Entrance volume formation in public buildings

Entrances in the spatial dimension establish the transitional connection between two adjacent spaces. In the relationship of architectural structure with the environment, this transitive connection, which is about the connection from the outside to the inside and from the inside to the outside, creates a controlled passage that separates and unites. This controlled passage develops inside and outside of the building and forms an important part of the architectural whole, which is expressed as a large-scale "entrance space", that provides a preview of the functional and semantic messages of the architectural whole. Within this context, the entrance space has a role in the conveyance of the purpose, official identity, and publicity level of public buildings, which serve to carry out the public responsibility recognized by legal regulations under the central government. The thesis, which was shaped over these roles of the entrance space, aims to examine the formal reflections of the functional and semantic content undertaken by the entrances in public buildings. In line with this, the theoretical foundations and historical trends of the concepts that define the entrance space in architecture were examined by using the qualitative research method. After obtaining the findings, the main themes of the descriptive analysis technique based on the qualitative research method were determined for the criteria that factor in forming the entrance space in public buildings. The determination of the themes is based on the assessment of the "utilitarian, protective and semantic" roles of the entrance spaces in the case of public buildings, and identifying them with the "functionality, accessibility and monumentality" concepts. A search was made in the literature on the evaluation criteria that affect the formation of the entrance space under the determined themes, and the search was supported by references from the legal regulations and current examples. Within the scope of the restrictions of the study, the formation of the entrance spaces of selected public administration and service buildings, namely "Çukurova Development Agency Building, Tatvan Municipality Service Building, and Bitlis Province Local Authority Building" were examined. Keywords: Entrance space, public building, functionality, accessibility, monumentality