Vernacular houses of Datca Peninsula: Architectural typology and its sustainability

Abstract

Datca peninsula is located on the west Aegean coastline of Turkey. It is surrounded by sea on three sides forming a foreland but it has acted more like an island because of compelling roads to mainland. Thinking the restraints of the peninsula, the vernacular houses were formed very primitively by native people under the guidance of illiterate builders, and with the help of simple tools and materials. However what they produce is beautiful, simple, well-balanced and responsive to the user's needs. Behind the apparent simplicity of these buildings, there is a reliable information-transmission system which is imperceptible at the first glance. The aim of this paper is to understand the vernacular houses of the peninsula, to decipher the codes of their simplicity and beauty and to discover the origins of the knowledge of the patterns in the minds of the native builders. Its contribution to knowledge intends to establish a design approach sustaining the vernacular principles in forming the contemporary architecture of the peninsula. © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group.