Discussion of Conservation Approaches for the Selected Heritage Buildings in the Walled City of Famagusta

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The Walled City of Famagusta is a multi-layered city of several socio-cultural and architectural heritages, from various stratus of time, each strata contributing to the richness of the historic city of Famagusta. The evidence of the several layers of architecture can be seen all within the city. To sustain this multi-layered architectural richness, the conservation of these layers of architecture for future generations is vital. To conserve these periods of architecture in the Walled City of Famagusta requires exploration of varying conservation approaches that are internationally valid to provide guidelines for adaptive reuse purpose. The focus of this thesis is to discuss conservation approaches through adaptive reuse for some selected buildings located within the Walled City of Famagusta. Adaptive reuse, as undertaken within this thesis, does not just change the program or function of the spatial environment, but may also prolong the authenticity of cultural and natural heritage of the place. Therefore, the main focus here is to shed some light on conservation of the authentic qualities of heritage buildings while at the same time assigning new uses considering contemporary needs of the users. The core aim of this thesis to provide a foundation for the documentation and appreciation of several architectural conservation approaches for selected periods of architecture in the Walled City of Famagusta and to provide guidelines for efficient conservation through adaptive reuse that is peculiar to selected buildings which are internationally sound. This was to answer the research question which is “what are the various internationally valid architectural conservation approaches that can be adopted for selected architectural products of different periods in the Walled City of Famagusta?” The bases of this thesis are adopted and evaluated through five case studies from the Walled City of Famagusta, which represents various periods of architecture; they are Chimney House, Cafer Pasha Hammam, Old Police Station, Gazi Elementary School and Efecan Building Complex. To achieve the aim of this thesis a Qualitative research methods are adopted through document review of case studies and on-site investigation, and also a critical literature reviews on these topics; Architectural conservation, adaptive reuse, international documents of conservation, authenticity, space, current agenda of conservation, current legal legislation of conservation in North Cyprus. Authenticity measurements stated by the Nara Document on Authenticity are detailed to extract the authentic spatial qualities of the case studies and accordingly proposals are anticipated for the future of these spaces, based on the analysis. The results of this research shows the peculiarity of the various periods of architecture in the Walled City of Famagusta, with guidelines towards conservation through adaptive reuse and the international conservation principles and charters that can be adopted to meet the peculiar needs of each selected period of architecture. Keywords: Adaptive Reuse, International Documents of Conservation, Space, Authenticity, Walled City of Famagusta