin.In this case, the courts recognized
that the Qurʾān, which is the basis of all the fundamental laws of Islam, places both the husband and the wife on an
equal footing with regard to their mutual rights and obligations. The court held that a wife does not require the
consent of her husband for khulʿ. Further, it held that the Qurʾān and Sunnah prescribe that persons in authority
(ūlū al-amr), including a qāḍī, can order dissolution of marriage on the basis of khulʿ, even if the husband disagree
(Abbasi, 2017 p.396)
4. GENDER EQUALITY & KHULA
Federal Shariat court is the constitutional court which was established in 1980’s to see that laws of country are in
accordance with Islamic laws. The Federal Shariat court (FSC) observed that the injunctions of Islam regarding
gender are based on “equality without any discrimination whatsoever”. The FSC held: Obviously Islam does not
intend to force a wife [to] live a miserable life, in a hateful unhappy union, forever. If she is unhappy and
reconciliation fails, she should be entitled to get relief whatsoever (Abbasi, 2017, p.399)
On the issue of gender equality, the judges did not find support in the views of Muslim jurists. If, as the judges suggest,
Islamic law recognizes gender equality, then why is a wife’s right to the dissolution of marriage judicially controlled?
In other words, how can the notion of gender equality be reconciled with the husband’s absolute right to divorce
while a wife can exercise her right to khulʿ only through a court? (Abbasi, 2017 p.402).Wife has to walk into a court
of law and state that she wants to dissolve her marriage. The court is bound to “accede to her request”. She does not
need to establish any fault on the part of her husband (Abbasi, 2017, p.408)
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According to report Abbasi, 2019 from 1947-2017 overall 376 cases were reported for Khula. The increase in the
reported judgments of khula can be attributed to various factors. One key factor is the liberal interpretation of the
law relating to khula, which has made it far easier for women to obtain a decree of dissolution of marriage on the
basis of khula (Abbasi, 2019, p.7)
One of the remarkable achievements of Pakistani courts has been the development of women’s unilateral right to
no-fault based judicial divorce (khula) Husbands have contested the wife’s right of khula in various cases, claiming
that their consent is a pre-requisite for the dissolution of marriage on the basis of khula. However, courts have
dismissed such claims and have held that khula is not contingent upon the consent of the husband, rather on the
court’s reaching the conclusion that spouses could no longer live within the limits prescribed by Allah. A wife’s right
to no-fault unilateral judicial divorce (khula) was fully recognized following the amendment in section 10(4) of the
Family Courts Act 1964, which requires a judge to immediately pass a decree for dissolution of marriage if the
reconciliation fails. (Abbasi, 2019, p.13)
5. REPERCUSSION OF KHULA THROUGH COURT
It is fact that unilateral Khula is not taken well by the male clerics they reject the concept of unilateral Khula The
famous hadith which they quote is that “Women asking for Khula will be deprived of fragrance of paradise ” Trimizi.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) in 2016 has declared it Un-Islamic to grant Khula without the consent of
husband.4 Council of Islamic ideology is a constitutional body that advises legislature whether certain law is in
conformity with Islam or not. In 2016 its head was Mualana Muhammad Khan Sherani who was also member of
National assembly. He and other clerics were of view that Divorce issued by the courts without the consent of
husband is not valid and according to Shariah. They pointed out that Courts are dissolving marriages in the name
of Khula but that’s not correct because courts neglect consent of husband to end marriage and its violation of Shariah
laws.
This statement is problematic and creates hurdle for women who want to end abusive relationship through Khula
from the courts. Clerics in Pakistan are concerned with rising cases of Khula in the country because they feel its
threating to family system in Pakistan. This is against injunctions of Islam because clerics don’t practice of ijtihad
whereas legal system in Pakistan is based on Ijtihad.
6. CASE STUDY OF AMIR LIAQAT HUSSAIN
Amir Liaqat Hussain is a famous religious scholar in Pakistan who used to conduct religious program on GeoTV
channel. He is also is famous for his marriages .He is currently a member of National assembly in Pakistan from
2018. His second wife took Khula from him through the court. After few days of Khula he got married third time
with a girl who is almost half of his age. After third marriage he appeared for an interview with FHM magazine and
he claimed that his second wife took Judicial Khula and it is not valid because he didn’t divorce her and if she married
someone else it would be Zina (Adultery). This case is widely reported in Pakistani Social media and this shows
level of acceptance of Judicial Khula in Pakistani Society.5After his statement his Ex-wife Syeda Tooba Anwar posted
her stance on Instagram that she took Khula form divorce according to Pakistani constitution and has returned her
dower she said
“I urge the Islamic scholars to speak up for women who choose to exercise their rights in accordance with Shariah and
Pakistan’s constitution, and she said that Islam permits to seek divorce if the marriage is no longer working. Taking a
graceful exit from a toxic and abusive marriage is a right not a sin”6
It is evident from the case mentioned above that there are still misconceptions about Khula in Pakistan that Khula
issued by the court is not valid and it is often used to emotionally blackmail Ex-wife to resort to her Ex-husband.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1049717/khula-without-husbands-consent-is-un-islamic-rules-cii
This news can be accessed from https://www.lollywoodcity.com/aamir-liaquat-conflict-khula-without-theconsent-of-husband-is-an-un-islamic-act/
6 Her statement can be accessed from the account https://www.instagram.com/syedatuba/?hl=en
4
5
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7. SHOAIB QASIM CASE
Shoaib Qasim is Pakistani Youtuber who makes vlogs he has almost 24 k subscribers on Youtube , he is father of
three amazing sons and his wife took Khula from him.He now lives life as a Single Dad who is devoted to his children
and takes good care of his children, he also expressed similar kind of sentiments about Khula in his vlog that he
consulted a religious cleric who said that his divorce is not valid because Khula was taken without the consent of
husband.
It is evident from both Amir Liaqat and Shoaib Qasim Case that Clerics don’t approve the idea of women taking
Khula without the consent of husband and this regressive thinking jeopardize women’s rights movement and
promotes violence against women whereas Khula’s right is granted by Islam itself and similar to unilateral divorce
which is as valid as other kind of divorce.7
7. CONCLUSION
It is concluded that Khula is basic right to women granted by the constitution of Pakistan. Legal system of Pakistan
ensures gender equality and states that women are entitled to khula right in the same way men are entitled to
divorce right. However if women seeks Khula through court without the consent of husband she is still subject to
mental torture that her Khula is not valid. This mentality is hurdle for the implementation of women’s right in
Pakistan. However empowered women are exercising their right in accordance with National & Islamic law.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
I am Thankful to my mentor & best friend Dr. Mamonah Ambreen for motivating me to work on publications.
REFERENCES
Ali, S. (2000). Using law for women in Pakistan. In Ann Stewart (ed.) Gender, law and social justice. London:
Blackstone Press.
Lucy Carrol, 1996. Qurʾan 2 229 "A Charter Granted to the Wife"? Judicial Khulʿ in Pakistan. Islamic Law and
Society, 1996, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1996), pp. 91-126 Published by: Brill Stable URL:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3399183
Muhammad Zubair Abbasi ,2017 .Judicial Ijtihād as a Tool for Legal Reform. Islamic Law and Society , 2017, Vol.
24, No. 4 (2017), pp. 384-411. Published by: Brill Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26571283
Muhammad Zubair Abbasi, 2019. From Faskh to Khula: Transformation of Muslim Women’s Right to Divorce in
Pakistan (1947-2017).Published by SSRN
URl:https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3307766
N. J. Coulson, 1957. Reform of Family Law in Pakistan; Studia Islamica , 1957, No. 7 (1957), pp. 135-155 published
by brill accessed Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1595022
Rashida Mohammad Hussain Patel 2003 .Woman versus Man: Socio-Legal Gender Inequality in Pakistan
ISBN : 0195798953 published by Oxford University Press
AUTHOR RESUME
Mehreen Qaisar is working as a Lecturer at Gender & Women Studies Department Allama Iqbal Open University,
Islamabad Pakistan, she teaches course Gender & Law, Gender & IR & women’s movement in global perspective to
the Under graduate Students. Apart from teaching she works as a Peace Activist and working as country
representative for peace360.org USA
7
Shoaib Qasim Channel could be accessed from website https://www.youtube.com/c/ShoaibQasimVlogs/videos
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