Genius Loci in Adaptive Reuse: Bank Museums in Ankara

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 31 - 42, 15.03.2025

Ayça Özmen

https://doi.org/10.54864/planarch.1638035

Abstract

Adaptive reuse, one of the architectural conservation interventions, involves the adaptation of existing buildings for new or ongoing functions while balancing their cultural significance and contemporary requirements. This strategy, consistent with sustainability goals, is not only about preserving cultural heritage but also about providing ecologic and economic interests. Apart from other forms of interventions, adaptive reuse praxis particularly emphasises the presence of the spirit of place. Therefore, beyond its sustainability intentions, the continuity of intangible elements that are an integral part of the genius loci is crucial in the case of adaptive reuse. An ancient Latin expression, “genius loci”, also known as “the spirit of place”, has become a significant factor of creativity and continuity in contemporary architecture and conservation. Based on the bond between place and people, the spirit of place is the phenomenon of the holistic perception of a place's tangible and intangible elements. Within this context, this study intends to identify the stages of perceiving genius loci in order to evaluate the success of adaptive reuse praxis. This hypothetical algorithm of sensory experience, remembrance, interpretation and narration is analysed through two case studies, such as the General Headquarters of Ziraat Bank and İşbank, both among the first public buildings built in the new capital of the Turkish Republic, Ankara.

Keywords

architectural consevation, adaptive reuse, genius loci, spirit of place, museology

Yeniden İşlevlendirmede Genius Loci: Ankara'daki Banka Müzeleri

Abstract

Mimari koruma müdahalelerinden biri olan yeniden işlevlendirme, mevcut binaların kültürel önemleri ve çağdaş gereksinimler arasında denge kurarak yeni veya devam eden işlevler doğrultusunda uyarlanmasını kapsar. Sürdürülebilirlik hedefleriyle tutarlı olan bu strateji, yalnızca kültürel mirasın korunmasıyla değil, aynı zamanda ekolojik ve ekonomik fayda sağlamakla da ilgilidir. Diğer müdahale biçimlerinden farklı olarak, yeniden işlevlendirme pratiği özellikle yerin ruhunun varlığına vurgu yapmaktadır. Bu nedenle, sürdürülebilirlik niyetinin ötesinde, yeniden işlevlendirme durumunda yerin ruhunun ayrılmaz bir parçası olan soyut unsurların devamlılığı çok önemlidir. Eski bir Latince sözcük olan, “yerin ruhu” olarak da bilinen “genius loci”, çağdaş mimarlık ve koruma alanlarında önemli bir yaratıcılık ve süreklilik unsuru haline gelmiştir. İnsanlar ve yer arasındaki bağa dayanan genius loci, bir yerin somut ve somut olmayan unsurlarının bütünsel olarak algılanması olgusudur. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma, yeniden işlevlendirme pratiğinin başarısını değerlendirmek için yerin ruhu algısının aşamalarını belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Duyusal deneyim, hatırlama, yorumlama ve anlatıdan oluşan bu varsayımsal algoritma, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin yeni başkenti Ankara Ulus’ta inşa edilen ilk kamu binaları arasında yer alan Ziraat Bankası Genel Müdürlüğü ve İş Bankası Genel Müdürlüğü gibi iki örnek yapı üzerinden analiz edilmektedir.

