Wayfinding in adaptive reuse museums: Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara

Adaptive reuse buildings are often used for purposes different from their original function. Especially complex buildings such as large shopping centers, museums, hospitals are such buildings. The orientation problem is the users conflict of use, especially where the paths to different parts of the building are confusing. In places where there is a wayfinding problem, individuals can easily get lost and may have to wander around for a long time to reach the right place. Proper wayfinding should be designed to help visitors easily navigate around the building and reach to the desired destination. While designing the wayfinding system the existing building's architectural attributes should also be considered, such as partitions, different use of materials, lighting, and all other spatial attributes. Moreover wayfinding should also use signs, directional signage and cognitive maps can be used in the design. The problem of wayfinding in the repurposed building is a serious one and an effective wayfinding system needs to be created to solve this problem. This system will help visitors to reach the right place easily and visitors will have a positive visiting experience. Anatolian Civilization Museum was selected within the scope of this thesis for a case study and an investigation was carried out and it is found that the signage system can be improved by disconnecting some connections between the side aisles to central part of the building.