Timber Istanbul

Fires, neglect, poor planning and migration have turned a growing problem into a threat of extinction for one of Istanbul's least appreciated architectural forms: the wooden house.

Demolition sites are everywhere in Suleymaniye. Chaotic plots of broken beams, rubble and grubby sandbags; they dot the winding streets of this Istanbul neighbourhood perched on a hillside below an Ottoman mosque.

Further down, towards the waters of the Golden Horn inlet of the Bosphorus, fences surround a construction site where a tunnel for a new metro line bores into the ground.

"There used to be another row of wooden houses there," says Stein-Gunnar Sommerset, a Norwegian academic who has a house nearby.

Istanbul - one of this year's European capitals of culture - is renowned for its great stone monuments, including the Byzantine Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque.

But Turkey's largest city also has a long tradition of construction in wood, and in the early 20th century timber structures accounted for most of Istanbul's housing stock.

Many of those traditional buildings have vanished and the survivors are under threat.

Martin Bachmann, an architectural historian at the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul, estimates that there are only about 250 timber houses left in the entire city. In a mere three streets clustered around the mosque in Zeyrek, a neighbourhood once renowned for its wooden structures, 10 demolitions took place in the last six years.

"Compared to the historical situation it's nearly nothing," says Bachmann.

 Devastating fires 

According to Zeynep Ahunbay, a Professor of Architectural Restoration at Istanbul Technical University, wooden construction took off in the city in the 16th century."There was a strong earthquake in 1509 and the earlier buildings, mixed structures, they were not so good," she explained, adding that the majority of houses that survive today date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Built with oak frames and clad in pine, the houses were painted and many had distinctive bay windows on the higher floors and lengthy eaves.

The decline of the timber houses began early in the 20th century.

After devastating fires during World War One, the authorities banned construction in wood. In the 1920s foreign minorities - who dominated the ranks of the skilled craftsman needed to build and maintain the structures - began to leave.

Then, following World War Two, the Turkish middle classes started to desert old wooden neighbourhoods like Zeyrek and Suleymaniye for more modern accommodation. In their place came poor rural migrants who had neither the means nor the experience to maintain the houses.

As the years passed more and more of the houses vanished; some demolished, others destroyed by fires, or simply neglected until they collapsed. Many of those that do survive are in an advanced stage of decrepitude.

 UNESCO to decid

Emine Erdogmus, a member of the wood committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites and an Istanbul resident, says that the while houses are officially protected by law, regulations are widely flouted.

"Our laws are perfect, up to European standards," she said. "It's the people who are playing with the laws."

Concern about the houses extends beyond Turkey too.

This summer UNESCO's World Heritage Committee will decide whether the Istanbul World Heritage Site, established in 1985, will be placed on an endangered list.

According to Mechtild Rossler, Europe and North American chief at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the condition and preservation of the timber houses will be one of the issues considered, along with a proposed new Golden Horn crossing.

Mustafa Demir - the mayor of Fatih Municipality, which includes many of the surviving wooden houses - says that preservation is a priority.

"One of the most important jobs is to protect the historic sites," he said, adding that while in the past renovation often meant demolishing a house, rebuilding in concrete and then adding wood cladding, a method that is now forbidden. Demir admitted though that there is a reluctance to spend public funds on houses in private ownership.

The Turkish authorities have made clear progress in some areas though. In 2006 the Istanbul Municipality set up KUDEB, the directorate of Conservation, Implementation and Inspection.

This organisation has streamlined the process required to gain permission to carry out repairs, and also runs training courses in the skills required.

"They learn to do windows, doors, roof construction, traditional building construction," explained Demet Surucu, an engineer in KUDEB's timber workshop. Surucu added that the workshop has so far repaired 55 houses.

Elsewhere, before his death in 2003, Turkish preservationist Celik Gulersoy initiated house restoration on Sogukcesme Street close to Aya Sofya, while more recently Sommerset is renovating two houses in Suleymaniye.

"I think it's a pity to see them decay, and it's possible to rescue them with modest means."

 text from http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=54512

a little animation...

shifting city

A little animation showing the variety of patterns produced by shifting some simple rules, 

the shifting if the city center through time and the geometries found in the city.

the expansion of the old city

This is an image showing the expansion of the city throught time in accordance with the building of the three major walls constrcted in the old Istanbul.
The gates of the Theodosian walls(that still exist) are also spotted, as well as the religious buildings of the city( churches and monasteries).
The dotted lines indicate the boundaries of the existing districts in the region.

the seven hills

The old (historical) city of Istanbul is supposed to be built on seven hills which have been located within the walls of the ancient city of Istanbul. They can be found within the city’s three corners. The Bayrampasa River separates the three highest hills of the city. While the two hills are parallel along with the Golden Horn, the third hill lies down towards south. The city of Rome was also built on seven hills. So the number seven is not random, on the contrary it is supposed to be a sacred number in many religions and mythology. Both Rome and Constantinople were known as the cities of seven hills with seven central points in each of the two cities. Six of the hills of Istanbul accommodate imperial mosques which are the ones to provide the city its Ottoman identity. They all are fundamental features of the city during Ottoman era. The ancient city of Byzantium was built on the first hill which begins from Seraglio Point and continues up to Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmet Mosque.

The second hill that is divided by a deep valley has Grand Bazaar, Column of Constantin and the Nuruosmaniye Mosque.

The third hill has Suleymaniye Mosque to the North, the Bayezid II Mosque to the south and Istanbul University.

The fourth hill has the Fatih Mosque and the Church of the Holy Apostles.

The fifth hill has the Mosque of Sultan Selim.

The sixth hill includes the districts of Ayvansaray and Edirnekapi.

