Bir Sokağın Dönüşümü Üzerine: Güneş Sokak Örneği

Abstract

How can we read architectural historiography in the light of oral individual narratives of the oral history? Can such a multifaceted reading offer some alternatives routes to understand history of housing in Turkish capital city Ankara? The present work delves into answering these questions by way of looking at Güneş Sokak, a neighbourhood which has been home to variety of building stock from different periods. In this context, the study comprises the period between 1936 -the year that signifies the construction of houses of Güvenevler Cooperative Housing- and 1981, which could be seen as the beginning of the change of building fabric with the proliferation of offices and working places. It particularly focuses on the changing type of buildings and dwelling culture with a multifaceted narrative in the period of 1936-1981, during which residential usage of buildings was dominant. Building of this multifaceted narrative knitted with the individual memories of inhabitants and more macro processes taking consideration of political and architectural turns.

In the first part of the study, collaborative usage of conceptual tools that architectural history and oral history methodology will be discussed. Then benefits of how utilization of alternative data gathering techniques might extend the scope and discourse of the conventional historiography will be deciphered.

The second part of the study is aiming at locate the place of research field within the conventional architectural narrative. For this purpose with the assistance of archival documents, literature review and processes of legally opening of the street and its immediate environment to habitation were reviewed. Impacts of Construction Zoning Law and decisions on the physical characteristics, hence on the silhouette of Güneş Sokak are documented.

The final part of study is aiming at producing a spatial narrative which relies on the individual discourses of interviewees. Reflection of physical environment, dominant dwelling typology and phases of its transformation during the targeted period on everyday life of inhabitants of the street were elaborated. In addition, determining convergence and divergence of these reflections with official historical narratives are of the high interest in this part.