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A.RITM (RESTORATION-INTERVENTION-TRANSFORMATION-MODIFICATION) RESEARCH AREA

Completed Scientific Research Projects

 

  • The Story of 30 Timeless Chairs – 1950s / 1960s / 1970s, Scientific Research Project, Yaşar University, August 2016 – 2017

Researchers:

  • Assist.Prof. (PhD) N. Ebru KARABAĞ AYDENİZ
  • Lecturer Sergio TADDONIO
  • Lecturer Fulya BALLI

Click for the Research Project Movie…

 

Summary: Furniture has been a branch of architecture through the history of design and designs with various styles depending on the evolving needs, taste and trends. Beginning from the early stages, furniture has been an element for reflecting prestige with its show off and ornament (golden and silver damasken, fretwork, craving and lathe work) highlighted. New production techniques and materials began to be utilised with the emergence of industrial revolution in the 18th century. Modernism, emerging in the late 19th century, became a milestone for furniture design same as it did for all fields making functionality the primary purpose and furniture a tool for reflecting the lifestyle. The foundation of Bauhaus School has initiated a new era and with the effect of this school furniture began to be produced lighter by means of material and design in the mid 20th century. Dark and ‘heavy’ varnishing applications, golden and silver gilded paintings, exaggerated wood carving and gaudy patterns at clothing are replaced with modern ‘eye-brightening’ simplicity. Furniture produced between 1950 and 1980, known as “Mid-Century Modern Furniture”, has continued its impact and is the first examples of present day furniture. During those years, minimal designs, which can be referred as Retro-futuristic, have driven attention with their ‘bizarre’ and ‘dominant’ forms (end tables shaped as kidney, orbicular armchairs and etc.) at first and gained a significant place in furniture history thanks to their clean lines, bright colours and extraordinary materials.

These global changes have reflections also on Turkey, to some extent. It is obvious that there are not sufficient researches and information gathering when we look into the history of modern furniture in Turkey. There are very few studies especially related to the development of Mid-Century Modern Furniture in our country. Therefore, such furniture is not recognised, under-valued and is not able to be protected due to lack of information and documentation. Thus, with this project, it is aimed to create and develop awareness towards validation and protection of Mid-Century Modern Furniture products that made it to present. For this purpose, it is first tried to fill the gap in the literature by researching the furniture designed, produced and used between 1950 and 1980, and then to provide reuse of 30 characteristic Mid-Century Modern Chair from that period, after purchasing and restoring them. The literature review has shown that chair is the first to be influenced by changing movements throughout the history and influences the other elements of furniture. In other words, the pioneer designs of the doyen designers reflecting the changing era are always ‘chair’. Therefore “chair” has been chosen as the design object within this project. Chair provides a more powerful expression thanks to its sculptural form compared to other elements and it has the ‘object’ potential besides being economical and practical to be produced and being an obligatory for every house. Despite being small by means of dimensions, chair has the ability to express the period that it was produced. This explains why many significant designers who managed to direct the modern architectural movements, have iconic chair designs.

30 unique Mid-Century Modern Chairs which differ from each other depending on the production decennium, were researched, purchased and restored to be exhibited within this project between September the 29th, 2016 and January the 29th, 2018 as Yasar University Scientific Research Project (project no: BAP 044). Those chairs are chosen under the light of data gathered from literature review and market research held by conducting interviews with experts. Pre-restoration and post-restoration states of the chairs are pictured to express the dramatic transformation, thus the attention is attracted to the fact that they are still aesthetic and usable. During the restoration process, the problems of each chair are detected and interventions related to these problems are defined. By doing so, principles and methods regarding the restoration and reuse of the furniture from mentioned period.

It is planned to enrich the collection – belongs to Yasar University – by researching elements like armchair, sideboard and accessories of Mid-Century Modern Furniture. It is believed that such projects and studies will contribute to a detailed documentation about furniture of mentioned period, to expanding the history of modern furniture, to noticing such furniture and to reuse by restoration of them.

