Standardization Potential of Traditional Residential Window Sizes of Kırklareli

Abstract

Windows are important part of a building’s history; they tell us not only of the changing architectural taste and style but also of social hierarchy, building economics, craft ingenuity and technical advances, and of the ways in which houses and certain building materials were taxed. They are the single element which most serves to establish the character of a building and a whole district. The traditional Turkish house had partitioned glass windows rather than large one-piece types. Windows composed of small square glass partitions are the characteristic types of windows in traditional Turkish homes. This is a convenient architectural style both for privacy and external perspective related concerns. In Turkish architecture, due to the indispensability of timber frame construction, specific dimensions had to be used depending on the structure of the material utilized. The first floor had block stone walls and floors above were of timber frame panel walls. The narrow, vertical spaces between the posts and braces constitute the timber skeletal system, and covered with filler. Thus, a modular plan of construction is established for window organization and for the overall façade of the structure. This paper aims to understand standardization in national samples of windows of the late 19th early 20th century in Kırklareli, Turkey.