Post-occupancy evaluation of university social centers : The example of Harran University Life Center

Unlike other living things, humans need different living spaces in order to meet their physical as well as spiritual and social needs in order to survive. This social life, which begins in kindergartens at a young age, continues in universities towards young ages. Therefore, the designs of social center structures, where young individuals have intense social, cultural and scientific interaction with each other during their university life, which is the most convenient time, are important in terms of convenient use. Within the scope of this study, the Harran University Life Center building, which functions as a social center, was examined using the " Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE)" method. This study was carried out with the aim of evaluating user satisfaction in the Life Center and identifying the problems experienced in the Life Center in terms of usage and eliminating these problems. Observation cards were created by conducting extensive research, interviews, detailed on-site examinations, photography and spatial analysis regarding the Life Center, and data regarding the study area was obtained accordingly. In order to determine the opinions, problems and satisfaction levels of the Life Center users regarding the work area, a survey was conducted to the users and the Life Center was evaluated during the usage process. The collected survey data was analyzed statistically with the SPSS program. Within the framework of the problems revealed, short, medium and long term suggestions have been developed for the improvement of the Life Center. This research is important in that it will inspire future academic studies in this field and guide designers in newly designed social center structures on university campuses.