Adaptive reuse in industrial buildings - An architectural evaluation of Ankara's CerModern art gallery


DEDEKARGINOĞLU E.

14th International Docomomo Conference - Adaptive Reuse: The Modern Movement Towards the Future, Lisbon, Portugal, 6 - 09 September 2016, pp.251-256 identifier

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Volume:
  • City: Lisbon
  • Country: Portugal
  • Page Numbers: pp.251-256
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

© Pola Virgioli, 2016.The adaptive reuse of abandoned industrial buildings is still an important subject for many countries. These buildings, although bearing a mechanical and industrial character, can now be transformed into public spaces like museums, restaurants or performance halls with preserving their original structure or form. In Turkey, Silahtaraǧa Power Plant in Istanbul and Gas Station in Izmir were pioneering examples that highlighted the reuse potential of old industrial buildings. In the capital city of Ankara, after a long renovation process, the Cer Ateliers, a service and repair works for railway wagons, were converted into an art gallery in 2010. Renamed "CerModern", this atelier complex is now being hailed as one of the most important cultural centres in Ankara, and an exemplar for contemporary museum architecture. Since the ateliers were regarded as a "memory" of early republican architecture era, the renovation process of the complex carries a greater importance in the context of preservation and functional transformation. This paper will investigate the CerModern complex in terms of adaptive reuse criteria and will provide an analysis of the transformation of the ateliers' old and current setting, in context of an architectural evaluation.