<strong>La</strong> <strong>définition</strong> d’une <strong>stratégie</strong> d’intervention. <strong>La</strong> definición de una estrategia de intervención Defining a strategy for intervention diversity of typical elements (Moughtin, 1992, p.33). The coherence of the diverse patterns Coherence has always been searched through the independent wholes based on the principle of closure. Thus, from this point of view, on the outside, an island, by its very nature, seems to be a coherent whole. The traditional patterns on the island of Gökçeada appear to have clear Gestalt-quality. The knitting together of separate units by means of similarity of shape, size, or orientation and encompassing the same or similar materials, background -the natural environment and the figure- the built environment, contain similar visual qualities and corresponding patterns. This spatial organization is a typical and natural materialization of conformity. Stone walled outer envelope of the building is the primary element; projected part which made up of wood is the secondary element according to the figure-ground phenomenon (Sahin, 2007a) The dwelling compounds produce ‘visual clusters’ with their individual houses, courtyards and garden walls, which define the curved and crooked street layout and create strong boundaries ‘according to similarity by spatial orientation.’(Arnheim,1969, p.67; Şahin, ibid.). The patterns of two- storey dwellings have a grouping effect by ‘similarity of size’ and with their images and surface qualities by ‘similarity of form, color and organization’. Although most of the dwellings lie close together, there are always intervals between individual buildings; however, in the perspective or through the silhouette, they all together appear as ‘a compact visual object’. (Arnheim, ibid.) The simple and closely knit assemblage or agglomeration of individual houses and other interrelated building types makes for ‘a strong unified total pattern’ (Arnheim, ibid., p. 238). Having the similar expressiveness, compounds of dwellings, which are composed mainly of a house and a stone-walled courtyard, largely resemble each other on their form compositions, plan organizations, materials, construction details and scales. ‘The rules of groupings serve not only the purely formal organization of compositions but also support their symbolic meanings.’ (Arnheim, ibid, p.73). ‘The genuine formal parts’ of these ‘diffuse compositions’, which zzare ‘distributed rhythmically but irregularly’ over the slopes of hills (ibid, p.74), are similar parts of the similar larger images they constitute in a hierarchical order from a room to the whole island. There has been a remarkable correlation between the cultural and natural geography and the settlements which set up the spatial organization. ‘Configurations of building groupings, of types of houses, of ways of building that have been established over time show that the various models are not accidental, but rather that they constitute comprehensive and highly significant schemes.’ (Norberg-Shulz, 2000, p.232) The figure-ground relationship is ‘one of overall coherence’ (Trancik, 1986; p. 98), including an organic configuration of freestanding individual buildings, which look as though they were replaced at random. The natural range of colors produced by its natural constituent materials, stone and the stucco roughly applied to the surface of the building, timber and tile all help to sustain a coherent unity through similarity, proximity and continuity. (Sahin, 2007a) In traditional settlements on the island, there is an organic and hierarchical order and privacy among architectural elements. They appear as if each village which has the same soul or the same content is constantly changing its form (Sahin, 2007b). The ‘strong typology’ of these settlements increases the vividness of the spatial pattern, and creates a language suitable for the place. The constant, but not monotonous, rhythm of rural types and material and the details strengthens the peculiar character of the place. The disintegration of social cohesion due to the abandonment and addition of new incoherent patterns of tourism and housing development has caused the weakening of Gestalt-quality and total coherency of the whole interlaced patterns of the island. Conclusion The island, which could be perceived as a part of the universal system and hybrid culture, is no longer an isolated entity in today’s communication web. Therefore, in an integrated system, the term, coherence might be more considered equal to the term sustainability in correlated macro and micro scales rather than other meanings above mentioned. It seems only possible to create a coherent pattern while maintaining the continuance of the significance in many layers of the environment, starting from the man- the basic element of the environment-to the whole place. Creating a strong Gestalt-quality, the indigenous patterns of the island seemed to succeed combining the constituent elements of separate tangible and intangible values into a unified entity and become an appropriate ‘growing whole’ of the larger whole. REFERENCES: Abel, C. (2000). Architecture and Identity. Oxford, Great Britain: Architectural Press. Alexander, C. (1966). Form. Cambridge,Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Alexander,C.(1993). A Foreshadowing of 21st Century of Art. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Arnheim, R. (1969). Art and Visual Perception. 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<strong>La</strong> <strong>définition</strong> d’une <strong>stratégie</strong> d’intervention. <strong>La</strong> definición de una estrategia de intervención Defining a strategy for intervention 209