Date of Award

5-1999

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

In the 20th Century, war and other misfortunes have taught us to protect our historic and archeological past, in terms of both buildings and landscapes. While the world has already lost much of the past, much remains to be discovered, protected and interpreted. In the small pocket of urban open space located in Istanbul, Turkey that is the subject of this study, for example, the past usage's have been obliterated by contemporary employment of the site for automobile parking. This study presents an alternative way to use the site that takes better advantage of its central location among world-famous antiquities. It envisions a usage that is modem, practical, and yet still in keeping with the ancient usage's of the site, which have always been inseparable from the built historic fabric that surrounded it. Over the nearly twenty centuries surveyed in the this study, the site has been a simple open space, an autdoor ceremonial area for the abutting Great Palace of Byzantium, a parade ground, a processional area for embassies to the ruler of the successor Ottoman Empire, a place for humbler visitors to gather and enjoy shade and cool water, and a small formal garden after the French style. By taking steps to once more integrate the site into the surrounding pedestrian traffic flow, and by providing for the re-enactment of some of these past activities with historic accuracy, we can bring the modem spectator to a better understanding of the succession of very different cultures and peoples that have inhabited this world historical city.

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.8308

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