The intangible within tangible: Conservation of architectural heritage as a locus of memory, the case of Ankara Ulucanlar prison

Download

index.pdf

Date

2021-12-10

Author

Kutlu, Zeynep

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

296
views

546
downloads

Focusing on the intangible dimension of built heritage, this thesis derives from the question of how to preserve and transmit memory in the conservation processes of heritage sites. An investigation into this question gains a particular gravity in heritage places signified with their memorial values rather than physical peculiarities, a.k.a. ‘sites of memory’. Sites of memory also encompass ‘sites of conscience’, the ‘difficult heritage’ places associated with traumatic memories. Both are relatively recent categories of heritage that have been the subject of interest since the turn of the 21st century. This study primarily conducts a theoretical inquiry into memory in and of itself and then its association with place and architectural heritage. Based on this theoretical inquiry, it presents a framework, which defines analysis methods to be followed and principles to be considered in the interpretation and conservation processes of heritage sites, particularly ‘sites of memory’, in order to conserve them together with their intangible symbolic content as a ‘locus of memory’. Further, in the case of Ankara Ulucanlar Central Closed Prison as a ‘site of conscience’, the study analyzes the collected memories/recollections through methods defined within this framework and portrays the ‘overall memory-image’ of the prison from the perspective of former political prisoners. This image itself emerges as a means of assessing the intangible symbolic content of the prison in relation to its physicality by visualizing the distribution and intensity of memories, the durational depth of certain localities, and indicating singular crystallized memory-images having symbolic gravity for the group.

Subject Keywords

Architectural Conservation, Memory, Difficult Heritage Sites, Sites of Memory, Sites of Conscience

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/95207

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Memorialization as the Art of Memory: A Method to Analyse Memorials Yılmaz, Ahenk (Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, 2010-6-15) Memorialization as the reification of past experiences crystallizes the bi-directional relation between memory and architecture in its pure form. Memorials, because of this long-established relation, constitute an expense area of knowledge where the theories of diverse -such as social, psychological, cognitive, urban or architectural- studies intersect. Addressing that interdisciplinary area, this study proposes a new approach derived from classical memorising technique of the art of memory (ars memoriae) t...
Working Memory: An Evaluation Of The Past In The Design Process Delledonne, Nicola (Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, 2020-6-30) Focused on the relationship between architecture, history and archaeology, this paper examines meaningful cases in which the past has exerted its influence on the present, bringing to the fore the notion of working memory: an operative device aimed at selecting some parts of historical experience to be reused. All of the historical phenomena here considered show that the past, when not mummified, can live again. So, a question arises: can such a condition be experienced nowadays in the design process? The a...
Challenges in use of geographical information systems (GIS) in a research for understanding conservation of cultural heritage in Bursa Alp, Sermin Cakici; Şahin Güçhan, Neriman (2017-01-01) Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to present a framework of introducing a proper method to document and to analyze conservation process of cultural heritage in Bursa, known as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey and to discuss challenges in use of geographical information systems (GIS) for assessment of a complex data collected and analyzed during different phases of the historic researches.
Understanding the construction technique of Mimar Sinan’s buildings: the case of Lüleburgaz Sokullu Mehmed Paşa Mosque Etyemez Çıplak, Leyla; Şahin Güçhan, Neriman; Conservation of Cultural Heritage in Department of Architecture (2017) This dissertation constructs a comprehensive understanding of the construction techniques applied and developed by Mimar Sinan, which underlie the structural characteristics of 16th century Ottoman Architecture. Conducting a research into the literature on Classical Ottoman Architecture and Mimar Sinan’s buildings, the study distinguishes Sokullu Mehmed Paşa Menzil Complexes in Lüleburgaz, Havsa and Payas among the buildings and complexes as known to be designed by Mimar Sinan. It focuses on the mosques of ...
A technopoietic investigation: techné as a discursive formation in architecture UZ BAKİ, MELEK PINAR; Basa, İnci; Department of Architecture (2022-11-04) The thesis defines making of actively doing, learning, and revealing in ways that simultaneously engage in the thinking activities of changing actors, practical applications, and the transformation of techniques, materials, and technologies as a central aspect of architecture, in terms of the actual processes of designing, production, generation, and accumulation of knowledge. As proposed, making is the fundamental notion in architecture that refers to how design thinking acts and how knowledge, related pat...

Citation Formats

Z. Kutlu, “The intangible within tangible: Conservation of architectural heritage as a locus of memory, the case of Ankara Ulucanlar prison,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2021.