Evoking the Rural Memory Through the Urban Landscapes


Güler A.

Contemporary Issues in Architecture and Urban Planning: Development, Memory, Environment, Yıldız Aksoy,Efe Duyan, Editör, DAKAM Books, İstanbul, ss.6-15, 2021

  • Yayın Türü: Kitapta Bölüm / Diğer
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Yayınevi: DAKAM Books
  • Basıldığı Şehir: İstanbul
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.6-15
  • Editörler: Yıldız Aksoy,Efe Duyan, Editör
  • İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The landscape is a medium that contains tangible and intangible values inside. They provide a habitat for plants,

animals, and other livelihoods on earth. They shape the surface with morphology, water, vegetation, soil and

change with time. Rural landscapes are basically a production space whether it is natural or designed, while its

basic idea is based on ecosystem services. Urban landscapes are designed to provide more natural images in

built areas, help to urban ecosystem, keep biodiversity, and create recreational spaces for humans. The

enthusiasm for urban landscapes comes from the naturalness of the rural or pastoral images of the landscapes.

Landscapes are also a threshold not only in the meaning of concrete borders but also unseen worlds, senses,

dreams, or memories. The landscape defines the place which is a socially constructed space. It is created by

personal and collective memories besides the natural phenomenon of the landscape itself. The memories in a

place collect over and over as a palimpsest and become the layers of place memory. Mnemonic devices in

landscapes are the reminder elements of place memory. They can be used to remembering the past, an event,

a person, or more deep inside our subconscious. The main object of the research is understanding how

contemporary urban landscapes can evoke the rural memories of visitors. The research is conducted on a closed

and open questionnaire. The general images of urban landscapes and rural landscapes, landscape design

materials, and design approaches are used to understand the power of evoking rural landscape memories. The

outcomes of the survey show that there is a strong connection between the main design elements used in urban

and rural landscape designs. On the other hand, the use of design materials strongly affects the power of

reminding the rural landscapes. Despite the fact that naturalness becomes a strong keyword for the rural

landscape memories, every urban landscape does not perceive as a pastoral image even if the natural materials

inside. The participants emphasize that the places in urban landscapes give positive feelings when they have

more rural landscape images.