Authors:
Özlem Karakul, Neriman Şahin Güçhan
Language: Turkish
Publication House: Koç University
Place of Publication: Ankara
Categories: Architecture, traditional house
Publication Year: 2022
Page: 316
Size: 16,5 x 24
ISBN: 978-625-8022-26-1

Historical houses are the products of the building culture that is based on the technical knowledge of the experience acquired over many years and transferred through tradition. Traditional building masters have built these houses by determining  the characteristics of the environment, the qualities of the materials that can be obtained from the region, and the needs of the family who is to use the building. Thus, on the one hand, the settlements were built with solutions specific to the conditions of the place, and on the other, the construction techniques gleaned from the tradition were transferred across generations by the construction masters. There are many studies on the architectural and technical features of traditional houses throughout Turkey, which also consider regional differences. However, studies on the technical knowledge that is a part of the construction process, formed over many years, learned by doing/building within the tradition, and transferred by the construction masters are extremely limited. This research aims is to document the knowledge, skills, and behaviors of the traditional builders, who learned from the old masters the construction techniques of historical houses in Ankara and nearby settlements that are part of the Ottoman residence tradition and who practiced these in their lives, and to define this knowledge together with local construction techniques. For this purpose, the research first tried to reach the old construction masters who continued this tradition in the settlements around Ankara that preserved their traditional characteristics. The first of the five parts of the study sets out from the characteristics of the Ottoman house and defines its relationship and qualities with the “Ankara house” to present the context of the knowledge about traditional houses and builders in Ankara and its surroundings. Then, based on the literature, the study discusses master house builders from a historical perspective starting from the Ottoman times. Within this general framework, the next four chapters define the characteristic of the traditional houses through the culture of local architectural dwellings, illustrated by selected buildings and masters from Sivrihisar, Beypazarı, the Sarıoba village in the Polatlı district, and the Fethiye village in the Kazan district.