Proposal for The Future of The Historic Building and/within Its Context

THE NEIGHBORHOOD of SULUHAN ARKASI STREET

Group members: Begüm Şener, Ozan Uysal, H.Büşra Öztürk, M.Enes Balcı, Nima Mahboubi Mamaghani

Ulus is one of the most important centers of Ankara. Also, we learned that, in this street, there was a very alive neighborhood before demolished buildings, and we think that a lively neighborhood in Ulus is a very strong social value. Moreover, façades of the buildings have an architectural and educational value since they are made of different materials from different periods. Also, some part of the infill elements become empty which gives us to chance to observe the structural system, too so that we keep the historical façades which are face with the street. And we support them with consolidating the old structural system. By consolidating, we used a timber frame structure. And we reconstruct other façades with the materials which are already using in this area. We think that this is a more suitable way to protect the area. Also, local materials like timber or lime are light and warm materials, and that gives the sense of alive space. That helps us to support the social value that we find. We think that if the buildings are used for a small period by users, the architectural value of the buildings can spread more quickly because more people can experience the living a timber building with local materials which is a part of our culture. To supply the dynamism of the user groups, we design our units for students and families without children. We create 2 housing typologies for our user groups. Also, we learned that, in the past, there were common fountains which are shared with different housings.  By following this idea, we design common courtyards that are surrounded by buildings. And, these courtyards contain different common places like; library, studying area, art studios, or kindergarten. Also, some of the buildings' ground floors have commercial like; tea houses, café, tailor, bakery, or hairdressers. These spaces are serving both neighborhood and Ulus. Moreover, in these commercial spaces, there will be a memory corner where the old photos of the neighborhood are represented. With these corners, people can experience the old days of the neighborhood and learn their living. Learning of these values will increase the connection between people and culture.

To understand the area in a better way, we visited the site more than once and one of them we met the old dwellings of the houses and had a chance to interview them. They gave us very valuable information. That photo fro that day. Their childhood had passed this area. "We played football and fought for the ball," they said. There was a neighborhood that all people care and help each other. Now their neighborhood is occupied by glue-sniffers. These people were burning the buildings. Old dwellings were missing the old days. And to remember they come together each weekend. They are using the ground floor of one home like a cafe. Also, they have a memory board on the ane wall of this cafe. This board contains old photos of the neighborhood.