Abstract:

This study aims to document the architectural features and conservation problems of the Nizip Sayınlar soap workshop which is an important historical building of south-eastern Anatolia’s industrial heritage. Nizip Sayınlar soap workshop is a 19th-century vernacular structure which clearly illustrates the technological and socio-cultural aspects of soap production in this period. It is an important industrial heritage site that needs to be documented and preserved for future generations. The building, which preserves its original character, is constructed with traditional building materials and techniques. As it was the first industrial building constructed in the town and has the traces of the traditional production technique of the region, it is an important component of the area’s cultural heritage. As a typical soap workshop, the building has been shaped around the functions of storage, boiling, moulding, drying and packaging. All the spaces of the building are organized around a central courtyard, which is the space where the raw materials were distributed to the relevant rooms and from where the finished product was delivered. It is two-storeyed. Having fallen into disuse when it became unsuitable for modern production technologies, followed by its unauthorized use as a temporary shelter for immigrants, the Nizip Sayınlar workshop has deteriorated. Recording original features has great importance in the adaptation of industrial heritage for new uses. For that purpose, survey drawings of the building have been made and conservation problems have been identified.

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