Spatial Hierarchy on Vernacular Houses in Eastern Black Sea Region, Turkey

Abstract

Human beings directly reflecttheir attitudes, habits, self-expressions, and their way of perceiving life totheir houses. For vernacular housing, as well, one of the major factors thatinfluence spatial configuration is culture. The impact of user-specificlifestyles reveals itself through the formation of housing. Different spatialorganizations and housing schemes depend on cultural differences. In thiscontext, determining the factors that help shape vernacular housing that can beused as paradigms for new designs is essential in terms of physical, social andcultural sustainability. One of the first steps in designing a house is todetermine where its spaces fall on the spatial hierarchy scale from “public” to“private”. Spatial hierarchy, which is a crucial criterion for comprehendingthe interrelation between spaces, also provides understanding of culturalidentity. In this paper, the impact of cultural difference on spatialconfiguration is emphasized and vernacular housing in three different cultures(Laz, Hemşin and Gürcü) in close proximity to the Eastern Black Sea region areevaluated using the criteria of spatial hierarchy.The criteria that help us rankthe spaces from public to private are as follows;1. In order to obtain theaccessibility coefficient, the properties of the space; that is, its positionwithin the system, its density, and its frequency of use are taken intoconsideration.2. In order to obtain thepsycho-social coefficient, the roles of the space; that is, its privacy,security, identity, and time are taken into consideration. With the help of these two coefficients, the “spatial hierarchycoefficient”, which enables the ranking of spaces from public to private, isobtained.  Within the scope of the research,thirty houses were studied. The spaces designated as “kitchen, sitting room,entrance, and guest room”, which were common in all three cultures were rankedaccording to their spatial hierarchy coefficients. The results were evaluatedin terms of user relationships with their cultures. In this research, spacesyntax, observation, and face-to-face interview methods were used to reach thefindings. In this study, conducted on thespaces formed and inhabited by people of three different cultures located inthe same region, it was determined that the cultures produced both similaritiesand differences in the spatial configuration of their houses.