 

  • Terrestrial Laser Scanning Technologies in Cultural Heritage Documentation, Scientific Research Project, Yaşar University, October 2016 – October 2017

Researchers:

  • Prof. (PhD) Sevil SARIYILDIZ
  • Assist.Prof. (PhD) İlker KAHRAMAN
  • Interior Architect Yarkın ÜSTÜNES
  • Res.Assist. Selin Karagözler
  • Architect Berk Ekici
  • Assist.Prof. (PhD) Mustafa KORUMAZ (Selçuk University)
  • Res.Assist. Armağan KORUMAZ (Selçuk University)

 

Summary: Documentation of the current state of cultural heritage structures and erroneous decisions taken during the process of functional transformation, cause the loss of originality and quality of the work. For this reason, in the documentation phase, which constitutes the first phase of protection work, The use of innovative methods and the way to determine the most accurate and optimal design should be aimed to try to answer by trying in the context of computational design. In this research, the use of 3D Laser Scanning method is been used to document the Çanakçı Masjid and the Alaeddin Sultan Zaviyesi in Tire-İzmir, belonging to the General Directorate of Foundations.  The aim is to use the Laser scan technology in relation to 3D Modeling software to do the restoration works with computational design methods and to find the answer to the question how to obtain the best and optimal result by means of intelligent optimization techniques.

Rapidly evolving computational technology in every field has leapt into the field of cultural heritage documentation, leading to new methods and techniques in this area as well. These methods and techniques have also affected the documentation of the cultural heritage, paralleling traditional methods.

 

 

B. DESIGN AND CULTURE

B1. INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION RESEARCH AREA

Completed Scientific Research Projects

 

  • Improving the Instructional Methods of a Sophomore-level Interior Design Studio Course through Instructional Design, Yaşar University, November 2016-August 2017

Researchers:

  • Assoc.Prof. (PhD) Gülnur BALLİCE
  • Assist.Prof. (PhD) Çağrı ÖZKÖSE BIYIK
  • Interior Architect Ebru Bengisu CHATZIKONSTANTINOU

 

Summary: It has been seen that, in Turkey there is a great miscommunication between the students of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, Architecture etc. and the coordinators of the studio which are one of the most important courses in terms of credits and density. It is compulsory for studio coordinators to develop solutions towards the problems that the students are facing in the studio. This problem is as important as research to realize learning outcomes. At the end of semester the success can be reached by the systematic planning of both subjects.

Under the lights of these problems the main aim of this project is to redesign the education process in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design Studios in order to solve the communication problems between students and teachers by applying the techniques derived from a pilot study. With this the other aims of the project are as follows:

Aim-1: Planning by using instructional design methods in order to minimize the problems of communication in design studios,

Aim -2: Activate and improve the materials of the course that is shared with the students,

Aim -3: Creating a guide both for students and for instructors in order to show the difficulties and the solutions in design studios,

Aim -4: Creating the required infrastructure for the newly established educational unit “Innovative Teaching and Learning” and to transfer this infrastructure to the other areas.

Aim -5: Creating a background for the studio courses of Yaşar University Interior Architecture and Environmental Design and programing an instructional program that will suit the principles of 2nd, 3rd and 4th year studios.

This research will evaluate the applications of studio courses from a systematic perspective and presenting original outcomes.

This research will be carried out through below-mentioned steps:

Stage 1: Data collection: Literature research, Transcription and the analysis and of the focus interviews that was made individually face-to-face with students. in 2015-2016 Fall and 2015-2016 Spring Semester

Stage 2: Making interviews individually in 2016-2017 Spring Semester.

Stage 3: Delivering the outputs of the project, sharing/presentation: guide brochure, symposium (In 2017 Spring Semester), and project reports.

