T his study is based on the assumption that 'to design' and 'to understand design' are two related but distinct processes. The activity of design necessitates making decisions, comparing alternative routes to take to decide on one, and thinking in abstract terms for conceptualizing; thus, it is synthetic. On the other hand, the activity of understanding design is similar to reading, necessitates deciphering the thought process of the designer, making abstractions of relations, relating the design product to other examples; hence, it is analytical. As such, the common denominator between the two processes is the capacity of abstraction, ability of thinking in abstract terms. Yet, the nature and the medium of abstraction may not be the same for students with different tendencies. Here, it is argued that while the act of designing (synthesis) is primarily related with the ability of making visual abstractions (graphic analysis), 'correctly' judging a design product is related to the ability of making

Debates on urban tourism have been coupled with a widespread discourse on ‘placelessness’, ‘loss of identity’, and ‘standardization’ related to the modernist ideology of planning. In this respect, utilizing this historic urban fabric has become important as a means of recreating an urban image. Ironically, efforts to avoid standardization are caught in another trap of sameness and blandness, because a very similar vocabulary is used in the ability of those tourist-historic places to meet the expectations of the universal tourist industry. In this context, we analyzed the recent efforts to integrate an inner-city area, Ankara Citadel and its vicinity, focusing on the changing identity owing to the introduction of income-generating and tourist-attraction facilities. The nature and consequences of this transformation have been investigated in terms of the issues of preservation practice, economic feasibility, public interest, and its ethics and legitimacy.