The Meaning and Importance of the Traditional Architecture in Architecture Education; Gönen Winter School Model

AbstractHistory is a bridge connecting past with future and holding them together Additionally, innovation will be impossible without knowing your history that an innovation independent from history will be incompatible with the present time. Therefore, in architecture education, the studies on evaluating “ancient” with an innovative perspective in building a reliable connection between past and future, making inferences and transferring them into modern architecture using latest technologies are considerably important. For this purpose, besides the formal architecture education program, the summer/winter studies performed at historical places will provide the students to learn their nation's historical accumulation by observing, touching and living experiences. Moreover, the summer/winter schools will give direction to the future designs and cause the students to recognize the distinctive culture and architecture of their environment. A winter school was organized in 2009 for the students of the Architecture Department of Selcuk University in order to ascertain and analyze the historical and cultural data of the small town “Gönen of Beysehir District in Konya City. During the winter school, the students learnt the historical texture of Gönen, analyzed the historical structures and determined the traditional houses needed to conserve by making relief drawings and photographs. The objective of this study is to mention about the application performed by the students of the Architecture Department of Selcuk University in 2009 winter school and indicate the importance of summer/winter schools in architecture education