Interpreting Vernacular Settlements Using the Spatial Behavior Concept

Abstract

Villages are traditional settlements accommodating the different cultural infrastructures of thesociety, and those are where traditional culture can best be observed. The authentic settlementpatterns that vary depending on culture are an important input. Houses and their immediatesurroundings are the places that most reflect the lifestyle, culture and social understanding of thepeople who use them and are shaped by their spatial behavior. The social structure of the societycan be read by examining the morphology of the settlements through their varying spatialbehavior. The hierarchical structure of the space emerges as a result of the spatial behavior typesthat regulate the relationships of people and their environment, with the phenomena of privacyand territoriality reflected in the physical space. Therefore, syntactic and morphological studieswere conducted in five rural settlements composed of different cultural communities in Düzce,with the aim of showing how spatial behavior leads to the morphology of the settlements. Privacyand territoriality were examined in terms of spatial behavior, and GIS and space syntax methodswere used to examine the morphological and syntactic properties of the settlements. Inconclusion, spatial behaviors were seen as effective in the morphology of the settlements, and thephysical structure of the space in all settlement contexts was affected by the social context.According to the five samples, the most important expression of territoriality in traditionalsettlements is the structure of the street layout. This layout in villages leads to the spatial hierarchythat creates a sense of place