Transformation of Balcony in Urban Apartments as a Reminiscent of the ‘Hayat’ in Traditional Turkish House

Abstract

Vernacular House’s common characteristics can be summarized as its adaptability to climate, optimization of material and production techniques, attained its final form with trial and error method and built by untrained builders. In Turkey, vernacular houses of rural and urban areas carry typical characteristics along with particular spatial components which are patios/hayat or courtyards/avlu and verandas/hayat or örtme. Household gathers and shares many activities in these spaces. They are the places of doing different activities from growing children to keeping poultry; from boiling laundry to cooking; from drying vegetables to making jam and from celebrations to storing grains for winter, wood for the fire, even spare tractor. Whether it is a large courtyard or a small hayat of the house, it is a multifunctional space. Indeed, the main design principles of Turkish vernacular are adaptability and flexibility besides being ecologic and economic. However, in contemporary housing environments, urban apartments which are designed by architects and regulated with municipal permissions are not congruent with the above definition of the vernacular houses. Though, they still attain certain common features which may lead a discourse, if they can be considered as vernacular. Under this scope, the discussion will be carried out by referring to the usage of apartments, their design concepts, and alterations in terms of balconies. Balconies are problematic of Municipal Building Regulations Controlling Unit in big cities since they are covered, altered and utilized unexpectedly with no permission. In this paper, balconies of apartment blocks from different districts will be inspected and their users will be interviewed in order to find out reasons for the transformation of balconies. The analysis in this study will lead a discussion on vernacular versus apartment buildings. If they carry common features of the old living traditions, can they be called as urban vernaculars? Keywords: vernacular settlements, traditional Turkish houses, adaptability, hayat, balcony use, Contemporary Vernaculars