Natural Ventilation as an Architectural Instrument: A Case Study of Gaziantep, Turkey

Abstract

One of the most common complaints expressed by residents of social housing in southeastern Turkey is their thermal dissatisfaction. Sprawling rapidly throughout different regions around the country, the typology of the Turkish Mass Housing Administration (TOKI) causes a permanent complaint related to outdoor and indoor thermal conditions by users. As a consequence of this homogenization effect, overheated and underheated conditions are experienced in these ‘naturally ventilated buildings’ designed with few considerations regarding the surrounding environments. Therefore, in this paper, we analyze how renewable sources could be used to alleviate thermal related concerns expressed by residents of one of these projects. Through an investigation on natural ventilation, predominant airflow is studied in warm periods (May to October) as an alternative to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels that are used for cooling purposes. This paper investigates natural ventilation as a passive strategy that has been used in vernacular architecture of hot and dry climate regions in Turkey and can be articulated as an architectural instrument to conceptualize new alternatives to the current TOKI housing model.