Adaptive reuse of historic military buildings: The case of Malatya military warehouses

Since their existence, people have had the instinct of preserving their tangible objects or intangible values and transferring them to future generations. After the settled life, the understanding of architectural preservation began to emerge, because the values attributed to monumental buildings became more important. Conservation approaches have been scientifically based since the last quarter of the 19th century, and international statutes have been adopted to disseminate them to wider societies. In international regulations and scientific studies on the protection of historical buildings that have been accepted until today; The importance of using the structures in terms of their protection is emphasized. In this context, it is possible to re-function and protect historical buildings that have not completed their physical life but have completed their functional life or have been idle for various reasons. To protect these structures by re-functioning; They are beneficial to the environment in which they live physically, socially, culturally and economically. In conservation studies, physical, functional, socio-cultural, economic, environmental reasons and legal changes should be examined and the building should be given an appropriate function. With the appropriate function selection, historical buildings are re-functioned and brought back to the city within the framework of sustainability. Among the historical buildings, those built for defense and military purposes are considered as cultural assets that need to be protected in terms of the events they have witnessed in history and their architectural features. Mankind has built various buildings to survive against natural threats and to be protected from their enemies. With the increasing population and the emergence of wars over time, it became important to establish defense systems and military structures were designed on a larger scale. Before the 17th century, the castle-city construction surrounded by walls was created, while in the 19th century, defense was provided with bastions. In the second half of the 19th century, bonnets that were hidden under the ground were built due to the inadequacy of the bastions. Bonnets, which are generally used in functions such as storage, ammunition and military supplies, were built on the basis of defense and thus aesthetic features were backgrounded in their designs. In the 21st century, military structures cannot continue their functions due to many reasons, especially the development of technology. Re-functioning these structures, which have different typologies and witnessed many historical wars, is important for preserving values such as historical awareness, gaining identity, sense of continuity and respect for cultural diversity. With this awareness in the world and in Turkey, many military structures have been re-functionalized and brought into urban culture. Within the scope of the thesis, 28 Malatya Military Warehouses, which were built during the 2nd World War and located in the province of Malatya, were examined. While these warehouses were allocated to the Ministry of National Defense to be used in military services in the 1940s, they are now allocated to the 15th Regional Directorate of Nature Conservation National Parks (DKMP) and are registered. They were built to serve the function of defense and ammunition storage and are covered with earth. 3 warehouses are used as warehouses by DKMP and 25 warehouses remain idle. There has been no scientific study on Malatya Military Warehouses before. In this study, the warehouses in question were researched by interviewing the relevant institutions and organizations. Then, their current situation was documented and restitution studies were carried out for their original situation. In the light of the data obtained, restoration projects were prepared by giving a new function. In this context, thesis work; Re-functioning Malatya Military Warehouses were evaluated in accordance with the common purposes of international legal regulations regarding the re-functioning of historical buildings, and suggestions were concluded for their sustainable protection and bringing them into urban life.