Discussion on Conservation Education through Restoration Praxis in Turkey

AbstractEducation is a field of science displaying differences with respect to the domain of teaching. Among these teaching fields, architecture has a unique position with regard to its content, methodology and the techniques used. Education in the field of architecture, which necessitates the use of knowledge and skills from a range of disciplines, relies notably on the teaching of a number of interrelated subjects. Conservation and restoration education with its cultural, social, technical, economical and legal, as well as historical, aspects in architectural training is a unique field requiring lifelong education. In this training numerous technical skills such as construction and structural design and social issues such as function and aesthetics are taught. Today, the safeguarding of historic buildings as world heritage sites in many countries by a number of international agreements and organizations has resulted in increased interest in the subject of conservation. Recently, both increasing economical interest and the gradual deterioration of cultural heritage due to ageing, climatic conditions, vandalism and insufficient care have encouraged awareness and trend for conservation in Turkey as was the case worldwide. However, it is a clear fact that interest and financial support alone are insufficient; conservation needs to be viewed as a major field of science requiring technical skills and knowledge coupled with extensive complementary laboratory studies. Indeed, the negative effects and irreversible devastation that conservation and restoration works have caused to historical monuments due to a lack of such technical skills and academic knowledge are unfortunately a matter of great concern in many countries. In this respect, the importance of conservation education is clear. In this paper, conservation education in Turkish universities will be presented using the case of the School of Architecture at Erciyes University; educational activity in the field of conservation will be demonstrated through its outcomes, and the problems resulting from the gap between education and praxis will be questioned through samples of restoration works representing the outcomes of the Turkish conservation education system