Title

Author(s)

Saadet Kök Ayaz, Duygu Cankurtaran

Affiliation

Istanbul Beykent University

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/AVVL2438

Keywords

Pedagogy, Architectural History Course, Adaptive Reuse

PP

517-524

How to Cite

Kök Ayaz, Saadet, Duygu Cankurtaran. “Creative Pedagogies on Adaptive Reuse: Reimagining Istanbul SSK Zeyrek Building.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 517–524. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

Abstract

This study aims to create a critical platform for discussing the value and future of modern buildings by bringing together architectural history pedagogy and the practice of adaptive reuse. Can the ‘adaptive reuse’ approach become a tool for making historical processes visible as dynamic processes rather than static narratives? Can this approach go beyond physical functional change and feed alternative pedagogies that intervene in the writing of history? The answers to these questions have been sought within the scope of an undergraduate course in architectural history focusing on the modern and postmodern periods. The focus of the study is the ‘Social Insurance Institution Complex (SSK)’ in Zeyrek designed by Sedad Hakkı Eldem in the 1960s. This structure is selected because it is a piece of modern architectural heritage that is ‘about to be abandoned’ due to threats of demolition and privatization. As part of the course, students were asked to generate speculative ideas about the history, present, and possible future reuse scenarios of the structure. During this process, students presented their own narratives through moving representations, hand-drawn sketches, digital collages, and texts. The building was approached not only as an object to be preserved, but also as a multi-layered narrative that could be reimagined. Students were encouraged to become active agents in writing history through collective and speculative means. It was believed that, because they were free from professional conventions, students had the potential to question and reconstruct historical narratives. In conclusion, this study has transformed architectural history into a field that is being rewritten, while reuse has become a creative and pedagogical narrative of history. Student representations developed through the SSK Zeyrek example have produced alternative approaches to modern heritage while establishing interpretive and transformative connections between historical structures and the present. As a result, the student projects in question have been evaluated as pedagogical actions that experience and question the social, cultural, and aesthetic dimensions of adaptive reuse.

Edited by
Andrea Crudeli
Francesca Molle
Emanuele Carrai

Publisher
STH Press, Firenze

ISBN Paperback – 9791281661141
ISBN Ebook – 9791281661158
DOI – https://doi.org/10.65686/SISY7263

Year
2026

Proceedings of
International Conference on Adaptive Reuse
hosted by The University of Pisa, Italy
15-19 September 2025, at the Gispoteca di Arte Antica dell’Università di Pisa.