Mimari tasarımda süreklilik kavramı ve Galata örneği

Abstract

`The only radical difference between human history and 'natural ' history is that the former can never begin again... the chimpanzee and the orangutan are distinguished from man not by what is known strictly speaking as intelligence, but because they have far less memory. Every morning the poor beasts have to face almost total oblivion of what they lived through the day before, and their intellect has to work with a minimum fund of experience. Similarly, the tiger of today is identical with that of six thousand years ago, each one having to begin his life as a tiger from the beginning as if none had existed before him... Breaking the continuity with the past, is a lowering of man and a plagiarism of the orangutan. ` Jose Ortega Y. Gasset Despite Ortega's words emphasizing the importance of continuity, the changes that came to life within the last few centuries -that can be considered as a short period of time within the scope of the history of civilization- have had such dramatic and comprehensive effects that we can hardly benefit from the experience of previous generations. This leads us to two facts that seem to contradict one and other; on one hand, the usage of historical accumulation, which distinguishes man from other living beings, on the other hand the structure of the era we live in, which results in the break of man with the values of his past. Today, the concept of continuity is at the top of the agenda with the criticisms formulated against the process of modernization. The loss of local values with globalization, loss of identity, alienation, loss of memory and the problem of belonging in space, all co-exist in the scope of the debate of the same concept.The structure of the space that protects old values and that presents it to the user on a daily basis has brought architecture at the center of this debate as well. In this regard, submitting a modern interpretation of the concept of continuity by doing a multi directional analysis of the concept and presenting it to the use of architecture as an instrument of analysis as well as a factor that guides design is the fundamental aim of this thesis. The environment where space manifests the quality of protecting old values the most, is the environment of city; because the city space is a process where architectural elements, which are formed in different time periods, are defined. This is the reason why the relationship between architecture and city plays a major role for the scope of this thesis. The thesis tries to present the possibility of application of the analysis and design method formed with the concept of continuity on the Galata region. In this regard, the aim of the thesis is not to give information on sociological, economic etc. elements of that specific region. This could be the subject of a more comprehensive work with a different orientation. However, some essential information on the region's structure will be underlined, and this information will be amplified in accordance to the system of analysis being used. CONCLUSION In this thesis, with a multi-directional analysis of the concept of continuity, I tried to form a basis where the present approaches could be studied comparatively. Two essential approaches are observed in this regard. First of these approaches interpret continuity as a set of notions that follow one and other without interruption. As for the second approach, it submits that such an uninterruption is not possible neither in the nature nor in social events, thus continuity can be possible when evaluated with another interpretation that includes these interruptions. This way it is natural for a notion to manifest different qualities within the line of change and to create an interruption with its past. Thisapproach, which is presented as a criticism for the first one, puts forward the idea of universal progress by analyzing changes within certain generalizations. Thus, the interpretation of discontinuity is determined by evolutionary rules that are put forward in that regard. In this thesis, I made a comprehensive analysis of the second approach that is based on positivist thought. However, I criticized the approach for manifesting a totalitarian point of view that leads to excessive generalizations and for denying the effects of the subject on the so-called change. As a result, I embraced the understanding of a dialectical continuity that takes its roots from the second approach, yet one that has its borders defined by a interactive mechanism where the subject is also included. Inside these borders, I had the possibility to evaluate the analyzing approach that the evolutionary point of view put forward in a multi-directional manner within the architectural design theory. These analyses on the notion of continuity have also put forward two similar approaches in the architectural design theory. In the interpretation of the first approach, history is considered as the depot of permanent values transmitted from generation to generation as stories and truths of life. According to this, norms are either based on unhistorical absolute standards or they are based on historical usage and approved by it. This approach, which can also be labeled as the normative approach, is also criticized in a similar way to uninterrupted continuity approach. As for the interpretation of the second approach, the widespread thought is that the cultural value systems within history are an evolutionary process that has only relative relevance. Something that is absolutely right in one period is coincidental in the other. Thus, each period puts forward a self-verifying value system. This relativity concept requires the embracing of an utopist future over a past to be taken as an example.According to the second approach, historical evolution is determined by a definitive law, where human participation is not voluntary and which is independent from the society that has a collective memory. The parallel criticism for this approach can be made in the architectural theory with this concept of `collective memory`. As a result of this, continuity in architecture can be interpreted as a dialectical process where tradition plays an important role. In this regard, the notion of interaction that is necessary for continuity is only significant for architecture when it is evaluated within the concept `collective memory`. As well as these analyses, the concept of continuity in architecture is divided into its components and the formulated models are tried to be adapted to the physical space. In this way, two fundamental continuity concepts are defined according to the notions of time and movement, while at the same time the relationship between them is underlined. The continuity, where time is the determinant factor, becomes the subject of architectural design theory in two ways. Firstly, it prepares a ground of interaction towards the interpretation of historical notions in architectural design. Secondly, by analyzing the lifeline of the place or the region being worked on, it leads the way for new projects that are considered to be done on them. In a parallel way, the continuity where movement is the determinant factor, becomes the subject of architectural design theory in two ways. Firstly, in general terms, it prepares a ground for interaction for the physical interrelations of the elements that will be used in the design. Secondly, by analyzing the physical relations of the space or the region being worked on, it plays a leading role in the integration of architectural design with environment. In the relation between city and architecture, the role of collective memory in the continuity of the city space and the design approach of the instrumental mind are10 compared within a historical perspective. According to this, the apparent result is that the primitive positivist approaches, which do not give enough importance to the subject, break the continuity in the city space. In light of these analyses, a new architectural debate for the city is presented and alternative approaches are underlined by systemizing these analyses. The Galata region is taken as an example where the approaches developed are concretized and questioned. According to the understanding defined in the thesis, it is asserted that the continuities preserved their existence in a general sense until the previous century. However, it is also illustrated with examples that a multi directional break is observed in accordance with the described factors. It is observed that the concept of continuity has gained importance with the criticisms made against the process of modernization. As it is known, the global scale effects of this process that gained precision by the development of the positivist thought are spread on every area of our lives on the 20th century. The project of modernization, as an utopist and progressive project, has also been effective in the liberation of human mind. The criticisms brought by the concept of continuity are concentrated at this very point. It has been emphasized that with liberation, a clear-cut break with the value system of the past took place. The problems that became obvious as a result of this are alienation that comes with the loss of memory, the feeling of absence and the loss of identity. It is also known that in architectural design theory, a reactionary break with the value system of the past, particularly in the expressive values, took place in a similar way with modernization. This discontinuity showed its effects in the city space intensively. The reason for this is that the city space represents a process of architectural elements formed within different time periods. Its subject is the collective memory. As a result of the avoidance of this quantitative structure, the design approaches break with the past. In return, this means that space breaks with the physical environment of the city. Thus, the concept of continuity dependent on time and the concept of continuity dependent on movement are analyzed together.11 It is possible to observe that a variety of approaches as well as criticisms are brought to this problem of alienation resulting from discontinuities. One of these is also known as postmodern historicism. This approach, which is mentioned in the thesis, is observed to have a structure that denies the change and difference between the past and the present, when it is analyzed within the concept of continuity. Thus, it cannot be presented as a criticism of discontinuity. Continuity can only be possible by analyzing the change and making a connection between the past and the future that is based on humanity.