3 RD INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM - IGRS’24, İstanbul, Turkey, 8 - 10 May 2024, pp.78
Conservation is accepting the responsibility of the cultural accumulations and traces of humanity's
yesterday and carrying them to tomorrow. The built environment is formed by an interconnected timespace chain in the historical process. Each link of this chain is an important part of the whole within
historical continuity. In this respect, cultural assets should be transferred to the future in a correct and
holistic manner. An important component of the built environment is fortification. Throughout the
history of civilization, wars have been fought between various societies, parties and states. Over time,
human societies have built many defensive structures to protect their property, borders and states. The
historical development of fortifications also reflects the social, economic and technological development
of societies. For this reason, fortifications have become a link that must be protected in the time-space
chain. As a matter of fact, fortifications that have lost their function today are a part of multi-layered
cultural heritage and social history. This study focuses on the adaptive re-use process of idle
fortifications. When a building cannot be used with its original function, the building's current function
changes to a new function. The concept of repurposing appears as a method of the conservation process.
The re-functioning of fortifications are important in terms of establishing a sustainable interaction
between society and social history. Within the scope of the study, three different air-raid shelters built
during World War II and discussed re-used after the war. Although the selected shelters were built in
the same period, they offer a perspective of different societies and different geographies that countries
participated in World War II. In this context, "Kulturbunker" in Germany, "Muzeum Współczesne
Wrocław" in Poland and "Sığınak: Sanat ve Teknoloji İçin Alan" in Turkey are discussed within the
scope of the study. As a matter of fact, adaptive re-use process, the contemporary use of buildings adds
a new layer and meaning to the building. On the other hand, the re-use of idle buildings, it is important
the building fulfills the spatial needs correctly while it is important that the integrity of the urban texture
and spatial identity should be preserved. The level of harmony between the new function and building
adaptation makes sustainable the re-use of the buildings. The methodology of the study aims to test the
spatial transformation within reuse through evaluation criteria. The model evaluates the scale of building
interventions based on the environmental, spatial and technical parameters determined during the change
of function. This evaluation model also provides data for subsequent adaptive re-use applications. The
perspective offered by the examples of buildings with different scales of interventions makes it possible
to analyze the re-use process comparatively. As a result, shelters that are revitalized with different
functions, transform the built environment and the urban memory along with themselves.