Ankara Araştırmaları Dergisi (Dec 2020)

An Assessment for the Preservation of the Detached Houses in Yenimahalle District of Ankara

  • Reha Can YILMAZ,
  • Özlem SAĞIROĞLU

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5505/jas.2020.79663
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 2
pp. 305 – 322

Abstract

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One of the most important problems encountered in Ankara following the declaration of the Republic was housing. The announcement of Ankara as the new capital led to a sharp rise in the population of the city, and the desire to accommodate for this rise in a manner suitable for a developing modern city means that Ankara has played a complementary role in the development of Turkish zoning perceptive, in terms of approaches and solutions to the housing problem. The city of Ankara, which plays a formulative role in the housing policies that are developed throughout the country, also hosted the first example of the land-infrastructure programs that were instigated following an appreciation of the housing of the Yenimahalle district. The zoning plans that had been developed by a number of institutions were combined together to resolve the housing problem, which means that the dwellings in the area are nationally unique in retaining some of the cultural, economical, political, scientific, and aesthetical properties of the era. However, since there were no preservation initiatives, most of the buildings constructed since 1948 have been demolished and replaced by apartments. Furthermore, no attempt has been made to preserve the 2.5% of the dwellings that still remain. This study is concerned with determining and documenting the remaining examples of detached houses in Yenimahalle, as well as identifying their problems in terms of originality, alteration, and deterioration, based on the current state of the buildings. The criteria required for the buildings to be accepted as being ‘valuable’ have been researched and evaluated in terms of both the architectural heritage determined for traditional buildings, and of their modern architectural heritage, as specified by Docomomo. Following the evaluation according to these criteria, suggestions for the protection of the buildings are presented.

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