Examination of Physical Change in University Buildings: Example of Selcuk University Faculty of Engineering

The phenomenon of change, which is described as the whole of the changes within a time period, is regarded as a process. It is also inevitable to enter into a process of physical change of university buildings which are the last step of the education system depending on the developments in society. The physical change usually that occur due to functional change in buildings is seen in the form of addition of new functions, removal of functions or new space arrangements inside or outside the structure. This study aimed to determine the changes that occur in physical structure of Faculty of Engineering of Selcuk University as a result of certain additional needs emerging in time in university buildings. In the study, the plans of Faculty of Engineering, which were designed in 1981 and revised in 1993, were obtained, and current faculty plans of 2011 were created based on an observation and determination survey conducted on the faculty. Legends were created to compare the situation of the Faculty of Engineering in 1981, 1993 and 2011; the changes in the physical structure, which are present but not changed, newly constructed, removed walls and spaces, different drawing techniques and tonalities are displayed on the same floor plans and determined with the latest situation. As a result of analysis, after the building was transformed into the Faculty of Engineering (originally it was Faculty of Science), functional changes, removal of dividing elements and addition of dividing elements were inevitable in the units. Since it has an elevation that allows for adding units from outside, ground floors have seen the most changes. In general, the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture consisted of flexible spaces in itself. This means that certain additional functions were managed to be met within building’s flexibility limits as a result of combination of two spaces or division of a space into two or three sections. The rise in number of students was reflected physically on the building envelope and caused addition of blocks contrary to the project. Such increasing number of students will soon lead to addition of new modules and construction of new building for the Faculty of Engineering. As a result, flexible and developable planning should be done in the building programming phase, taking into account the growth possibilities of the buildings according to their needs.