promoting public apprecia tion for the historic monument in
Contents
1. TARIH BOYUNCA E TL ULUSLAR TARAFINDAN D SMANLARINA KARSI NANT UUAA SAVUNMA AMACI LE YAPILMI TIR T RK YE NIN HEMEN HER EHR NDE VARDIR torical environment made us see the fund of latent ap preciation and support we have for the future The test is to move these experiments from the university to the schoolhouses In Turkey some educators are eager to try With the publication and distribution of The Lit tle Caravanserai we shall be able to evaluate our pre mises There will be no overnight miracles Building action on new attitudes may be a slow process but it is a sound one Cevat ERDER Fig 5 A construction set which combines ancient buildings forms with a visual and instructional manual by Tevfik Alpdo an a A page from the manual it juxtaposes a photograph of the parti cular type of monument with a drawing of the form as contained in the building set b Set contains many additional pieces so that the users may inno vate beyond manual c The fortress usually sets the initial parameters for a more intri cate layout RESUME En ce qui concerne son patrimoine monumental et attitude de sa population l gard de celui ci la Turquie rencontre non seulement les m mes difficult s que les pays d Europe mais aussi de nombreux pro bl mes semblables ceux des pays moins favoris s Le rejet syst matique d s la proclamation de la R publique de l ensemble de l h ritage ottom2. All of us in the profession find that we can communi cate such ideas to each other with some degree of sa tisfaction we already are conversant with these basic notions and have a common vocabulary of sorts It is unlikely however that an illiterate peasant or a pri mary school child who has recently moved from a vil lage to squatter housing in a metropolitan area could make head or tail out of what we say at our meetings Se a a a a m aaa me g Er ms mt n iF i F Fig 1 A children s story book The Little Caravanserai by Dalga Necati a First page showing the caravan stopping at the Caravanserai b Another page restorers photographing and examining the building c Illustration of children playing in front of the caravanserai after restoration If asked we would find it difficult to express in simple words and concepts within his frame of reference the ideas we discuss Over most of the world modernization for the general public has meant first and foremost acquiring the phy sical comforts and habits of the West while rejecting traditional life styles Most magazines newspapers films and schoolbooks in Turkey show people living in apartment houses watching television and driving cars on wide highways These are the models to be imitated Only a small proportion of the population in fact lives this way Yet living in an old house over looking a small winding street near a square with a mo
3. museum displays has broader import for all things of historic value fig 2b We should show special care for all old things One story also focusses on a typical Turkish house of the 19th century presumably abandoned by its owners in favour of a modern apartment The illustrations show how even so called modern people can find an old house beautiful Since the majority of Turkey s population lives in similar houses this story is espe cially successful at showing there can be a common meeting point and mutual respect The more complex urban environment was creatively handled in a three dimensional story fig 3a The layout is constructed in such a way as to allow the child to see through from the first to the last page The structures on each individual page form part of the to tal urban environment Gradually an ancient fortress emerges from obscurity behind the larger modern structures as the child turns each page fig 35 Children often acquire a greater feeling for space can express their reactions to their environment and order monuments in their surroundings when they are given x Er er eee Sir at aes H ue rae mie FT loc ct CR a Taal LE a og BL L rrr Ta rit So ar i ri ee Fig 4 Puzzles give the freedom of working with hands An ancient temple by H sn Oguszsoy the freedom of working with their hands With this in mind some students developed puzzles fig 4 A construction set how
4. to come up with some projects that could be implemen ted The students were free to select any medium they thought effective They were instructed that this was not simply an academic exercise to be done in vacuo It was to be practical given the cost and administra tive constraints in Turkey The students were to test their ideas on classes of children from varied socio economic backgrounds In developing their approach es they also worked with a professor of child psycho logy at the university learning about the colour prefe rences spatial understanding and manual dexterity of children at different ages In retrospect the experiment has produced innovative work some of which will actually be used in schools A children s story The Little Caravanserai written and illustrated by one of these students is going to be printed under the auspices of the Bank of Pious ESK ESERLERI CAZIP HALE SokMAL DIKKAT BA KA Y NE GEKRILMESIN _ j HE SEY 4 gt dio f S De EX Bi M RIA x N EE EE wi fi Se a i HAT TS GW wr leg a a ai Op S LR Ha g amp n PF 2 5 i L 1 bs J Fa ZEL B R IKKAT GOSTERMELIYIZ PS b Fig 2 Use of cartoons as the medium of expression by Puna Orbay a Ancient Monuments should be made attractive so gt that attention will not be directed elsewhere b We should show special care for all old things a
