Necessity of “Historic Cultural Heritage and Conservation” Course in Interior Architecture Education

Izmir University, Faculty of Architecture, Gürsel Aksel Bulvarı No: 14, Izmir, 35340 Turkey

^a Corresponding author: oatalan@hotmail.com

Abstract

For five decades, academics and architects have been debating the subject of historical conservation techniques. Nowadays, much of building activities take place in historic areas. Most of the architects and interior architects are engaged to renovation or restoration of historical buildings. Architectural education is considered to be a complex process. Teaching the historical cultural heritage and conservation of historic structures constitutes an important part of architectural education. So, it is essential for students of architecture and interior architecture to be aware of the philosophy of conservation of historic cultural heritage. The course of “Historic Cultural Heritage and Conservation” which is about cultural heritage and principles, takes place in the undergraduate curriculum in the architecture and interior architecture departments of Izmir University. By this course knowledge of conservation, and restoration techniques were introduced. While students were taking this course also they were working on a studio project about a case study of an historical building. This paper considers the students’ approach to conservation and reuse of old warehouse building, in the scope of studio project. The aim of this paper is to show how the students were referred to conservation techniques on their studio projects while taking “Historic Cultural Heritage and Conservation” course.