An Investigation of Traditional Turkish Wooden Houses

Wood is one of the oldest materials used for building different types of structures in many parts of the World. Turkey is a country with a wide range of building traditions and traditional houses are the most important evidence of the past life style. Traditional houses in Turkey were built mostly of wood, and timber-framed building systems have frequently been used and were common there until the 20th century. While new buildings in rural areas used traditional techniques until the middle of the last century, thanks to the development of transportation and availability of modern materials such as cement and industrial bricks across the country, the construction of traditional timber-framed houses has declined considerably. This change in modern methods of building has resulted in a loss of knowledge concerning the tradition of wooden buildings. In this study, the general structural and architectural features of traditional Turkish timber-framed houses are introduced and their layouts, plan types and frame details are presented in terms of the use of wood in construction. This study is based on observations, literature and on-site investigation.