5. Fig 3 A three dimensional story An approach to the complex urban environment by Puna Orbay Endowments It will be distributed to 750 000 primary school children Caravanserais familiar to many children in Turkey were once a major unit of the Seljuk and Ottoman overland transport system fig la As structures they are virtually complete and thus easy for a child to vi sualize in a restored condition In most instances they have been abandoned serving now as a local stable or storehouse The author clearly suggests how a changed transport network and technology may have thrust them into obscurity fig 1b Her approach en compasses both restoration and refunctioning where the ancient monument and modern system serve to complement each other fig Ic Another approach geared to slightly older children uses cartoons as the medium for expression Each one draws on a situation familiar to all young Turks but forces them to look at it from a new angle or to see the lesson through antithesis Two caught the eye of many readers The first fig 2a bears the caption Ancient monuments should be made attractive so that attention will not be directed elsewhere The other while deal ACTE PEWCEDEL BAJTO ZAMAN Tania AITO YER G ELI ILE BIVALA ONULDE G REB LIYIREC b a First page shows an ancient fortress behind the large modern structures b At the last page the ancient fortress emerges from obscurity ing with
6. PROMOTING PUBLIC APPRECIATION FOR THE HISTORIC MONUMENT IN ITS LARGER ARCHITECTURAL SETTING AN EXPERIMENT WITH TURKISH SCHOOLCHILDREN The approach I shall review to promoting public ap preciation of historic monuments and their setting in Turkey may seem a simplistic one But the problem is far from simple It is one that concerns us all but the Turkish case is especially relevant On the one hand it contains all the conflicting elements present in Eu rope while on the other hand it has many exacerba ting factors peculiar to less affluent countries Thus it may throw common difficulties into relief while also focussing attention on the special challenge in coun tries where still undocumented treasures of past civili zations are hanging in the balance First Turkey s fund of architectural and archaeologi cal treasures is outstandingly rich but the nation is undergoing socio economic and technological changes which have no parallel in either its own history or the experience of modern Europe In one generation the pace of these changes and the sudden shift in values directly challenges a cultural heritage of centuries Ironically the danger to historic monuments in Turkey particularly in urban areas dates only from modern times Fascination with the West and above all its technology undoubtedly began over a century ago but its influence was limited With the founding of the Republic rejection of the Ottoman heritage be came
7. a virtual creed Monuments such as baths or co vered markets which had performed the same func tions for centuries were neglected or replaced with modern structures entire historic centres were des troyed to make room for new roads The early search for a national architecture synthesi zing Turkish and international styles has given way to an almost indiscriminate adoption of international styles But the building stands isolated out of context with its social and architectural surroundings The student of architecture has few indigenous modern examples to follow His guides become illustrations in foreign architectural publications where most often there is visible only the single structure detached from its environment Increasingly we find buildings which are indistinguishable from those going up in Beirut Europe or America In this hodge podge of styles there is little or no attention to local climatic condi tions architectural surroundings and the functions the structure is to accommodate Social changes are also important in bringing about the demise of whole quarters and many monuments Until the twentieth century Turkish cities functioned much as they had since Byzantine times With the structural changes inherent in modernization the physical pat tern of cities altered Traditionally cities had been composed of units or districts that were administra tively self governing and characterized by the primary social rela
8. an a pro voqu une rupture de la tradition nationale en archi tecture et il est pratiquement impossible aujourd hui d int grer les monuments anciens du pays dans l envi ronnement urbain moderne d pourvu d individualit et m me peu adapt au climat et aux n cessit s pra tiques L urbanisme l occidentale a achev de d truire les communaut s locales et la population solli cit e par des mass media qui pr nent exclusivement un confort mat riel hors de la port e de la grande ma Jorit a perdu tout sens de la valeur de son environ nement traditionnel Des instituteurs de campagne ont tent de remonter le courant en cr ant notamment des mus es de village o sont conserv s des tr sors arch ologiques locaux et dont les paysans connaissent parfaitement le prix au march noir L auteur vivement frapp par ce genre de ph nom ne et convaincu de l importance capitale du r le de l cole primaire a cherch de nou veaux moyens d atteindre les enfants Il d crit ici une exp rience men e aupr s des jeunes architectes fr quentant ses cours de restauration auxquels il avait donn pour t che d inventer et d exp rimenter des mat riels p dagogiques adapt s aux conditions socio conomiques du pays Dans les divers jeux et publications propos s par les l ves figuraient no tamment un jeu de construction tr s appr ci des en fants ainsi qu un livre illustr racontant l his
