Tracing the uncanny in ordinary spaces: The movie Anayurt Hotel

This thesis evaluates how a personal feeling such as the uncanny can be produced through ordinary spaces from an architectural perspective, aiming to reveal this process through spatial analyses within the discipline of cinema. This study is based on the question of how spaces defined as ordinary can become uncanny. By arguing that user perception plays as much of a role as design factors in the process of ordinary spaces becoming uncanny, the study aims to lay the grounds for a debate that challenges the boundaries of architecture in the literature. The study's method consists of establishing a theoretical framework based on a literature review, followed by a case study in which spatial examinations are conducted based on scenes selected from the film Anayurt hotel. The concept of the uncanny is evaluated in different disciplines from various perspectives, such as uncertainty, the return of the repressed, the unfamiliarity of the familiar, sensory perception, and social context. This multi-layered approach makes it possible to evaluate space not only as a physical but also as a psychological and cultural formation. In this context, the case study section of the thesis selected scenes from the film Anayurt hotel that are appropriate for the concept of ordinary space and conducted spatial analyses of these scenes in line with the psychological transformations of the characters. These analyses were supported by images taken from the film. The study evaluates how subjective feelings such as the uncanny can emerge in ordinary spaces from an architectural perspective and explains this process through spatial analyses conducted within the discipline of cinema. It was concluded that spaces can transform in line with user experiences and subjective feelings such as the uncanny, and that architecture can direct space design and user perception to a certain extent but cannot influence them completely. This thesis aims to prepare the ground for a debate in the literature that questions the limits of architecture by arguing that user perception is as influential as design factors in the use of space.