Keywords

mimari koruma, yeniden işlevlendirme, genius loci, yerin ruhu, müzecilik

References

• Akşit, Ş. S. (2010). Ulusalcı Mimarlık ve Başkentte Finans Merkezi: Ankara İş Bankası Genel Müdürlüğü [Master’s Thesis, Gazi University, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Architecture].
• Aslanoğlu, 2010. Erken Cumhuriyet Dönemi Mimarlığı (1923-1938). Bilge Kültür Sanat.
• Australia ICOMOS (2013). The Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance. The Australian National Committee of ICOMOS, 31 October 2013, retrieved from https://australia.icomos.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Burra-Charter-2013-Adopted-31.10.2013.pdf (last access: 19.01.2025)
• Benjamin, W. (1935;1969). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (trans. By H. Zohn). Hannah Arendt (Ed), Illuminations (pp.217-251). New York: Schocken Books.
• Brook, I. (2000). Can ‘Spirit of Place’ be a Guide to Ethical Building? Warwick Fox (Ed.), Ethics and the Built Environment (pp. 139-152): Routledge.
• Bruniera, V. (2019). Ankara’nın Başkent olarak İmari Sürecinde ve Sonrasında İtalyan Mimarların Katkıları. [Master’s Thesis, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Art History].
• Buyurgan, S. & Karaaziz Şener, D. (2023). Contemporary exhibition methods in museums: the case of the Turkish Isbank Museum of Economic Independence. Journal of International Museum Education, 5(1), 31-53. https://doi.org/10.51637/jimuseumed.1373560
• Dupré, K. & Vrijs, A. (2019). Genius Loci: Place as a Mean to Develop Inter and Transdisciplinary Skills for Architecture Students. Athens Journal of Architecture, 5(2), 179-198. https://doi.org/10.30958/aja.5-2-4
• Faulkner, W. (1951). Requiem for a Nun. Random House.
• Harney, M. (2017). Genius loci restored: the challenge of adaptive re-use. Stefano F. Musso, Loughlin Kealy & Donatella Fiorani (Eds.), Conservation/Adaptation: Keeping alive the spirit of the place: Adaptive re-use of heritage with symbolic values (1 ed., pp. 151-162). EAAE - European Association for Architectural Education Transactions on Architectural Education, Vol. 65.
• ICOMOS (1964). International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites: The Venice Charter. Second International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments, Venice, 1964, adopted by ICOMOS in 1965, retrieved from https://www.icomos.org/en/participer/179-articles-en-francais/ressources/charters-and-standards/157-thevenice-charter (last access: 15.01.2025)
• ICOMOS (2008a). Québec Declaration on the Preservation of the Spirit of Place. 16th General Assembly of ICOMOS, Québec, Canada, 4 October 2008, retrieved from https://www.icomos.org.tr/Dosyalar/ICOMOSTR_en0931825001587380615.pdf (last access: 08.02.2025)
• ICOMOS (2008b). Interpretation and Presentation of Cultural Heritage Sites. 16th General Assembly of ICOMOS, Québec, Canada, 4 October 2008, retrieved from https://www.icomos.org/images/DOCUMENTS/Charters/interpretation_e.pdf (last access: 25.01.2025)
• Karadallı, Ş. G. & Akyüz Levi, E. (2023). Endüstri 4.0’ın tarihsel çevrenin sunumuna etkisi. Tasarım Kuram, 19(38), 127-152. https://doi.org/10.59215/tasarimkuram.2023.375
• Kepczynska-Walczak, A. &Walczak, B.M. (2015). Built heritage perception through representation of its atmosphere. Ambiances [Online], 1(2015), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.4000/ambiances.640
• Lanz, F., & Pendlebury, J. (2022). Adaptive reuse: a critical review. The Journal of Architecture, 27(2–3), 441–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2022.2105381
• Machado, R. (1976). Towards a Theory of Remodelling: Old Buildings as Palimpsest. Progressive Architecture, 11 (1976), 46–49.
• Madran, (2022). Türkiye’nin İktisadi Tarihine Tanık İki Banka ve İki Müze. Cansen Kılıççöte, Ceyda Cüceloğlu, Gökhan Okumuş, Leyla Etyemez Çıplak, Merve Öztürk, Müge Bahçeci, Özgün Özçakır & Pınar Aykaç Leidholm (Eds). Dünden Bügüne Koruma Toplantısı II: 2004’ten Günümüze Ankara Kent Merkezinde Koruma Proje ve Uygulamaları - Sempozyum Bildirileri 11-12 Kasım 2020 (pp.122-141). Ankara: VEKAM.
