IN-PERSON Lisbon Livable Cities. Section A

Abstract

Facade, as the stage of the architectural and urban in-between, reflects city life and social milieu and creates inhabitable, performative spaces within social participation. From this perspective, this study questions the living facade based on the actual and possible design process in the cities by drawing inspiration from design patterns. To do this, it adopts Christopher Alexander’s theory of pattern language for extracting the livability of the restored Narmanlı Han’s facade in Beyoğlu. Han’s facade creates a public inner court that impacts plan as well, therefore it is worth examining according to Alexander’s patterns. As a method, 8 different patterns related to the element of facade within 253 patterns selected in Alexander’s book entitled “A Pattern Language” were used to function for the evaluation of the pattern language of the historical Narmanlı Han‘s facade. These patterns are categorized as “Street Café (the 88th pattern)”, “Number of Stories (the 96th pattern)”, “Positive Outdoor Space (the 106th pattern)”, “Entrance Transition (the 112th pattern)”, “Street Window (the 164th pattern)”, “Opening to the Street (the 165th pattern)”, “Window Place (the 180th pattern)”, “Windows Overlooking Life (the 192th pattern)”. Using this theoretical and methodological framework, the study unearths that Narmanlı Han’s facade acts as an interface that reflects embedded and performative characteristics of urban space with a deep, systemic understanding. The use of Alexander’s patterns in uncovering the language of the living facade reveals that the facade is determined not by universal and figurative design rules but by the vital characteristics of the city.