 

 

B2.HISTORY OF DESIGN IN TURKEY RESEARCH AREA

Ongoing Scientific Research Projects

 

  • İzmir Public Sea Baths (1930-1970), Architect’s Assocation 1927, Modern Architecture Research (MAR) Support Program

Researchers:

  • Assoc.Prof. (PhD) Burkay PASİN

 

Summary: The scope of this study includes the sea baths, namely İnciraltı, Alsancak, Göztepe ve Karşıyaka, that served public in four different plots in İzmir Bay between 1930-1970. These structures had functions such as casino, restaurant, dressing rooms, shower, toilet, that accompanied the beach use of the citizens. In time, these baths became less significant due to the pollution of sea water and the popularization of summer resorts out of İzmir; some had been demolished completely, some had survived until the 1970s with new functions.

The initial aim of the project is to examine these four baths in typological, structural and functional terms, which have not been much covered in elitist historiography but have contributed to the development of recreation architecture and culture at İzmir shoreline in architectural, cultural and social dimensions. In this respect, the proposed project is both a documentation study regarding modern public architecture and an urban memory study that sheds light on the daily life culture of the period. Another aim of the project is to examine the role and significance of these baths in the spatial formation of İzmir shoreline, hence not only giving room for academic research on this topic but also providing a reference source for contemporary design practice of seaside landscaping.

In this research, the spatial arrangement, functional characteristics and their relations with the socio-cultural development and transformation of İzmir shoreline, will be critically examined in detail. In this historical case study, various data collection methods requiring access to personal and institutional archives, will be utilized. A comparative analysis between the visual and written data such as photograph, postcard, advertisement brochure, newspaper article, derived from local archives and personal collections, and graphical and written data such as application projects and acts of local administrations. In this way, it is foreseen that more information will be gathered regarding the architects, construction process, cost, spatial layout, typological, functional and structural characteristics of the baths. As an alternative data collection method, it is planned to conduct oral history interviews with people over the age of 70 regarding their experiences, who used to visit those baths when they were children or adolescents. By means of open-ended and semi-structured questions, it is aimed to better understand the spatial and functional characteristics of these structures as well as their significance in daily life and entertainment culture.

 

Completed Scientific Research Projects

 

  • Spatial Analysis of Mid-Century Multi-Storey Dwellings and 3D Transferring to Virtual Platform: Karşıyaka, İzmir, Scientific Research Project, Yasar University, 01.12.2019  – 09.04.2021

Researchers:

  • Assoc.Prof. (PhD) Gülnur BALLİCE
  • Assist.Prof. (PhD) Eda PAYKOÇ ÖZÇELİK
  • Res.Assist. Gizem GÜLER
  • Res.Assist. İrem Deniz AKÇAM
  • Master Architect Renin ON (Advisor)
  • Lecturer  Fulya BALLI (Advisor)
  • Assist.Prof. (PhD) İpek EK (Advisor)
  • Architect Beste GÖNÜLTAŞ TEKİN (Advisor)
  • Urban and Reginonal Planner Emrecan ESENALP (Advisor)

Click for the Project Website…

Click for the Social Media Account of Project…

 

Summary: The concept of conservation in modern architecture in Turkey is limited to a certain period and/or building type. The exclusion of these approaches from the civil architecture of modern times has led to a limited number of researches in the field of housing culture. Civil architecture products that are “invisible” even though they constitute a great part of the urban fabric are neglected within conservation approaches. However, they have a very significant position in terms of urban identity and architectural culture. These civil architecture products which can reach the present day on the scale of mass housing or a single housing, are unique examples that convey the housing practices and modern life culture of the period. Besides, in Turkey where we witness the rapid destruction of the heritage of modern architecture, there are very few studies involving interiors and furniture carried out on a residential basis.

Today, the architectural and interior features of multi-story houses in İzmir still constitute a great potential. Identifying, documenting, analyzing and transferring them to a virtual platform with 3-dimensional complementary visualization technology will bring a comprehensive approach to the residential buildings from that period. At the end of this study which is essentially composed of research, documentation and analysis study, it is aimed to establish the basis of a virtual city-housing architecture museum by focusing on multi-story houses as a part of architectural culture.

 

  • Interactive Digital Exhibits To Experience Architectural Heritage: The Case of Balcony Balustrades of Ankara (1950-1975) Scientific Research Project, Yaşar University, 2019

Researchers:

  • Assoc.Prof.(PhD) Zeynep TUNA ULTAV
  • Lect. (PhD) Daniele Savasta
  • Lect. Gökhan Keskin
  • Prof. (PhD) Meltem Gürel (Advisor)
  • Ekmel Ertan (Advisor)
  • Cenk Sönmez (Advisor)

Click for the Website and Social Media Accounts of Project…

 

Summary: This project focuses on the adoption of computational design practices for the visualization of architectural building components and their reflections on society. The idea is to initiate a collaboration between the disciplines of interaction design and architectural history and experiment with the possibilities offered by digital tools to interpret, appreciate and exhibit architectural elements which by definition exist in a widespread geographical distribution that makes them difficult to see, compare understand in association. As a specific case, a collection of photographs of balcony balustrades is adopted as a starting subject of the investigation. This selection includes almost 2000 apartments built between 1950 and 1975 in the city of Ankara. This era is considered important, because especially, marking the Private Land Register Law, 1954; and marking the Property ownership law, 1965, are turning points in terms of dwelling production in Ankara, being the capital, as well as in Turkey.

The aims of the project are as follows:

  • To develop the boundaries of interactive digital exhibits towards the specificities of the representation of architectural elements
  • To explore the effect of architectural building components to society and its collective memory
  • To preserve a rich record of architectural building components data in an accessible archive

 

 

B3.HEALTHCARE INTERIORS RESEARCH AREA

Completed Scientific Research Projects

 

  • Healthcare Interiors: Space Perception And Satisfaction Of The Healthcare Staff Towards The Quality Of Working And Resting Spaces In Healthcare Buildings (November 2016-November 2017)

Researchers:

  • Assist.Prof. (PhD)  Çiğdem ÇETİN
  • Assoc.Prof. (PhD) Gülnur BALLİCE
  • Assoc.Prof. (PhD)  Zeynep Tuna ULTAV

 

Summary:  The main aim of the project is to expand awareness in order to raise the quality and satisfaction with the space by transferring the current situation and proposing new suggestions at the interiors of state hospitals in Turkey. In this regard, the project focuses on the workspaces and resting areas of doctors and nurses in hospitals, gathering data and developing new design suggestions on these spaces.

 

 

B4.GENDER STUDIES RESEARCH AREA

Completed Scientific Research Projects

 

  • Mass Housing in terms of Women Experience: TOKI Uzundere Case, Scientific Research Project, Yaşar University, December 2019 – June 2020

Researchers:

  • Assist.Prof. (PhD) Meltem ERANIL DEMİRLİ
  • Prof. (PhD) Havva Meltem GÜREL (Advisor)

Click for the Virtual Exhibiton Page of Research Project…

Click for the Social Media Account of Research Project…

 

Summary: As a part of the urban transformation in 2009, people living in Kadifekale were relocated from their homes to new apartment blocks in a mass housing project in Izmir, named TOKI Uzundere. Although these people are not willing to move to these apartment blocks, TOKI Uzundere is represented as a ”perfect solution” by supporting all necessary social and physical conditions to its occupants.

In this context, the research project focuses on the differences between TOKI Uzundere housing units use and their arrangements, under certain gender relationships, as it conducts analysis of women’s use of space and their agency in transformation of space. It also aims at revealing the balance of power in gender, current dominant cultural perceptions, stereotypes and assumptions while examining the spatial tactics of women who reveal the different potentials of the space designed by the blueprint designers. The analysis will show how these spaces differ from each other with the tactics developed by women in accordance with the needs of the user in the housing.

In accordance, it is aimed to shed light on the daily social life of the user and the use of space between the designer and the user in order to develop suggestions that will contribute to the typology of the mass housing project in the architectural field. Besides, it contirubutes to the fields of gender and women’s studies, by raising awareness towards the social (public) and home (private) life of women. The project will be able to guide future design studies on the necessity of diversification of public housing projects that emerge with a uniform architectural identity in the national area by considering the local user profile and socio-cultural structure.

