DOVE COTES AND BIRD HOUSES IN TURKISH CULTURE AND THEIR CURRENT REFLECTIONS

Birds have been considered important in different civilizations throughout the history. They were considered sacred and valuable because they can fly. They have been featured in societies' artworks, flags and currencies. Dove cotes have been created to obtain food and fertilizers regularly and systematically from birds. Bird houses, which are seen in Ottoman Period buildings, are different from dove cotes because they were only built to be a shelter for birds. They are located on the facades of human dwellings. Some of these bird houses are flamboyant structures that look like mosques, residences, pavilions or palaces. They reflected the importance Turkish society paid to animals, showed the architectural style features of the period, became an additional document for architectural buildings and integrated with the structures aesthetically. The structures which were created for birds are being destroyed due to the raggedness at the present time. The new ones are limited applications of the previous ones. Within the scope of the article, first of all, information is given about the purposes of construction of dove cotes and bird houses, their types, architectural features, materials used in their construction, and their changes over time. Afterwards, current designs made in Turkey and abroad are mentioned. The reasons of why bird houses are not built today are discussed over the past and present conditions. The study suggests a bird house which can be produced as mass production, does not increase the construction cost, and does not need maintenance and repair cost, is also compatible with the current construction techniques. The design was awarded with a special mention award in Double Track, Tenth International Trieste Contemporary Design Competition that was held in Italy in 2012 and exhibited within the scope of various events