Urban layers and living spaces: The evolution of housing in Kayseri

Nihan Muş Özmen; Burak Asiliskender

doi:10.47818/DRArch.2025.v6i2172

Urban layers and living spaces: The evolution of housing in Kayseri

Authors

Nihan Muş Özmen Short Bio Abdullah Gül University

Nihan Muş Özmen is a lecturer at Abdullah Gül University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architectural Design and Criticism. She graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture in 2009. She completed her Master’s degree at Abdullah Gül University, Department of Architecture in 2019 and is a PhD candidate at the same university and department. In her Master’s work, she focused on flexible and transformable spaces, parametric design, workspace, and its future, mobile offices. In her ongoing doctoral study, she blends concepts such as culture and housing with concepts such as identity and space, belonging, and parametric design, which are the underlying subjects of her graduate study. She worked in the private sector between her undergraduate and graduate studies. Between 2009 and 2016, she worked as a Design Specialist for the İstikbal and Mondi brands at Boytaş A.Ş. Mobilya. She worked as an architect at the Erciyes University Congress Center construction site from 2017 to 2018. With the contribution of her experiences in the private sector, she worked as a Guest Lecturer at Erciyes University Faculty of Architecture and Erciyes University Industrial Design Engineering Department during the 2017-2019 period.
Burak Asiliskender Short Bio Abdullah Gül University

Burak Asiliskender is a Professor of Architecture at Abdullah Gül University and the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture. He has also worked as the Advisor to the Rector for Education, Bologna Process, and Accreditation. He was the former and founding chair of the Department of Architecture. He is one of the co-founders of Argeus Architects. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree (Yildiz Technical University/Istanbul), a Master of Science, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Architectural Design (Istanbul Technical University). He studies architectural theory and design; space, place making, sense of place, spaces, and identities in transition. He has publications on the architecture and identity, space and place concepts, transitions, and transformations of space and identities. He has been involved in the design and implementation projects for the restoration and adaptive re-use of the former Sümerbank Kayseri Textile Factory as AGU campus. He is one of the international members of the Docomomo (International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement), EAHN (European Architectural Historians Network), and TICCIH (The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47818/DRArch.2025.v6i2172

Keywords:

city, housing culture, modernization, urban transformation, Kayseri

Abstract

This study examines the transformation of housing in Kayseri as a case through which to understand broader processes of urbanization, modernization, and socio-spatial change in Turkey. Once defined by inward-oriented courtyard houses constructed from local materials—reflecting values of privacy and communal life—Kayseri’s domestic architecture has undergone significant transformation across four historical periods: the pre-Republican era, the early Republican period, the post-1950 expansion, and the post-1980 neoliberal era. Each phase reflects a distinct interplay between national policy directives, global urban trends, and local adaptations. Early Republican reforms introduced Western-oriented architectural ideals by promoting detached houses and low-rise apartments. This trajectory accelerated in the post-1980 period when neoliberal policies prioritized high-rise residential development driven by private capital and speculative investment, often at the expense of cultural continuity and human-scale urban design. Employing an interdisciplinary methodology, this research integrates archival analysis, oral histories, spatial observations, and visual documentation. Drawing on architecture, sociology, and history, it investigates how built forms mediate tensions between tradition and modernity, memory and transformation, and local identity and state ideology. With its long-standing strategic and cultural significance, Kayseri provides a compelling case for examining how urban development is shaped by structural forces and lived experience. The study argues that the housing transformation in Kayseri is not a linear progression, but a contested and layered process shaped by evolving economic structures, governance models, and cultural logic. By combining textual, visual, and experiential knowledge, the research offers a deeper understanding of how domestic space reflects and constructs shifting urban realities.

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Published

2025-08-30

How to Cite

Muş Özmen, N., & Asiliskender, B. (2025). Urban layers and living spaces: The evolution of housing in Kayseri. Journal of Design for Resilience in Architecture and Planning, 6(2), 357–378. https://doi.org/10.47818/DRArch.2025.v6i2172