Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
A/Z ITU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, cilt.9, sa.2, ss.135-151, 2012 (Scopus)
Sultan Abdülaziz Imperial Hunting Lodge was built in the second half of 19th century during the construction of the Anatolian-Balkan Railway, which played an important role in the urban development of Izmit. This imperial lodge outside the capital city might have been constructed on the foundations of a former palace built during the reign of Murat IV. Due to its location above the Izmit Gulf, it has become one of the most important elements of the urbanscape. Witnessing important turning points in the history of the city, the lodge has been used as the centre of local government and then as a museum. It has been affected by a number of major earthquakes due to its location on the North Anatolian Fault, and following its latest restoration in 1998, it suffered great damage during the Kocaeli earthquake of August 17, 1999. The damage was further aggravated as the building had not been well maintained, had been the subject of inappropriate repair interventions and left exposed to the effects of climatic conditions. The most important type of damage observed in the building was structural deformations of various types: the walls drifted outwards at the roof level while vertical detachments and cracks of various shapes and sizes were observed along the walls and the roof parapet walls were separated at the corners as a result of the earthquake. In order to decide on the type, method and techniques of intervention necessary, the architectural, structural and material characteristics of the building as well as the level of damage had to be studied and documented in detail. This data was then evaluated with the contribution of specialists in various fields and conservation, restoration and structural strengthening methodologies were developed. The intervention aimed at re-using the original building material detached during the earthquake while the basic principles were defined as an accurate analysis of the types of damage and the implementation of the solutions to these problems by the use of original materials and construction techniques through minimal intervention.