Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL AND PLANNING RESEARCH, cilt.33, sa.4, ss.309-325, 2016 (SSCI)
Human relationships are often influenced and organized by religion, which also influences the physical structures of life, especially architecture, including the design and spatial layout of houses. Several studies have demonstrated how religious beliefs influence the layout of micro spaces like houses. This work investigates the relationship between social, cultural, and religious traditions and the architecture of vernacular housing in Urfa, Turkey. It also represents a search for answers regarding how traditional Urfa culture-family, beliefs, values, and rituals - influences housing architecture. The article aims to show how the Urfa house represents the social and cultural use of place and how religious factors shape domestic spaces in the Urfa house in terms of (1) the extended family and the status of family within the community; (2) relationships between men and women; (3) neighbor relationships and hospitality; (4) the daily customs of the family; (5) customs, beliefs, and rituals within the life of the community; and (6) religious beliefs and practices. These factors will be explained with reference to Sunni Islamic beliefs in Turkey and through descriptions of the sociocultural traditions of Urfa. The study discusses the principal characteristics of traditional Urfa houses and attempts to clarify the role played by religious traditions and sociocultural values in shaping these characteristics. Within this framework, the Urfa house is used to derive some lessons from the traditional home environment to be utilized in the field of design and planning, highlighting the ways in which traditional concepts can be continued and developed in new designs so that they are able to meet the sociocultural and physical needs of modern users.