Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The first lecture providing the needed information to develop an argument related to
the previous lecture and to the course topic has been given by Leyla Etyemez Ciplak. The
concept of conserving the cities having "urban historic layers in a continual historical
stratification", and the integration process can be regarded as the main topic of the lecture
(Ciplak). Has started by giving the definition of historic cities, Ciplak has given place for
Washington Charter guiding for the conservation of historic towns and urban areas
subsequently. After showing relevant examples for such towns and areas, she has been
explained multi-layered historical cities by listing the particular aspects. After explaining the
steps for "successful conserving and integrating the evidences of the historical stratification"
which can be given as respectively diachronic analysis, the assessment of layers and the
Given by Yigit Ozar, the second lecture reflecting the paper has provided a perspective
related to the actual process of urban conservation and legal issues in Turkey. The adverse
impacts of the changing urban economic policies on the conservation process of Istanbul can
be taken into account as the main topic of the lecture. Having multiple historical layers, the
City has been subjected to the act of destructions causing astringent archeological loss. Before
starting to explain the conservation process of the City by giving related chronological
examples, Ozar asserts that "A multi-layered city has been continued to change, the protection
practice is in the case of being an exam"(Ozar). He mentions the structures made to pave the
way for capitals in the Earlier Period of the Turkey Republic, and the efforts of legal
administrative regulation after the 1950s (Ozar). Followed by the destructions and
archeological loss case in the Menderes Period, the lack of protection policies and the
oblivious behaviors of the present governments have perpetually been emphasized during the
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lecture. After explaining how urban rents developed with the concept of Neoliberalism has
screened the protection, Ozar says that Istanbul has site areas given place in the UNESCO list
as the city has not only the central historic core of Byzantium but also the archeological layers
of the Roman city. Then, he has been continued his lecture by discussing the condition of
Started with answering particular questions in which the following ones are asked that
“Is the past important according to you? Why? Why do we conserve the ‘historical built
environment’? Do we have to?” the in-class lectures have been given with a concern of
extensive scope (Slide 2 Henry). Through discussing the readings written by Lowenthal,
'when a clear distinction between present and past' was defined and 'a sense of respect to
cultural heritage was developed' have been understood. In respect to order, the terminology
acquired from Orhanbaşılı's book, the primary principles, and the International Institutions
have been given during the lectures by integrating related case studies. In this stage of the in-
class lectures, the parallelism with Çıplak's lecture can be observed in means of the discussed
topic called integration in an expanded content. According to Çıplak, to assess the integration
of historical stratification is necessitated for the conservation of a historical city having multi-
layered character, while Henry has given the definition of integration as that "A historic
building is a relic from the past and holds details and information from the past; this is its
aesthetic integrity, the integrity of the building within its setting and context, and professional
integrity of the conservation team are the subtitles that have been given by Henry, whereas
Çıplak has defined each of them by giving ascriptions of aspects of integration. In this
concern, there must be no harm to assert that through mentioned lectures, both Henry and
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Çıplak have demonstrated that cognizant and comprehensive understanding and meticulous
and categorical study are required for developing a sophisticated approach to conserving the
cultural heritage.
With the concern of establishing a limpid relation between Ozar's discussion and in-
class lectures, it would be a more discreet approach to have focused attention on the topics in
in Turkey: Legal Issues and Administrative Concerns" and are taken into consideration. At the
start of the in-class lecture, from the mid-19th Century until 2004, a chronological order
depicting the development of conservation measures in Turkey has been given by Henry who
has a similar approach with Yigit Ozar as he has also provided same data through the lecture
while explaining the destructions and archeological loss occurred in different periods (Slide 2
Henry). While it has contended that "Conservation is a part of the policy; should be an
objective of urban and regional planning" Yigit Ozar has demonstrated the credence to
governments in archeological site areas that have stemmed out urban economic policies based
on the concept of neoliberalism (Slide 4). Henry provides the following notation from 'The
architectural heritage should become an integral part of urban and regional planning, instead
of being treated as a secondary consideration or one requiring action here and there as has so
often been the case in the recent past. A permanent dialogue between conservationists and
those responsible for planning is thus indispensable"(Slide Henry 4 ). Within the same
context, the exact opposing approach displaying conservation realities in Turkey has been
vigorously emphasized in many relevant case studies during the Ozar's lecture, while the same
approach is also stated in the words of Sahin Guchan and Kurul "As a result, conservation
providing transport infrastructure, leaving the solution of the intensifying problems of rapidly
changing cities to be resolved" (qtd in Slide 7 Henry) . To provide a clarified explanation, the
subsequent but quite relevant example of the Palace of Justice discussed by Ozar can be taken
into consideration. The complex, that has been started in the 1950s and completed in the
1970s, has been built on the site having several archeological layers and consequently,
conservation conflicts have developed between Sedat Hakkı Eldem, who complains about the
current situation by claiming the archeological findings as not important as it has been
With a particular regard to the question of that ‘What does conservation mean?’ an
erudite understanding correlating with different views has been developed through the
provided speeches besides in-class lectures. In this concern, the subsequent argument can be
declared as the influenced idea gained during the speeches that may it seems the very complex
concept of the conservation process has been likely to be carried by means of principles and
heritage , has omissions, limitations, and degenerations which have been caused by the
of different periods in the countries such as Turkey. In this regard, before to finalize the paper,
as architects also to have a closer concentration on the declaration from Cıplak’s lecture that,
"The town is the product of several historical periods and of specific, social, cultural,
of a larger whole and should be studied as part of the present-day dynamic reality, not as a
static object of contemplation and tourist attraction” (qtd in Cıplak) would be a wiser attempt
to develop the strong sense of respect for cultural heritage needed especially in urban
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development to be able to tackle with the omissions, limitations, and degenerations mentioned
previously.
Works Cited
Ciplak Etyemez, Leyla. “Reconciling with the Layers in Multi-Layered Historic Cities”.
class Lectures.
Ozar, Yigit. “Tek Tipleşen Katmanlar”.Bilkent University Lecture Hall, Ankara. 7 November
2019. Lecture.