VitrA Çağdaş Mimarlık Dizisi - Arkitera

appraisal
The Changing Perception of Vacation and
its Spatial Reflections
Considering the variety ranging from Hotel Kasr-ı Nehroz to Esma Sultan, from the Mogan
Nature Park to Adam & Eve Hotel, the most important common characteristic of the
architectural projects in this book is that they are spaces designed to host consumption
activities during leisure time. In an attempt to experience a physical and mental renewal
that makes it possible to resume working, people of the modern world have been
resting, travelling and enjoying themselves during their leisure time for decades. It is no
coincidence that all these activities are summarized under the common term “recreation”
in English. In Turkish, the word that is the closest in meaning to recreation is “tatil”,
the etymological root of which is the Arabic “atalet”, meaning the state of stillness and
idleness. In short, this book is a collection of significant examples of recent architectural
works designed to create spaces for vacation and leisure. While a majority of the projects
are located in Istanbul, the variety of spaces have been selected from all around
Turkey, especially the leading touristic and travel venues such as Bodrum, Çeşme and
Mardin. The projects in this book give us the chance to observe the changing habits of
leisure and vacation in Turkey. As social scientists studying the concepts of space and
place have been reminding us for a long time, not only do changing social conditions
generate new spatial needs, but changing spaces generate new social relations as well.
Consequently, a study of recent spatial organizations and interventions related to vacation
and leisure activities provides important clues about the modern world and the
new social relations that define it.
The initial remark to be made is that the connotations of the words vacation and leisure
today are significantly different from the original meanings of the concepts. Leisureoriented
industries have rapidly developed, especially during the last few decades. In
addition to sectors like entertainment, music, restaurant and shopping that seek to
provide leisure time activities directly, supporting sectors such as media, advertising
and marketing have also expanded. In fact, supply can generate demand. For instance,
the weekend is no longer considered free time spent at home with the family. If we
look at the brunch activities at cafes, restaurants and hotels as well as trips intended for
shopping that have replaced the long Sunday breakfast, we see that the weekend has
become an activity that requires serious planning and preparation for transportation,
parking and general budget. With sports activities such as trekking, swimming, horse
riding and golf and additional activities available at the shopping centers, preplanning
of the weekend has become unavoidable. Possible weekend activities include short
intercity trips for families belonging to higher income groups.Weekend programs have
indeed become an important part of life for many people.
Taking part in more activities, visiting more places and having more fun have be-
come serious issues to be considered when it comes to leisure time, not only for the
weekends, but in general. The increasing variety of cultural activities does not help in
overcoming these concerns, but rather adds to them the feeling of not having enough
time to catch up. There are countless cultural entertainment activities all around the
city throughout the year, like films, plays, shows, exhibitions, concerts, festivals and
fairs. Radio, TV and web sites frequently and regularly advise people about how they
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