The seventh hill begins from Aksaray and goes on to include Marmara. It has three summits that produce a triangle at Yedikule, Aksaray and Topkapi.

a little bit of history

Istanbul is the city of 3 religions and 2 continents.

The very first settlement of the city was in Kadıköy by the Greeks from the Megara. On this first hill the Acropol was built and it is when the Byzantium was established.

The ancient city expanded and became double its size with Constantine who actually built the plans of the new city himself building thick walls all around it. 

In 203 AD the Severus Hippodrome was built, and the area outside the Hippodrome became the center of the peninsula and was known as the old city of Istanbul. The zero counting point of all roads, the million stone, was placed in the center of Istanbul, so that also was the center of the world. 

The Buyuk Saray, also known as the Sacred Palace, was located in the ancient Istanbul from 330 to 1081 AD and served as the main royal residence of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Emperors.

In the 5th century Emperor Theodosius the II built 6 km thick stone defensive walls outside the old city and so protected Constantinople for more than 1000 years.

After Christianity was imposed churches started replacing paganist temples. That is the time when Hagia Sophia was first built. Of course it went through many phases and catastrophes before the final masterpiece we know was built. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician. Hagia Sophia was the first basilica church with a dome built in only 5 years and 10 months.

New needs for water in the city imposed the building of the Bozdogan Kemeri (The Valens Aqueduct). Completed by Roman Emperor Valens in the late 4th century AD, it was restored by several Ottoman Sultans, and is one of the most important landmarks of the city.

In 1453 after the fall of Constantinople, everything changed, its religion, culture, architecture, even its own reason for existence. After that Istanbul would be re-shaped by the hands of Sultan Ahmed the conqueror. He converted every church into a mosque but it is said that Christians had the right to worship freely.

Sultan Ahmed’s mosque, also known as blue mosque, chose as a place the region where the Greek orthodox patriarch and the Holly Apostols used to be. Mimar Sinan, the architect, walked the seven hills and selected the third to build the mosque. Its acoustics are magnificent. It is said that while Sinan was building the mosque he was smoking the water pipe so that by listening to the bubbling sound of the water he could create those unique acoustics. This area became a prestigious residential area. After the earthquake of 1509 stone was forbidden for building, so wood constructions started to appear. This fact changed totally the image of the region and gave it a very distinctive architecture.

Sultan Ahmed wanted to form the big city he dreamt. At first he focused on population. So trying to make Istanbul a Turkish Islamic city in terms of population he brought migrants from Anatolia. Those who came brought also with them the names of their towns, naming region in Istanbul after them.

He also encouraged Turkish, Greek and Armenian communities to settle in the city so that he could create a colorful mosaic of population. He was also aiming for the variety of different religions so that Istanbul would become the cultural, political and commercial center of the world. 

Istanbul was also the center of critical commercial roads: the Silk Road, the Spice Road and the Wheat Road.

An important trading center, the biggest in the city, Kapalıçarş or Grand Bazaar, was built in 1461. Actually its construction began in the Byzantium period to be enlarged in the period of Sultan Ahmed, reaching its full prestige during the Ottoman period.

The construction the Topkapi saray began in 1459 and was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their 624-year reign. It was like a castle within a castle, a city within the city. The Harem which was divided in three sections was the world of the unknown, the inaccessible world.

Dolma Bahce Palace, the new palace of the Emperor was built in 1853 on the third hill. Sulleymanya old harem moved there with their ottoman families taking with them the palace culture.



images source:

http://www.sultanahmet1.com/the-history-and-mystery-behind-the-seven-hills-of-istanbul-2/

Istanbul's green spaces and farmland

what if...

So what if those patterns were to make a city?

What if Istanbul was read as a carpet?

Making a quick sketch about this notion I came up with...

Trying to make it a bit more tidy and readable, I created what I think of Istanbul as a carpet in terms of identity. So maybe Istanbul's carpet would look like this.

In my attempt to explain its structure in a few words, I would say that this carpet is consisted of five elements all based on the circle.

So we see:

1. The triangle representing all kinds of cultural spaces

2. The square representing bazaars and financial districts

3. The hexagon depicting all religious spaces

4. The star that stands for universities, academies and colleges

5. The plain circle that represents all the other mixed uses of this part of the city

A significant crack in this carpet’s design is the water element which is shown with a light beige color because it is a natural element, a physical boundary. There are also some other cracks in the carpet, shown in black, those stand for the un-integration of the different areas in Istanbul. Many different nationalities, religions and financial statuses can be found in the city, but they really keep their metaphorical distances even though in reality they might adjoin. So this is a conceptual crack, an unsubstantial boundary, which could be stronger though. That is the reason why it is depicted in black. Those boundaries divide the city and make it difficult for people to integrate.

arabic symbols/ meanings & matching

All Arabic patterns are based on the circle and its center. The circle as a symbol emphasizes on religion and God. It also symbolizes the role of Mecca, the center of Islam towards which all Muslim face during prayer. It  is a symbol of eternity, justice and equality as well. From the circle derive the four fundamental figures below:

1.        The Triangle that stands for harmony

2.        The Square that symbolizes the physical world and materiality

3.        The Hexagon that stands for heaven

4.        And the Star that shows equal radiation towards all directions starting from a central point.

The basic compositional rules of the above elements are repetition and complexity.

So based on those symbols representations, the elements we are willing to represent in our carpet can be shown as follows:

1.        The Triangle for all cultural spaces

2.        The Square for bazaars and economical districts

3.        The Hexagon for religious spaces( mosques and churches)

4.        The Star for universities and academies.

            

        Below are some quick depictions of those basic patterns.