Conservation and re-functioning in the context of historic buildings: Bursa Eski İpek Han

Historical places; Depending on the change of the age, it may lose its functional properties in line with social, cultural, economic and technological reasons. When structures that do not function functionally but have physically preserved their existence are left for use, they become old, destroyed or even completely destroyed by the effects of unconscious societies and environmental conditions. The destruction of cultural heritage structures including traces of the past of societies brings along the identity problem in cities and societies. In order to ensure cultural continuity by transferring important historical buildings that have lost their function to future generations, a new function should be assigned to these structures or they should be reused provided that their old function adapts to the current situation.It is an important issue that the original identity of the building is not damaged while the historical documents are re-functioned in the context of conservation. For this reason, a new function should be loaded by paying attention to factors such as the original function of the building, plan scheme, volumetric-spatial building, and structural system. However, the needs arising from the advancing technology of the period and the new function construct given to the building need to be met and the interventions to be made on the building must be within the framework of certain rules. The city of Bursa, which has had an important commercial position throughout history, contains many historical buildings that are worth preserving. One of these structures, Eski İpek Han, which is one of the works of the Ottoman Period, is an important structure that has survived from the time it was built to the present day. Although the inn has survived until today; it is outdated physically and functionally, it is about to lose its cultural value due to misuse and cannot see the value it needs. This building, which has a high historical, socio-cultural and economic importance, should be reopened for use with the methods of improvement and re-functioning in the context of protection, in order not to destroy the values it carries with it, to emphasize its historical importance and to prevent the loss of identity. In the first part of this thesis, which consists of six chapters; As an introduction, a source research and problem determination were made by specifying the purpose, importance, material and method. In the second part; Within the scope of the concepts of conservation and re-functioning, conservation techniques, situations that require re-functioning, criteria for choosing a new function and interventions that can be made during re-functioning are explained in an explanatory way. In the third part; General, historical, economic and sociological information has been given about the city of Bursa, which has become an important commercial center throughout history, and the ''Hanlar Bölgesi'', which contains most of the traditional commercial buildings, where the city first started to be built. By referring to the Ottoman commercial structures, the traditional commercial structures within the borders of ''Bursa Hanlar Bölgesi' were examined. Analyzes such as focus points and accessibility of the region were made. In the fourth chapter; The structure of the "Eski İpek Han" located in the ''Bursa Hanlar Bölgesi'' is discussed. By investigating the history, location and architectural information about the building, on-site investigations and environmental analyzes have identified elements that damage the historical identity of the building. of the building; The space syntax analysis method, which is a scientific method, was used to make spatial analyzes and to examine its relationship with the social structure. Finally, in order to learn the comments and thoughts of the users, an on-site study was carried out by applying the survey method. In the fifth section; On the example of "Bursa Eski İpek Han", which is one of the 'Han' structures that house both trade and accommodation units, the necessity of keeping the historical buildings alive and transferring them to future generations has been emphasized within the scope of protection and re-functioning. It was thought that the hotel function would be appropriate within the scope of the re-functioning of the Eski İpek Han, and in order to present a proposal in this context, the hotel subject was primarily examined and subjects such as hotel types, units that should be in hotels, accommodation in historical buildings were examined. Studies have been made on two examples that have been applied within the scope of the function of historical buildings as hotels. In line with all the data collected at the end of the chapter, it was aimed to re-functionalize the Eski İpek Han and ensure its sustainability in cultural, social and economic terms, and design suggestions were presented within the scope of the hotel function, considering the compatibility of the building with its former function, plans and structural structure.