Zeynep Tuna Ultav, Daniele Savasta, Meltem Ö. Gürel
This paper considers the underexplored potential of wrought iron balcony balustrades as material culture, providing significant clues about a design community of a certain time and society at large. Exploring the wrought iron balcony balustrades of apartment buildings constructed in Ankara between 1950 and 1975, the study potentially contributes to widening the scope of the field of modern architectural culture in Turkey, while underscoring the significance of documenting and preserving these items as material evidence of this culture. Data on balcony balustrades were obtained through a scientific research project focused on 1,850 apartment buildings in Ankara’s Çankaya district. In particular, the study analyzes the balustrades’ authenticity aspect, technological aspect, and their role in shedding light on the relationships among various actors of the construction process. To set the issue in the wider context, the research engages with a literature review on material culture, preservation of modern architectural heritage, and provides an analysis of data from semi-structured interviews, and an extensive collection of photographs taken during the fieldwork. The study concludes with a proposal for digital documentation methods to allow further light to be shed on the material culture of the period and to preserve their memory, through a multi-layered reading of wrought iron balcony balustrades.
Tuna Ultav, Z., Savasta, D., Gürel, Ö. M. (2023). Reading Ankara apartment balcony balustrades (1950-75) as material culture. METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture.