Memory spaces in the space-sense-emotion plane: The case of Sinop Prison Museum and Ankara Ulucanlar Prison Museum

The relationship between the effects of the space on the user and the emotions felt by the person experiencing the space constitutes the general subject of the study. At the first stage of the study, a literature review was conducted to examine this relationship. As a result of the literature research, it was thought that it would be appropriate to examine the issue through spaces designed/converted to remind of an event that has happened. The scope of the study is limited to the events that have caused negative emotions in human history. Such places are called "traumatic areas", "dark heritage areas" in the literature. In this research, it was preferred to use the concept of "memory spaces" because it includes all of the definitions mentioned. In the second stage, the sense-emotion-space relationship is evaluated with a field study. For this reason, two sample areas were selected. These are the Sinop Prison Museum and Ankara Ulucanlar Prison Museum which are memory spaces in Turkey that used to function as a prison but are now a museum. These two places which have hosted many famous names were chosen for reasons such as their spatial location, atmosphere, original function, and the fact that they were transformed into a memory space. The selected group of subjects toured both museums accompanied by a non-participating observer. It has been studied what kind of sensations are experienced along the route through factors such as sound, smell, light, height, darkness. Interviews were conducted with the participants about the selected museums. As a result of the phenomenological analysis of these interviews, the emotional effects of spatial arrangements on visitors were discussed. By evaluating the data obtained from both stages, findings regarding the space-sense-emotion relationship were obtained and comments were made.