Evaluations on the Traditional Ankara-Ayaş Houses

ABSTRACT Ayaş is a county connected to Ankara Province and is an important historical settlement center, which has preserved its original texture up until the present-day. Ayaş is a settlement established in the valley and hills formed by the Ayaş Brook that passes through the center of the county. It reflects the original values of a traditional settlement order with its streets shaped according to the topography, its religious structures, and its houses. The traditional houses are the main elements of the city, which developed in an organic texture. The Ayaş houses were shaped with the effects of the traditional family structure, economic structure, climate, topography, geological structure, and materials. The traditional city texture and houses are losing day by day their original values due to population increases, unsound urbanization, defective restorations, neglect, and indifference. First, 26 traditional houses were determined within the scope of this study. The traditional city texture of Ayaş, the general settlement attributes, and the architectural attributes of the traditional houses, the plan order, plan types, façade order, and architectural elements were studied by researching in a detailed manner the houses determined.