• Malpas, J. (2012). Building Memory. Interstices: Journal of Architecture and Related Arts, 13(13), 11-21. https://doi.org/10.24135/ijara.v0i0.433
• Nora, P. (1996). Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past, Volume 1 - Conflicts and Divisions. Columbia University Press.
• Norberg-Schulz, C. (1979). Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. Rizzoli.
• Özkaya, Y. (2011). T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. Genel Müdürülük Binası Koruma Projesi ve Koruma Sorunları. Emre Madran & Ali Haydar Alptekin (Eds), Cumhuriyet'in Mimarlık Mirası (pp.211-218). TMMOB Mimarlar Odası.
• Petzet, M. (2008). Genius Loci – The Spirit of Monuments and Sites. 16th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: ‘Finding the spirit of place – between the tangible and the intangible’, Quebec, Canada, 29 September – 4 October 2008. http://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/243/
• Plevoets, B. and Van Cleempoel, K. (2019). Adaptive Reuse of the Built Heritage: Concepts and Cases of an Emerging Discipline. Oxon and New York: Routledge.
• Rifaioğlu, M. N. & Şahin Güçhan, N. (2008). Understanding and preserving spirit of place by an integrated methodology in historical urban contexts. 16th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: ‘Finding the spirit of place – between the tangible and the intangible’, Quebec, Canada, 29 September – 4 October 2008. https://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/64/
• Scott, F. (2008). On Altering Architecture. London and New York: Routledge.
• Silberman, N. A. (2013). Heritage interpretation as public discourse. Marie-Theres Albert, Roland Bernecker & Britta Rudolff (Eds.). Understanding heritage: perspectives in heritage studies (pp.21-31). Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter.
• Stefano, M. L. (2008). From the Museum Perspective: promoting and safeguarding expressions of ‘spirit of place’ in North East England. 16th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: ‘Finding the spirit of place – between the tangible and the intangible’, Quebec, Canada, 29 September – 4 October 2008. https://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/226/
• Stone, S. (2020). UnDoing Buildings - Adaptive Reuse and Cultural Memory. Routledge Taylor and Francis.
• Thompson, I. (2003). What use is the genius loci? Sarah Menin (Ed.), Constructing Place: Mind and Matter (pp. 66-76): Routledge.
• Tilden, F. (1957). Interpreting our heritage: Principles and practices for visitor services in parks, museums, and historic places. University of North Carolina Press.
• URL-1. National Association for Interpretation, What is Interpretation?, retrieved from https://nai-us.org/nai/_About/About_Landing.aspx?WebsiteKey=9cd68ac6-b106-4c8d-a642-914ebbc19ca9&hkey=6f63cbdc-2744-4b3f-9983-27a9e4f93d4a&a19d1f30a58a=3#a19d1f30a58a (last access: 05.02.2025)
• URL-2. Bellek Ankara: Ulus’a Değer Katanlar. https://bellek.ankara.bel.tr (last access: 08.01.2025)
• URL-3. Promet Proje, Ziraat Bank Headquarters. https://www.prometproje.com/proje/ziraat-bank-headquarters/2/1(last access: 07.01.2025)
• URL-4. Ziraat Bankası Müzesi. https://www.ziraatbank.com.tr/SitePages/InteraktifRaporlar/2019/tr/m-1-2.html (last access: 07.01.2025)
• URL-5. Türkiye İş Bankası İktisadi Bağımsızlık Müzesi. https://issanat.com.tr/iktisadi-bagimsizlik-muzesi/#muze-binasi (last access: 11.01.2025)
• Van Cleempoel, K. (2020). Fidelity and Freedom in the Theory of Adaptive Reuse: Thinking with T.S. Eliot and Walter Benjamin. Writingplace, 4, 30–47. https://doi.org/10.7480/writingplace.4.5276
• Vecco, M. (2020). Genius Loci as a Meta-Concept. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 41, 225-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2019.07.001
• Walter, N. (2020). Narrative Approach to Living Heritage. Protection of Cultural Heritage, (10), 126–138. https://doi.org/10.35784/odk.2443
• Wong, L. (2017). Adaptive reuse: Extending the Lives of Buildings. Birkhauser.
• Ziraat Bank, (n.d.). Restoration Works of Our Historical Head Office 2017-2019 [Video]. Archives of Ziraat Bank Museum.