SavedAdd your journal

Journals / İDEALKENT / 2025 / Sayı: 50

Ghostly places: On the psychogeography of melancholy, memory, and abandonment

Hayalet mekânlar: Melankoli, hafıza ve terk edilmişliğin psikocoğrafyası üzerine

Fazıl Akdağ(ERCİYES ÜNİVERSİTESİ, MİMARLIK FAKÜLTESİ, MİMARLIK BÖLÜMÜ, BİNA BİLGİSİ ANABİLİM DALI)0000-0002-3316-8104
Journal
İDEALKENT
Pages
497–533
Publication Date
2025-12-31
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings reveal that these spaces should be considered not only as an aesthetic “landscape of destruction,” but also as representational spaces of disrupted historical continuities, collective memory fractures, and socio-spatial transformations.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study examines the phenomenon of spatial melancholy produced by abandoned, dilapidated, or unfinished buildings.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Within the scope of the study, a thematic content analysis was conducted based on theories related to the social production of space and the theory of affect, and four selected case study areas – Kayaköy (forced migration), Pripyat (nuclear disaster), Detroit Packard Factory (deindustrialization), and Burj Al Babas (speculative construction) – were systematically evaluated.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:The findings reveal that these spaces should be considered not only as an aesthetic “landscape of destruction,” but also as representational spaces of disrupted historical continuities, collective memory fractures, and socio-spatial transformations.
🔬Design:Derleme
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:hayalet mekânlar · kolektif bellek · mekânsal melankoli

Abstract

This study examines the phenomenon of spatial melancholy produced by abandoned, dilapidated, or unfinished buildings. Within the scope of the study, a thematic content analysis was conducted based on theories related to the social production of space and the theory of affect, and four selected case study areas – Kayaköy (forced migration), Pripyat (nuclear disaster), Detroit Packard Factory (deindustrialization), and Burj Al Babas (speculative construction) – were systematically evaluated. In each example, the melancholic quality is made visible through the axes of spatial/representational signs, narrative/memory, and socio-spatial processes. The findings reveal that these spaces should be considered not only as an aesthetic “landscape of destruction,” but also as representational spaces of disrupted historical continuities, collective memory fractures, and socio-spatial transformations. In the conclusion section, the balance between ruin aesthetics and critical awareness is discussed, and practical recommendations are developed in the context of memory-sensitive design, adaptive reuse, controlled access, and representation ethics. The study examines how spatial melancholy is constructed in different geographies from a comparative perspective, and prepares the ground for discussing this phenomenon in the fields of architecture, urban design, and cultural heritage.

Özet

Bu çalışma, terk edilmiş, harap ya da yarım kalmış yapıların ürettiği mekânsal melankoli olgusunu incelemektedir. Çalışma kapsamında, mekânın toplumsal üretimine ilişkin kuramlar ve duygulanım kuramından hareketle tematik içerik çözümlemesi yapılmış; seçilen dört örnek alan -Kayaköy (zorunlu göç), Pripyat (nükleer felaket), Detroit Packard Fabrikası (de-sanayileşme) ve Burj Al Babas (spekülatif inşaat)- sistematik biçimde değerlendirilmiştir. Her bir örnekte melankolik nitelik, mekânsal/temsili işaretler, anlatı/bellek ve sosyo-mekânsal süreçler ekseninde görünür kılınmıştır. Bulgular, söz konusu mekânların yalnızca estetik bir “yıkım manzarası” olarak değil, aynı zamanda kesintiye uğramış tarihsel sürekliliklerin, kolektif bellek kırılmalarının ve sosyo-mekânsal dönüşümlerin temsil mekânları olarak ele alınması gerektiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Sonuç bölümünde, yıkım estetiği ile eleştirel farkındalık arasındaki denge tartışılmış; bellek-duyarlı tasarım, uyarlamalı yeniden kullanım, kontrollü erişim ve temsil etiği bağlamında uygulamaya yönelik öneriler geliştirilmiştir. Çalışma, mekânsal melankolinin farklı coğrafyalarda nasıl kurulduğunu karşılaştırmalı bir bakışla incelemekte ve bu olgunun mimarlık, kentsel tasarım ve kültürel miras alanlarında tartışılmasına zemin hazırlamaktadır.

