Evaluation of facade arrangements in Architect Kemalettin buildings by fractal analysis method: An example of educational buildings

The First National Architecture Period developed during the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey, in a period of intensive social and political reforms. In this process, the idea of nationalism, which showed its influence in the world, manifested itself with the search for national identity in the field of architecture. The First National Architecture Movement, in which Seljuk and Classical Ottoman architectural elements were brought together in harmony with European planning principles, was implemented by the architects of the period. The buildings of this period stood out with their originality in façade designs as well as their spatial arrangements. Architect Kemalettin, who is accepted as one of the pioneers of this period, designed many buildings, especially educational buildings. These buildings have an important place in terms of reflecting the characteristics of the First National Architecture Movement. Within the scope of the study, a total of eighteen educational buildings known to have contributed to the design of Architect Kemalettin, which were built or remained in the design phase, were evaluated at the primary school, madrasah and higher education institution levels. Within the scope of the study, it is aimed to quantitatively evaluate the differences and similarities in the façade constructions of the determined educational buildings. The hypotheses of this study are based on the chronological examination of the similarities and differences in the facade constructions of the educational buildings designed by Architect Kemalettin and the analysis of the similarities and differences between the façade features of primary school, madrasah and higher education buildings. In this context, the educational buildings were grouped according to their educational levels, and the visual complexity values of the facade features were numerically evaluated using the fractal analysis method. As a result of the evaluations, it has been determined that the façade constructions of primary schools and madrasas designed by Architect Kemalettin have "similar" complexity values and the educational buildings in the higher education institution group exhibit more complex façade features. Recommendations were proposed for evaluating the characteristic features of the facade structures of educational buildings from the period using analytical methods, as well as for identifying relevant data that may be considered in future conservation and restoration efforts for these buildings.