9. ever proved the overwhelming favorite among children This set combines ancient building forms with a visual and instructional manual The use of the manual is optional but in itself is of particular interest Since the concept could easily be modified for use in other national school systems it is worth describing in some detail The page below selected from the manual fig Sa like all the other pages juxtaposes a photograph of the particular type of monument with a drawing of the form as contained in the building set Pieces construc tion problems and vocabulary are accessible to even a three year old Adults however proved just as eager to work with the set as children The set contains many additional pieces so that the users may innovate beyond the manual fig 5b Since each of the struc tures illustrated requires only a small part of the set the child is encouraged to express the monument in a larger setting The fortress fig 5c usually sets the ini tial parameters for a more intricate layout We were surprised to find very small children ordering such complexes The understanding of the contemporary survival of structures from very different cultures and periods is built from each Turkish child s daily expe rience To watch children exploring and enjoying their his HH LT D Ne N B T i 7 Q F sb ge ey it ch AT Ep LT SG m 2 Y A hs Ve is FE tiie p A TH x i st J T SF
10. hoto d un monument v ritable et un dessin repr sentant ce m me type de monument tel que le jeu permet de le construire b Les diverses pi ces que comporte le jeu On voit que l enfant peut inventer toutes sortes de constructions autres que celles sugg r es par le manuel c Forteresse servant de cadre partir duquel l enfant peut d ve lopper un ensemble beaucoup plus complexe C est la base de d part habituelle
11. sque implies backwardness for most All media en courage children to strive for the former pattern and to reject or feel dissatisfied with the latter To think otherwise may seem to fly against the course of reason and history I had however a number of experiences to make me think that public attitudes could be moulded and latent ones brought into action Children seemed to be an important key The village museums to be found in many one room village schools drove home to me the impact a grade school teacher can have on a whole community These small museums have evolved as teachers encouraged their pupils to be proud of their village protect their ancient monuments and bring to the museum anything ancient they might find In these schoolyards one may find statuary and architectural ornament worthy of any museum and in the schoolhouse one may come across crucial clues for the archaeologist to sites in the area This is a remarkable achievement when one remem bers that the international black market in antiquities has reached into every corner of Turkey These same villagers are well aware that one modest piece could bring more than their annual income if turned over to a dealer I therefore set graduate architects the task of transla ting the concepts they had been studying in my post graduate course in the Theory of Restoration into forms understandable to children of different ages in Turkey One goal was instruction the other was
12. tionships associated with small settlements As identification with the district disappeared and anonymity increased this system languished conse quently so did the monuments Rather than reorien ting the existing system or proposing an innovative so lution modern city planners simply stamped Western patterns on the Anatolian landscape Like the archi tects the planners adopted these patterns with little or no direct experience of living in such an environment The preservation of old quarters or an individual monument within contemporary surroundings can be achieved The two are not mutually exclusive A crea tive compromise between restorer and planner is fea sible where the juxtaposition of new and old can be tasteful vibrant and functional But first there must be a general awareness sensitivi ty and respect for both contemporary and ancient sur roundings as an integral whole The people who live in these areas must be able to demand this quality of their architects and city planners Moreover students must grow up with such exposure if they are to be come competent architects If we cannot establish such communication I see little hope for government efforts at preserving historic quarters to have wide or long lasting impact Only if the people who live and work in these quarters take pride in them can they be properly maintained Only if they themselves try to stave off demolition can we preserve a few more of these areas
13. toire d une restauration ce dernier dit 750 000 exem plaires va tre remis titre exp rimental aux enfants des coles primaires Fig 1 Images extraites du livre pour enfants de Dalga Necati Le Petit Caravans rail a Une caravane d autrefois fait halte au caravans rail b Des restaurateurs tudient et photographient le b timent en rui nes c Des enfants jouent devant le caravans rail restaur Fig 2 Deux des dessins humoristiques propos s par Puna Orbay comme moyen d atteindre le jeune lecteur a Les monuments historiques doivent tre rendus attrayants pour viter que l attention ne soit d tourn e ailleurs b Toute chose ancienne doit tre trait e avec un soin particu lier Fig 3 Tentative d aborder le probl me de l insertion des monu ments dans l environnement urbain une histoire racont e en ima ges trois dimensions par Puna Orbay a Page La vieille forteresse se cache derri re de grands immeu bles modernes b Derni re page du livre la forteresse rena t sortant de l obscuri t Fig 4 Exploitation du puzzle pour permettre aux mains de travail ler sans contrainte repr sentation d un temple antique par H sn Oguzsoy Fig 5 Jeu de construction dont les l ments empruntent des formes anciennes accompagn d un manuel d instructions illustr Tevfik Alpdogan a Une page extraite du manuel On y voit c te c te une p
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