No abstract

While the threat of tuberculosis, one of the old and important epidemic diseases, could not be completely eradicated, at the end of 2019, the world was faced with a new epidemic, COVID-19. Epidemic diseases such as tuberculosis and COVID-19 bring restrictions and limitations to daily life. It also revealed the need to explore what criteria might be in designing healthy architectural spaces and what kind of future planning-design-production issues shall be rethought. In this context, the problem question of the study is discovered: What might be the new possible design principles in shaping new buildings due to life changes during or after the pandemic process? In order to search for the answer to this question, the Paimio Sanatorium complex in Finland, which constitutes the best example of the reflection of epidemic diseases to space, was examined on-site by the author. In this chapter, the author aims to elucidate how the architectural design features of the Sanatorium buildings may be effective in guiding the architecture during and post COVID-19 pandemic.

The competition system is considered to be the most objective project selection method in a country’s architectural and urbanism organization and is a mechanism which promotes professional creativity. Both national and international competitions have significant potential in terms of providing knowledge and accumulation to contemporary architecture history. The aim of competitions is to obtain "the best project" for a building or building group or a specific area, designs of which are predetermined. Type, nature, objective, issues, expectations of design competitions and the benefits they provide to the built environment are discussed in the general sense in this study. In this context the buildings which have been built by competitions and which are known as the important examples of the architectural history of Turkey and the world have been examined by taking into consideration their periods.  Furthermore, it has been stated that competitions are one of the methods to obtain qualified buildings and environments in Turkey, there are problems in their being sufficiently developing, leading and raising awareness. The reasons why there are still a few qualified buildings (besides exceptions) have been stressed. Recommendations as to institutions organizing design competitions, creation of specifications for design competitions and establishment of the jury in design competitions have been offered for eliminating issues in design competitions.

Since the late-20th century, there has been a transition from an industrial society to an ‘information network society’. ‘The production, organization and dissemination of knowledge’ began to change rapidly at the start of the 21st century, whereas this situation was met by the more effective search, use and evaluation of all kinds of information by library users. This work has focused on how the paradigm shift in information technology differentiates the functions and architecture of the 21st century ‘next-gen’ libraries from the traditional sort. Constituting the sample area of the study, the Oodi Library and its architectural features was examined within the context of ‘new architectural design criteria’, such as accessibility, symbolism, spatial organization, access to collections, self-study and integration, both in situ and by means of literature research. In research, it was observed that libraries need to be designed in line with new architectural design criteria, keeping the digitalization of information and integrating new information technologies in the forefront. The paradigm shift in information technology with digitalization has been the catalyst that transforms the libraries of the 21st century into centres of intellectual life, while reinforcing their role as a symbol of education, equality, transparency and civilization.

Today, a number of historical buildings, which lost their original functions that were relevant in the period they were built, are subject to the process of "adaptation for reuse" with a new function or an addition. The aim of adaptive reuse is to allow those buildings meet the prevailing needs that emerge as a result of the social, economic, political, and cultural factors of the time. There are international treaties, statutes, declarations, and standards, which specify the fundamentals and principles of conserving historical buildings during adaptive reuse process. The “conservation principles and principles” provided in the aforementioned documents are important in the context of serving as a guide for additions and new functional applications to historical buildings. The present article aimed to discuss the issue of intervention by additions and new functions based on the two public buildings selected from Germany and Turkey. The study first investigated the extent to which historical buildings were integrated with their surroundings on a contextual scale and what factors determined the said integration. International agreements, declarations, and directives were used as the determining framework for the purposes of the study. In the context thereof, the provisions governing additions and new functions as specified in international treaties, which were entered so far, were reviewed. The articles governing the additions and new functions stipulated in the international treaties and declarations from the “Carta del Restauro” of 1931 to the “Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, 2013” were compiled. Those provisions were adopted as the determining criteria in the assessment of the two historical buildings, including Berlin Parliament Building and Santral Istanbul. While working with examples, the concepts of addition and new function were examined with a historical perspective and in a historical context. It was seen as a result of the study that both historical buildings, which received additions and new functions upon adaptive reuse intervention, complied with the criteria provided in international treaties. The two examples both maintained their values associated with historical heritage and became a focal point across their location, thanks to the adaptive use, which adhered the relevant provisions of the international treaties.