🔖

Cite This Article

Akdağ, F. (2025). Ghostly places: On the psychogeography of melancholy, memory, and abandonment. İDEALKENT, Sayı: 50, 497–533. https://doi.org/10.31198/idealkent.1679698

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (83)

  1. Ahmed, S. (2014). The cultural politics of emotion (2nd ed.). Edinburgh University Press.
  2. Aktüre, Z. (2015). From Greek town to Turkish tourism resort: Kayaköy since early 20th century. In R. Amoêda, S. Lira, & C. Pinheiro (Eds.), REHAB 2015: Proceedings of the International Conference on Preservation, Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings and Structures (pp. 361–370). Green Lines Institute.
  3. Albeyboni, B., & Raswol, L. (2025). The impact of historic built environment on residents’ emotional experiences: Duhok as a case study. Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Engineering and Architecture, 16, 162–171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43995-025-00098-0
  4. Anderson, B. (2014). Encountering affect: Capacities, apparatuses, conditions. Ashgate.
  5. Apel, D. (2015). Beautiful terrible ruins: Detroit and the anxiety of decline. Rutgers University Press.
  6. Bakota, D., Machowski, R., Płomiński, A., Ramanchuk, A., Rzętała, M., & Zastavetska, L. (2020). The disaster as a factor in the development of modern tourism: A study case based on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, 11(7), 1729–1741. https://doi.org/10.14505/jemt.11.7(47).14
  7. Benjamin, W. (1998). The origin of German tragic drama (J. Osborne, Trans.). Verso. (Original work published 1928)
  8. Bilsel, C. (2017). Architecture and the social frameworks of memory: A postscript to Maurice Halbwachs’ “Collective Memory.” ICONARP International Journal of Architecture and Planning, 5(1), 1–9.
  9. Boyer, M. C. (1994). The city of collective memory: Its historical imagery and architectural entertainments. MIT Press.
  10. Boym, S. (2001). The future of nostalgia. Basic Books.
  11. Bozyiğit, R., & Tapur, T. (2013). Güneybatı Anadolu’da terkedilen bir yerleşim merkezi: Kayaköy (Fethiye). Marmara Coğrafya Dergisi, 22, 363–387.
  12. Christopher, M. (2009). A view of the north half of the Packard Motor Car Company’s campus from the administration building, taken in 2009 [Photograph]. Abandoned America. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/packard-motor-car-company
  13. Çınar, S. (2024). “As if architecture” in Türkiye: Reflections on the Burj al Babas project. Tur. J. Sop. Urb. St., 2(1), 51–67. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12581497
  14. Coverley, M. (2006). Psychogeography. Pocket Essentials.
  15. de Certeau, M. (1984). The practice of everyday life (S. Rendall, Trans.). University of California Press.
  16. Debord, G. (1957). Introduction to a critique of urban geography. Les Lèvres Nues, 6.
  17. Debord, G. (1958). Definitions. In K. Knabb (Ed. & Trans.), Situationist international anthology. Bureau of Public Secrets.
  18. DeSilvey, C., & Edensor, T. (2013). Reckoning with ruins. Progress in Human Geography. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132512462271
  19. Duda, A. (2023). Tourist photography and heritage: The case of the abandoned city of Pripyat. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 18(3), 384–400. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2022.2161907
  20. Edensor, T. (2002). National identity, popular culture and everyday life. Routledge.
  21. Edensor, T. (2005). Industrial ruins: Space, aesthetics and materiality. Berg.
  22. Ege Yıldırım, A. (2024). Mudurnu: The realities of a small Turkish Silk Road town vs. UNESCO World Heritage. Culture. Society. Economy. Politics, 4(2), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.2478/csep-2024-0012
  23. Escolà-Gascón, Á., Dagnall, N., Drinkwater, K., & Denovan, A. (2024). Abandoned vs. regenerated places: Evidence of five social impacts that improve urban planning. Cities, 146, 104739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104739
  24. Freud, S. (1957). Mourning and melancholia. In J. Strachey (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 14, pp. 237–258). Hogarth Press. (Original work published 1917)
  25. Frydryczak, B. (2023). Ruins: Between past and present, between culture and nature. Eidos: A Journal for Philosophy of Culture, 7(2), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.14394/eidos.jpc.2023.0011
  26. Galvez-Pol, A., Nadal, M., & Kilner, J. M. (2021). Emotional representations of space vary as a function of peoples’ affect and interoceptive sensibility. Scientific Reports, 11, 16150. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95081-9
