The Ottoman House: Papers from the Amasya Symposium, 24-27 September 1996

Seemingly contradictory ideas of privacy and community dominate Ottoman cities. While houses are internally divided to guard female modesty behind a frontage studded with peep-holes, streets in cities like Amasya are often bridged by first-floor passageways between different houses. This book contains 17 papers by architects and archaeologists looking at how the Ottoman house was structured, how it has varied over time and space, and how surviving examples are faring in a world of breeze-block construction. Although the examples discussed are all Near Eastern, and mostly from Turkey, the revelations this book contains about structuring principles will make it a valuable companion to understanding architectural relics from all over the Ottoman Empire. PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS GLOSSARY OF MOST COMMONTURKISH TERMS LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF PLATES PART ONE: THE OTTOMAN HOUSE IN CONTEXT PART TWO: REGIONAL VARIATIONSIN TURKEY AND THE NEAR EAST PART THREE: THE OTTOMAN HOUSE IN DETAIL PART FOUR: THE FUTURE OFTHE OTTOMAN HOUSE