The changing role of Cypriot women in urban residential exterior spaces.

Abstract

Residential exterior spaces are the complimentary elements of the internal living volume and are utilised to meet the sheltering needs of human being. This is especially true of exterior spaces in hot countries, which offer a variety of opportunities for their users.

As the summer periods are relatively long and hot in Northern Cyprus, residential exterior spaces have had great influence upon the life of Cypriot women. Throughout history, door front streets, gardens, balconies, and transition spaces have been designed in conformity with women activities in houses and opportunities have been provided for women to use these spaces intensively during most of daylight hours. In recent years, however, due to the emergence of design with low input costs, most of the residential exterior spaces of multi-storey apartments, which have had great significance in women lives, tend to loose their physical, functional and local qualities. Therefore, the daily uses represented by the social interactions in outdoor spaces are almost completely lost or change into individualised private activities.

In the light of these issues, the role of the Cypriot women in urban residential exterior spaces in Northern Cyprus is being studied within this scope and in this connection; that is the exterior space components like door fronts, streets, gardens, balconies and transition spaces are being evaluated in terms of their meanings and uses from the Ottoman Period until today. This study consists of two parts, which includes examining the role of the Cypriot women in urban residential exterior spaces and evaluating residential exterior spaces, and analysing a research questionnaire answered by women living in multi-storey apartments. The data required for this research has been collected in terms of the literature review, while the research questionnaire applied a random sampling based upon an empirical observation method.

Insanin barinma gereksinimini saglayan ve ic mekanlann tamamlayicisi olan konut dis mekanlari, ozellikle sicak ulkelerde, gunluk yasanti atmosferi icinde kullanicilarina cesitli olanaklar sunar.

Kuzey Kibis'ta yazlarin uzun ve sicak olmasi nedeniyle konut dis mekanlari, her donemde Kibrisli kadinlarin hayatinda buyuk bir onem tasimistir. Tarih boyunca kapi onu, avlu, balkon ve giris terasi gibi dis mekan bilesenleri kentsel cevredeki bircok konutta kadin aktivitelerine uygun olarak tasarlanmis ve gunun bircok saatinde, kadinlar tarafindan yogun olarak kullanilmasina imkan saglanmishr. Son yillarda ise yeni insa edilen bircok cok katli apartmanda, yalnizca maliyet dusurucu girdilerin dikkate alinarak tasarlanmasi, kadin yasaminda onemli bir yeri olan, dis mekanlarin fiziksel, fonksiyonel ve yerel degerlerini tamamen kaybetmeye baslamalarina etken olmustur. Buna bagli olarak, dis mekandaki gunluk kullanimlar ve sosyal aktiviteler yok deneck kadar azalmis ve yerini bireysel aktivitelere birakmistir.

Bu yaklasimlar isiginda, Kuzey Kibris'taki kentsel cevrede bulunan konut dis mekanlarinda Kibrisli kadinin rolu bu calisma kapsaminda arastirilmakta ve buna bagli alarak kapi onu, avlu, balkon ve giris terasi gibi dis mekan bilesenleri, anlamlari ve kullanimlari acisindan Osmanli Doneminden gunumuze degerlendirilmektedir. Iki bolumden olusan bu calisma, Kibrisli kadinin kentsel cevredeki konut dis mekanlarinda rolunun irdelenmesi ve cok katli apartmanlarda yasayan kadinlarla yapilan dis mekanlara yonelik anket calismasinin degerlendirilmesini icermektedir. Calisma icin gerekli veriler ise, literatur arastirmasi, anket calismasi ve raslantisal gozlem metodu kullanilarak elde edil-mistir.