 

 

C.ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH AREA

C1. ENERGY EFFICIENCY RESEARCH AREA

Ongoing Scientific Research Projects

 

  • Investigation of Acoustic Performance in Design Studios of Yaşar University, Faculty of Architecture, TUBITAK 2209-A University Students Research Projects Support Program 2022

 

Researchers:

  • Assist.Prof.(PhD) Zeynep SEVİNÇ KARCI

 

Summary:Design studios are interior spaces that are actively used by students and educators in design and architecture faculties. The transmission and intelligibility of the sound is of great importance in these interior spaces for speech purposes. The method of education in the studios of the faculty of architecture may vary according to the needs, and acoustic comfort criteria should be provided in all working methods needed. Design studios are environments where students need to work and think in a comfortable environment, allowing them to develop artistically as well as to think and produce in three dimensions. It is very important to ensure the distribution and control of the sound in these places where verbal and visual information transfer can be realized through individual or group work, such as drawing and model making, which require manual and work skills. In places where sound control cannot be provided, users are disturbed by unwanted sounds, namely noise. It has been observed that people’s performance and mobility skills decrease, but their stress levels increase in workplaces with high noise levels. It is necessary to provide acoustic comfort in the place and to take the necessary measures for this in order to ensure the education quality of the students and instructors in the noisy working places at the desired level.

The aim of the research is to analyze the acoustic properties of interior spaces in education areas, especially interior spaces in design studios with the reverberation time (RT) values, to determine the acoustic properties of the materials used in the studio and to make suggestions on improving the indoor acoustic comfort. In addition, the wall, ceiling and floor materials in the design studios are determined and the calculated RT values are compared with different material proposals and by observing how and how they affect the interior acoustic comfort in the studios, to provide a better solution proposal. In this direction, it is aimed to reduce the noise with the materials used in the interior space and to increase the efficiency of the students and instructors in the space.

The biggest goal of the research is to examine the subject of research in Yaşar University Faculty of Architecture design studios in terms of acoustics and to draw attention to the interior acoustic comfort of the education areas in other universities.

 

Completed Scientific Research Projects

  • The Effect of Passive Solar Shading Elements on Daylight Levels and Energy Efficiency in Architectural Residential Heritage of İzmir, Scientific Research Project, Yaşar University, September 2019
Researchers:
  • Assist.Prof.(PhD) Belgin TERİM ÇAVKA

 

Summary: The use of shading elements frequently seen in the residential tradition of İzmir. These elements, which have been carried to the present through periodic changes, are prominent design elements in İzmir urban architecture. It is useful to understand the design tradition by examining the repetition and variation of the shading elements used in İzmir traditional residences in order to analyze the process of transformation of these elements from low-rise housing examples into multi-storey buildings. The main objective of this study is to comprehend the traditional methods of coping with the effect of the sun and to understand the technical reasons behind. Thus, this project shed light on the future design and applications of sun control in a positive way. The city of İzmir, where sunlight has seen around 300 days per year, contains multi-storey residential examples where excessive increase in cooling loads and decrease in comfort conditions occur if daylight control ignored. Comfort conditions can be improved considerably with the right design approach and simple passive design elements in temperate climate cities like İzmir, where the cooling load is higher compared to the heating load. In this context, evaluating the use of shading design elements technically in local architecture will be able to guide new designs. The lack of similar technical studies points out this project.

 

  • Investigation of Design Parameters for Microalgae Flat Panel Reactors and Their Development for Application in Building Façade

Researchers:

  • Asisst.Prof. (PhD) İlker KAHRAMAN

 

Summary: This study aims to gather data for application of microalgae production system for improving energy efficiency of an existing or new building by increasing its heating/cooling performance. System address this goal through three mechanisms; increasing its heating/cooling performance. System address this goal through three mechanisms; increasing thermal resistivity of building facade, creating a constant temperature shell around the building and increasing thermal mass. Thus in this research design parameters like thermal transmittance (U value), light transmittance and heating/cooling requirements will be determined and optimized, and their possible applications as building elements will be investigated.

