READING ARCHITECTURE:

a conceptual understanding of the traditional urban house of C Y P R U S

Visiting Scholar,International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Department of Architecture Oxford Brookes University

Dr. HIFSIYE PULHAN

B r e a k f a s t Seminer, Department of Architecture,Oxford Brookes University,

25 November 2008, Oxford

The i s l a n d of C y p r u s

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

fusion of several great cultures ...

Egyptians, Romans, Byzantines, Lusignans, Venetians, Ottomans, British....

M u l t i - c u l t u r a l physical & social context

Cultural layers not only on top each other but also side by side ...not only successive cultures but also co-existing cultures.

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Different a r c h i t e c t u r a l styles

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Ottoman, Colonial traces....

Nicosia

B u i l t environment as the m a t e r i a l artifact

...reveal private and public identities, aesthetic and constructional purposes, routine and spritual aspirations of people from different cultural backgrounds...

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Traditional Urban House as the k e y c r e a t i o n

The shared image of all people and densely dominated the urban settlements ...even, its effects are traced in the major rural settlements

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

FamagustaBeşparmak Mountains

Girne

LarnacaPaphos

Limassol

Trodos Mountains

Ancient coastal settlements & the c a p i t a l town

NICOSIA-

LEFKOSIA–

LEFKOSA

At the geographic center of the island...

as a socio-cultural, economical and administrative heart of the island

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

The walled city N i c o s i a

... commonly settled in by the people from the ruling class... Lusignan princes, Venetian provvidetores, Ottoman Pashas, British Colonial high commissioners and governors... Principal Greek and Armenian families...

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

3 key entities display the muli-cultural character of the city

-Venetian city Walls

-Medieval Street pattern amended with and structured by the Ottoman urban concerns.

-Its prevailing house form

The walled city N i c o s i a _ urban characteristics

The walled city N i c o s i a

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

A typical Ottoman City Embedded within a post Medieval walled Latin City with its pattern and the prevailing house form

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Transformation of the house image in the city by the end of the Sixteenth Century

-Late Gothic and early Renaissance entries,

-arms of Latin Families,

-Latin fine ashlar stone ground floors

-Cumba

-Rooms with decorated ceilings,

-Ottoman interiors

-Ottoman upper floors with baghdadi and Catma wall construction techniques

Early Traditional urban house form

Traditional urban house form_ a distinctive local style

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Synthesis of different building techniques gave birth to a house form which would be the prototype for the following periods’houses

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Traditional u r b a n house form

Two stories_ Service spaces on the goround floor... Living at the upper floor.

Site Organization...

I.... U..... L .... Building block layouts.Building Block-site relationships: An attempt to create outdoor room

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Spatial Elements of the house

different degree of openness

in

room, sündürme, havlı

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Havlı as the elementary spatial cell of the urban fabric .

Dense green... Daily houseworks : laundry, cooking, having guests...

H a v l ı _ no house without havlı

H a v l ı _ an outdoor room

A walled garden... Strongly enclosed by the body of house itself and additional garden walls ...

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

S ü n d ü r m e _ the transitional space

Semi-open Space _not only a circulation place but also a multi-purpose space in front of the rooms.

Act as a private extention of the street and it flows in the house,

S ü n d ü r m e _ the transitional space

Functional, climatic and spatial transition between public-private domains, indoor-outdoor spaces and open-close entities

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

R o o m _ a multi-purpose space

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Flexible organisation of the fixed and non-fixed spatial components.

Built-in sitting elements...

Shelves....

Cupboards

‘ev’ = house...

R o o m _ a self-sufficient living unit

Geometric decoration of ceiling coveys the spatial segregation in the room

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Spatial organisation

outer sündürmeinner sündürme

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

G e n e r i c forms and Derivations

Generic form 2

Generic form 1

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Plain forms

Additive forms

(sündürme extend)

Subtractive forms

Additive & subtractive forms

Additive forms

(room extend)

G e n e r i c forms and Derivations

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

The traditional u r b a n h o u s e of Cyprus

Duality of introversion and extroversion in one body of the building

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Introverted S t r e e t Facade & C u m b a

The sign of room and sündürme on facade

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Extroverted G a r d e n Facade

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Sündürme as the perforated borderline / bounding volume on the garden facade

Change & C o n t i n u i t y : Early British Period

reforms in Anatolia ..new administrative system ... opening to international lifestyle and world-view ... Technologyand technical advancements...

•Foundation of royal railways

•introduction of electricity,

•distribution of the motorways networks

•New building functions...

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

P l a n n e d living environments

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Late Traditional Urban House of Cyprus

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

The meaning of the house shifted from:

utility-based to image-based.

Thus, image of the urban house was transformed from:

Latin Occidental into Ottoman Turkish Oriental and then to the tweentieth-century Levantine suburbia as the late version of the traditional urban house of Cyprus.

Change & B r e a k : Late British Period

new building materials, structural systems &construction techniques,

worldwide innovative architectural forms.

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University

Dr. Hifsiye PULHAN, Assoc. Prof.

Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Eastern Mediterranean University,

Gazimagusa, North Cyprus (via Mersin – 10 Turkey).E-mail: hifsiye.pulhan@emu.edu.tr

Teşekkür ederim!Thank you ...

For further information:

“An Enclosed Court: A Conceptual Analysis of the Traditional Courtyard House in Cyprus”, Proceeding of the 4th International Seminar on Vernacular Settlement,February 14-17, 2008, Ahmedabad, (pp. 203-212).

“The Traditional Urban House in Cyprus as Material Expression of Cultural Transformation”, Journal of Design History, Vol.19, No.2, 2006, (pp. 105-119).

“The Transitional Space in the Traditional Urban Settlement of Cyprus”, Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, Vol.22, No.2, 2005, (pp.160-178).

“Living Patterns and Spatial organization of the Traditional Cyprus Turkish House”, Open House International, Vol. 26, No.1, Mach 2001, (pp.34-41).

Dr. Hıfsiye PULHAN, Visiting Scholar, International Vernacular Architecture Unit, Oxford Brookes University