Filling an urban void as a ‘public interior’ in Balıkesir; contemporary intervention into historic context through interior space

The paper argues the role of interior spaces in linking with the urban open space configuration. The interior space is discussed as extensions of urban spaces and urban spaces as extensions of interiors with specific reference to a case study selected in Balıkesir urban fabric. Under the light shed by these discussions, the paper questions the certainty of boundries between exterior and interior, thus between interior design and architecture. While the first axis of discussion fo-cuses on the duality between interior and exterior, the second axis of discussion concentrates on the insertion of new and contemporary architectural and spatial features into an existing and historic context. The Museum and Library of Pho-tography project in Balıkesir, which is selected as case study, is based on a VOID connecting what exists with what disappeared long ago in a totally new combi-nation. Consequently, paper shows that architectural identity of the existing (and sometimes disappeared) heritage is reproduced via injection of this new hybrid (interior-exterior) into the very heart of the existing urban fabric. The hybrid de-sign of the VOID intends to resolve the tensions between the contrasting features of restoration and intervention merely by understanding the conditions and fun-dementals of the process of historical layering in the town.

___

Benevolo, L. (1960). History of the City (Tr. G.Culverwell, 1971). New York: Scolar Press.

Byard, P.S. (1998). Architecture of Additions . London: W.W. Norton & Company.

Çetin, M. (2004). Tarihsel Kimliği Yeniden Üretmek; Balıkesir Tarihi Do-kusunda Yeni Yapılaşma Örnekleri, Mimarist, 11, 20-23.

Çetin, M. (2003). Balıkesir Tarihi Kent Dokusu ve Sivil Mimari Özel-likleri in F. Özdem (ed) Bitek Kent; Balıkesir . Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayın-ları, 185-191.

Çetin, M. (1999). Formal Grammar Analysis of Urban Transformation; Ur-ban Renewal of Historic Town Centres in Turkey After 1980, Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield, Sheffield (UK).

Çetin, M. & Doyduk, S. (2003). Balıkesir Tarihi Kent Merkezine Bir Yeniden Canlandırma Önerisi , Kent-sel Dönüşüm Sempozyumu Bildirileri, 11-13 June, Yıldız Technical University Press - İstanbul, 315-321.

Larkham, P. J. (1996). Conservation And The City. New York: Routledge.

Pickard, R. D. (1996). Conservation In The Built Environment. Essex: Long-man.

Strike, J. (1994). Architecture in Con-servation . NewYork: Routledge. Tiesdell, S. & Oc, T. & Heath, T. (1996). Revitalizing Historic Urban Quarters. Oxford: Architectural Press.

Warren, J., Worthington, J., & Taylor S.(eds.) (1998). Context: New Build-ings in Historic Settings. Oxford: Ar-chitectural Press, 18-29.

Worskett,R. (1984). New Buildings in Historic Areas; The Missing Ethic, Monumentum, 25, 29-154.

------------, (2000). Scarpa’yı nasıl seçeceğiz, Domus M, 8, 60-67.