Examining historical Gaziantep houses in terms of natural lighting, Gaziantep Bey Mansion and Aynur Hanim Mansion examples

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate reflection of daylight onto the places in traditional Gaziantep houses and set an example in today's house designs. Within the scope of this study: 'The importance of light in architecture' and it impact on traditional houses were researched. The research comprises of six sections. The first section includes the purpose and problem of the research, assumptions, limits and methods used in the research. The second section handles lighting, general definition of natural lighting and artificial lighting in traditional Turkish houses, the purpose of lighting subject, its development process, and artificial lighting types used in Gaziantep. The third section includes research on general characteristics of Gaziantep, the traditional Gaziantep pattern and the architectural features of its houses. The definition of Turkish house is made and typological values are given in the same section. Gaziantep Bey Neighborhood and its historical houses are examined in fourth section in terms of general facing arrangement, courtyard facings, street facings, construction systems and material types. Bey Residence and Aynur Hanım Residence are analyzed in terms of natural lighting in the fifth section. Evaluation, results and suggestions are given in the sixth section. Keywords: Traditional Gaziantep Houses, lighting level, natural lighting, Gaziantep