Memory loss of the cultural heritage in the core of Istanbul: spatial traces of physical transformation in the historical quarter of Fener-Balat

The historical centre of Istanbul reflects its origin established by several ethnically diverse neighbourhoods whose culture still traceable into the urban fabrics and architectural artefacts of great social and traditional wealth. Today, after the replacement of various social groups, it shows many situations demonstrates alienation, neglect, abandonment, marginalisation, and memory loss. The research context focuses on the district of Fener-Balat, is still famous for its peculiar typology of architecture, which became the UNESCO Heritage site in 1985. Today, the district is at risk of losing its identity due to the migration of low-income/low-education populations from rural areas. Neighbourhood’s character has shifted drastically from a place where the residents were primarily Armenian, Greek, and Jews into a low-qualified residential settlement just in a few short years. As a result of decay, gentrification, and unmanaged transformations, Balat’s multicultural architecture is at high risk of being vanished. The research goal is to understand the traces of memory loss and to investigate the possible ways of regenerating the district, starting from the changed identity of the community as a pioneer and expanding in the architectural scale of transformation. As a method of investigation, the primary actions have been looking into the previous traces of the tangible and intangible heritage of the various social groups from the past and present, a deeper understanding of Balat and its architectural and cultural peculiarities, urban policies and reading into the current risks and needs that might require immediate action through in-site documentation of existing situations using tools of personal observation, interviewing, analysing and mapping techniques. The outcomes have been developing a toolkit to identify the adaptive reuse of neglected places for the community and the public domain by reusing existing architecture and revitalizing it systematically.