Color mapping of the building façades in the historical urban fabric: The Ayazini village civil architectural examples

Abstract

Color, which extends from the urban scale to the space scale, is important design elements expressing the unique visual and psychological identity of a settlement in the architecture. Every settlement has original color schemes formed with natural and human construction elements. The tinctorial designs in urban settlements in the present day have become gradually distant from natural and cultural elements because of the developing construction techniques after the industrial revolution. However, the vernacular architecture was able to preserve its color identity from the landscape, building façades, and interior space colors. In this study the environmental color mapping method is used for the determination of the prevalent colors. The environmental color mapping studies are made with an on‐site examination, the photographing in an unfiltered manner of the colors or with the specimen‐taking techniques. Subsequently, the averages are determined connected to the densities of the colors with the help of computer technologies. In this study, the Ayazini settlement sampling area was chosen, which was registered as a cultural heritage value connected to Afyonkarahisar Province. Ayazini, which is an extension of the Phrygian Valley, and that has a 6000‐year‐old past, is in a region where volcanic tufa rocks are found. The architectural fabric, the rock carvings, and the tufa building stone were formed with the shaping technique with the design of the inner spaces and the structural surfaces. The tufa rocks are the most important natural environmental elements, which determine the landscape, structure, and inner space character of Ayazini village. In this study, by taking the color change specimens occurring in the natural and artificial process of tufa rocks with the aim of producing the environmental color mapping of the Ayazini tufa, the averages connected to the densities of colors were determined. According to the data obtained at the end of the study, ıt was concluded that the dominant colors observed in the Ayazini tufa were khaki, pastel gray, ash gray, platinum, cadet gray, and armor gray. It is thought that these colors could be a reference for new designs with the landscape and architectural preservation activities that would be made at the settlement place. In this context, it is proposed for the colors obtained at the conclusion of the environmental color mapping to be used in the traditional house façades within the scope of the façade strengthening activities, which are continuing in the Ayazini region.