A critical view of sustainable architecture in Turkey: a proposal for the municipality of Seyrek

Abstract

This dissertation aims at developing a sustainable design process prioritizing locality in social, cultural, ecological, political, economic, technological, legalistic,and architectural terms. To this end, it aims first of all at developing an approach for elimination of misconceptions.primarily informed by technological, morphological and numerical indicators.about what constitutes the concept of sustainability in architectural practice today and therefore starts out from a critical historical overview of approaches and practices for sustainability in the world and in Turkey. The thesis undertakes the critique of sterile projects in sterile environments and calibrates the replicable and exemplary aspects of international and national sustainable design practices so as to introduce, promote and guide realistic, practicable, and case-specific sustainable architectural solutions. The specific focus in both the critical evaluation of extant sustainable practices abroad and the proposed process for the municipality of Seyrek in Menemen, Izmir, Turkey, is the distinction between the assets and needs of industrialized northern geographies and southern geographies which are in the process of industrialization and which are frequently misguided by economic exigencies imposed by the industrialized north. As a village located in an Important Bird Area, in the vicinity of a Ramsar Site and on the edge of a First-Degree Natural Conservation Area, the case area in question provides a trenchant example for the study of the meaning of sustainability in a southern socio-politico-economic zone and a challenge for the architectural designer. Seyrek is a mirror of global as well as local problems today. It is located in the middle of Gediz Delta, the large agricultural land as well, and on the edge of several specialized industrial districts of the urban sprawl of Izmir.Placing the analysis of the case area in the context of the wider framework of international policy, the thesis proceeds to propose specific design tools for a sustainable housing development project in a crucial typical new residential segment of the semi-rural settlement of Seyrek.