 

  • Pulse Tu Delft Smart Sun Shading Elements

Researchers:

  • Res.Assist. Cemre ÇUBUKÇUOĞLU
  • Architect Ioannis CHATZIKONSTANTINOU
  • Architect Ayça KIRIMTAT

Project Collaborations:

  • TU DELFT (Delft, Netherlands)
  • Paul de Ruiter (Computation & Performance)
  • Peter Eigenraam (Structural Engineer)
  • Michela Turrin (Design Informatics)
  • Daniel Aaron Bislip (3D Printer expert)
  • Rusne Sileryte (Research Asistant)
  • Fred Veer (Professor of Material Science)
  • David Maimone (Research Assistant)
  • Andy van den Dobbelsteen Professor of Climate Design & Sustainability TUD
  • ECTOR HOOGSTAD ARCHITECTEN (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
  • Joost Ector Owner & architect EHA
  • Max Pape Owner & manager EHA
  • Laurence Van Benthem (Architect)
  • Daniel Diez Ausias Architect EHA
  • Lennaert van Capelleveen Project Architect
  • Lucy Mackie Project Manager FMVG
  • Carlo van Gulik (Bouwkundige Pulse)
  • Samuel delgado de Vicente
  • Wilfried van Mierlo Pulse project advisor VS
  • Laurs Rutger Pulse project manager RHDHV
  • Job Jalink Pulse project manager EHA
  • Jurrian van Roon Pulse project advisor VS
  • Coen van den Brand Pulse project advisor RHDHV
  • Gertjan Verbaan Pulse project advisor DGMR
  • Ferry Groen IT advisor Symplexxion

 

Summary: Pulse will be a highly sustainable building on the TU-Delft campus, to provide in education, study and events. Besides the optimal orientation of the building and its program, there is need for sun shading on the prominent west southwest facade to minimize the heat load on the facade and interior.

The goal is to create a cloud of elements in front of the façade that optimizes:

Sun shading: blocking the high sun and letting the desirable lower sun into the building;

Daylight admittance: taking into account the program behind the façade;

Views: to the roof garden and the square;

Structure: suspension and material use.

Because these factors vary from point to point, the sun shading (elements) will also vary and thus become unique.

 

  • An Approach for Energy Efficient Retrofit of Architectural Studio Building In University Campus In Izmir (TÜBİTAK 3501_114M803)

Researchers:

  • Prof. (PhD) Sevil SARIYILDIZ
  • Prof. (PhD) Zerrin YILMAZ
  • Assoc.Prof. (PhD) Başak KUNDAKÇI KOYUNBABA
  • Assist.Prof. (PhD) Arzu  CILASUN KUNDURACI
  • Architect Berk EKİCİ
  • Architect Ioannis CHATZIKONSTANTINOU
  • Architect İdil KANTARCI

 

Summary: 40% of the final energy consumption of European Union countries is consumed in buildings. Regarding most of the existing building stock’s consistence in the next 20 years and the number of new building construction’s being less comparatively, the importance of energy efficient retrofit of buildings is delivered more specifically. Buildings have a wide range of network in the name of product and service intervals. The main topic in struggling with the climate change policies is increasing the energy efficiency in buildings as the energy consumption amount in buildings is huge. More than one third of the total energy consumption in Turkey belongs to the heating and cooling of buildings. This results in insulating buildings against heat gains and losses in hot and cold climates respectively. The cooling of buildings costs 3 to 6 times more than heating them; that’s why, in hot climates, taking precautions for decreasing the cooling loads in buildings and retrofitting them in an energy-efficient way is the main priority of architects.

The aim of this study is to confirm the decrease in energy consumptions in case the passive design strategies are applied in buildings. Afterwards, making a pilot study for different building directions and parameters and creating a simulation model for the frame structure for similar or different retrofit proposals.