Özet:

Abstract One of the main interest areas of interior architects is the adaptation of buildings which have lost their authentic functions that they were built for, to new uses, conditions and requirements. These buildings may not be only the new ones but also the historic buildings that are listed as a cultural heritage and have to be preserved. Conservation of cultural heritage and transmitting it to the future generations can only be achieved by raising sensitivity to this value. Therefore, interior architects should enhance their awareness of the conservation of cultural heritage just like all members and groups working in the field of architectural design. It is certain that undergraduate education is one of the most important steps in the development of interior architects’ awareness of conservation. The present study aims to discuss the importance of developing an understanding of conservation in interior architecture education. Firstly, Ozyegin University, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design undergraduate curriculum was examined to figure out the percentage of theoretical conservation courses in interior design education. This evaluation brought to mind the question if the theoretical knowledge has been reflected in practice or not. Because the graduation studio is the last step before entering professional life, students are expected to demonstrate their skills in interior design by integrating their knowledge from the undergraduate programme. In the view of conservation awareness; the students have to apply their knowledge of conservation that they have learnt throughout the theoretical courses and apply such knowledge in their projects. Therefore, the student works of 2019-2020 Spring Semester Interior Architecture Graduation Studio in which students were expected to create adaptive reuse proposals for a historic building- Paşalimanı Flour Factory- have been evaluated through the relationship between the awareness of conversation and the interior architecture education. With the resources directed about the subject and seminar series and technical trips organized throughout the term, it is aimed that the students would perceive the historical texture in which the historic building is located better, become aware of the unique and need to be protected values of the environment, and enrich their perspectives in order to emphasize these values in their design they would develop. Within the scope of the study, student projects submitted at the end of the semester were examined in terms of the differences in the approach to the historic building and the priorities for preservation. In order to evaluate students’ approaches analytically, the projects were analyzed according to the four different levels defined on the criterion that should be in relation with the historic monument. The extent to which the design proposals made by the students met the criterion was analyzed through the scoring system. In addition to this, at the end of the semester the students who enrolled in the graduation studio were asked to write texts in which they evaluated their studio experiences. The collected texts were first examined for the frequency of the words used via a cloud analysis, and then a content analysis study was conducted by two independent researchers to discover the concepts and relations. In addition to the observations made throughout the term, these analytical analyses based on the projects and collected texts at the end of the term provided important and comparable data for the study. In conclusion, the common tendencies and different approaches of the students to the historic monument were revealed according to the assessments. Although all of the students have developed a sensitivity for conservation, most of them mentioned the difficulties in transferring the theoretical knowledge of conservation to reuse practice. It is important to support the interior design students not only within the scope of the studio course but throughout their education life in order to increase the awareness of conservation. In this direction, it is necessary to increase students’ awareness on conservation with the help of compulsory and elective courses that can be added to their undergraduate curriculum. In addition, it would be beneficial for students to experience adaptive reuse interior design projects related to a historical building that they may encounter in their professional lives, not only in the graduation studio, but also in the other studio classes before reaching this stage, on different scales and requirements.

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