  27. Garrett, B. L. (2013a). Explore everything: Place-hacking the city. Verso.
  28. Garrett, B. L. (2013b). Undertaking recreational trespass: Urban exploration and infiltration. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 39(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12001
  29. Getty Images. (2024, April 16). Burj Al Babas castle development, Turkey [Photograph]. In K. McLaughlin & J. Cherner, Architectural Digest. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/burj-al-babas
  30. Göbel, H. K. (2021). Making cultural values out of urban ruins: Re-enactments of atmospheres. Space and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331221997696
  31. Grazuleviciute-Vileniske, I., Ivaskevicius, M., Mlinkauskiene, A., Zaleckis, K., & Povilaitiene, I. (2025). Exploring the emotional geography of Kaunas City Center: A mixed-method approach to understanding place identity. Land, 14(4), 783. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14040783
  32. Halbwachs, M. (1992). On collective memory (L. A. Coser, Ed. & Trans.). University of Chicago Press.
  33. Hell, J., & Schönle, A. (Eds.). (2010). Ruins of modernity. Duke University Press.
  34. High, S. (2013). Beyond aesthetics: Visibility and invisibility in the aftermath of deindustrialization. International Labor and Working-Class History, 84, 140–153. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0147547913000276
  35. Kısa Ovalı, P., & Delibaş, N. (2016). Yerel mimarinin sürdürülebilirliği kapsamında Kayaköy’ün çözümlemesi [Analysis of Kayaköy within the scope of the sustainability of the vernacular architecture]. Megaron, 11(4), 515–529. https://doi.org/10.5505/megaron.2016.44711
  36. Klibansky, R., Panofsky, E., & Saxl, F. (1964). Saturn and melancholy: Studies in the history of natural philosophy, religion, and art. Thomas Nelson & Sons.
  37. Krause, K. (1924). Deutsche Ruinen: Abbildungen von verfallenen Burgen, Schlössern, Klöstern, Kirchen, Türmen und Stadtmauern. Wilhelm Goldmann.
  38. Kriegler-Wenk, Z. R., & Green, J. C. (2025). Psychogeography as embodied connection to place. AMA Journal of Ethics, 27(6), E402–E408. https://doi.org/10.1001/amajethics.2025.402
  39. Królikiewicz, G. (1993). Terytorium ruin: Ruina jako obraz i temat romantyczny. Universitas.
  40. Laćan, I., McBride, J. R., & De Witt, D. (2015). Urban forest condition and succession in the abandoned city of Pripyat, near Chernobyl, Ukraine. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 14(4), 1068–1078. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2015.09.009
  41. Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space (D. Nicholson-Smith, Trans.). Blackwell. (Original work published 1974)
  42. Lepenies, W. (1992). Melancholy and society. Harvard University Press.
  43. Letzter, J. (2023). Architecture, memory, and bereavement: Israeli memorial centers. Cogent Social Sciences, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2249689
  44. López Galviz, C., Bartolini, N., Pendleton, M., & Stock, A. (2017). Reconfiguring ruins: Beyond Ruinenlust. GeoHumanities, 3(2), 531–553. https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566X.2017.1374874
  45. Lyu, B., Peng, T., Zhang, J., & Chen, Q. (2024). Evaluating the impact of living plant architectural spaces on regulating emotions by using the Profile of Mood State Scale. Land, 13(9), 1472. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091472
  46. Ma, Y., Yang, Y., & Jiao, H. (2021). Exploring the impact of urban built environment on public emotions based on social media data: A case study of Wuhan. Land, 10(9), 986. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10090986
  47. Massumi, B. (2002). Parables for the virtual: Movement, affect, sensation. Duke University Press.
  48. Moliner, P., & Bovina, I. (2019). Architectural forms of collective memory. International Review of Social Psychology, 32(1), 12.
  49. Mott, C., & Roberts, S. M. (2013). Not everyone has (the) balls: Urban exploration and the persistence of masculinist geography. Antipode, 46(1), 229–245. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12033
  50. Navaro-Yashin, Y. (2009). Affective spaces, melancholic objects: Ruination and the production of anthropological knowledge. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 15(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2008.01527.x
  51. Nijaki, N. (2012, September 26). Ghost town Kayakoy IMGP8857 [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_town_Kayakoy_IMGP8857.jpg
  52. Ninjalicious. (2005). Access all areas: A user’s guide to the art of urban exploration. Infilpress.
