Issues in the planning and design of university campuses in Turkey

Abstract

Universities have crucial importance in producing and transmitting knowledge, and formulating an effective and critical public sphere that meets the public with the university population. Their spatial characteristics of universities also refer to an important position within the urban fabric: with dense students’ and academi-cians’ population, they occupy a considerable amount of spaces in cities. Their spatial formations change over time as new buildings are added and student numbers increased. In that respect, this article seeks to explore how the spatial configurations of university campuses have evolved over time in Turkey. In order to explore the changes in spatial layout of university campuses, especially the organization of public spaces and their relations with the campus buildings, we have narrowed our focus through a chronological reading. Two methods of collecting data are used: First, we reviewed design articles about university campuses in architectural periodicals and online architecture databases. Second, the Five Year Development Plans of Turkish State Planning Organization (DPT 5 Yıllık Planları), have been examined to follow the governmental considerations. In addition, we made interviews with some of the architects who took part in the campus planning process of the cases that are selected for this article. In conclusion, analysis of the spatial configuration of campuses in Turkey reveals some unexpected insights about particular design approaches of universities. The analysis of specific campuses in chronological order shows that it is possible to trace specific campus design tendencies that are peculiar to specific periods.