  53. Nora, P. (1989). Between memory and history: Les lieux de mémoire. Representations, 26, 7–24.
  54. Ojala, V. (2024). Chornobyl visual lexicon: Exploring the visual framing of toxic heritage from the point of view of participatory culture. Visual Studies, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2024.2441262
  55. Orvell, M. (2021). Empire of ruins: American culture, photography, and the spectacle of destruction. Oxford University Press.
  56. Pamuk, O. (2005). Istanbul: Memories and the city (M. Freely, Trans.). Alfred A. Knopf.
  57. Pihkala, P. (2024). Ecological sorrow: Types of grief and loss in ecological grief. Sustainability, 16(2), 849. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020849
  58. Podoshen, J. S., Yan, G., Andrzejewski, S. A., Wallin, J., & Venkatesh, V. (2017). Dark tourism, abjection and blood: A festival context. Tourism Management, 64, 346–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.09.003
  59. Potanina, S. (2021). Carousel wheel in an abandoned amusement park in Pripyat, Ukraine, 2021 [Photograph]. Vecteezy. https://www.vecteezy.com/photo/3732037-pripyat-ukraine-2021-carousel-wheel-in-an-abandoned-amusement-park-in-chernobyl
  60. Ravara, P. B. (2020). The consolidation of a practice: The case of Packard Motor Car Factory in Detroit. Athens Journal of Architecture, 6(4), 377–396. https://doi.org/10.30958/aja.6-4-4
  61. Rossi, A. (1966). L’architettura della città. Marsilio.
  62. Ruskin, J. (1849). The seven lamps of architecture. Smith, Elder & Co.
  63. Saraç, H. (2001). Conservation and restoration problems of Kaya Köyü (Levissi) houses (Unpublished master’s thesis). Middle East Technical University.
  64. Sebald, W. G. (2001). Austerlitz (A. Bell, Trans.). Hamish Hamilton.
  65. Seixas Lopes, D. (2015). Melancholy and architecture: On Aldo Rossi. Park Books.
  66. Simmel, G. (1958). The ruin (D. Kettler, Trans.). In K. H. Wolff (Ed.), Georg Simmel, 1858–1918 (pp. 259–266). Ohio State University Press. (Original work published 1911)
  67. Singleton, A. (2024). Urban research in film using walking tours and psychogeographic approaches. Visual Studies, 39(1–2), 184–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2023.2289966
  68. Slager, E. (2019). Ruin tours: Performing and consuming decay in Detroit. Urban Geography, 41, 124–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1637194
  69. Stoler, A. L. (2008). Imperial debris: Reflections on ruins and ruination. Cultural Anthropology, 23(2), 191–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1360.2008.00007.x
  70. Tarkovsky, A. (Director). (1979). Stalker [Film]. Mosfilm.
  71. Thrift, N. (2008). Non-representational theory: Space, politics, affect. Routledge.
  72. Till, K. E. (2005). The new Berlin: Memory, politics, place. University of Minnesota Press.
  73. Tinsley, M. (2024). Contested urban assemblages: Ruination and restoration of postcolonial sites of memory. Social & Cultural Geography, 26(1), 20–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2024.2380270
  74. Wagoner, B., & Brescó, I. (2022). Memorials as healing places: A matrix for bridging material design and visitor experience. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6711. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116711
  75. Wei, Y. D., Wang, Y., Curtis, D. S., Shin, S., & Wen, M. (2024). Built environment, natural environment, and mental health. GeoHealth, 8(6), e2024GH001047. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GH001047
  76. Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Artificial ruins. In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_ruins
  77. Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Wilhelm_Memorial_Church
  78. Woodward, C. (2001). In ruins. Chatto & Windus.
  79. Xylakis, E., Liapis, A., & Yannakakis, G. N. (2021). Architectural form and affect: A spatiotemporal study of arousal. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACII52823.2021.9597420
  80. Yamak, G., & Biçer, Ü. (2023). A “solitary” narrative in context of cultural and spatial identity: Kayaköy. Kent Akademisi, 16(1), 88–105. https://doi.org/10.35674/kent.1207401
  81. Young, J. E. (1993). The texture of memory: Holocaust memorials and meaning. Yale University Press.
  82. Zavattaro, S. M. (2014). Organizational implosion. Administration & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399714554681
  83. Zhou, Y., Zhao, X., Feng, Y., Xuan, C., Yang, C., & Jia, X. (2025). Effects of visual perception of building materials on human emotional states and cognitive functioning in a physical learning environment. Buildings, 15(7), 1163. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15071163