Reinventing Tradition: The Çardak's Modern Revival
Exploring the Historical Roots of the Çardak
The Datça Summer Workshop 2025, titled "Lightweight Structures in Vernacular Agroscapes II," was a two-week design-build program. Organized by prominent Turkish universities in collaboration with Erazo Pugliese and Erginoglu & Çalışlar Architects, it aimed to explore and reinterpret traditional building forms. The focus was on the 'çardak,' a temporary agricultural structure once prevalent in the region, seeking to adapt its principles for contemporary rural public use. The initial week involved extensive research at Istanbul Bilgi University, delving into archival materials, drawings, and oral histories from Datça villagers to understand the çardak's spatial organization, construction techniques, and seasonal functions.
The Vernacular Çardak: A Multifunctional Agricultural Structure
Historically, the çardak was a simple, demountable timber structure found in agricultural fields. It served multiple purposes within a compact footprint, offering shelter, a workspace, and storage. Its strategic placement between cultivated land and domestic areas provided crucial shade and climatic protection with minimal materials. These characteristics were central to the 2025 design workshop, which emphasized low-tech construction, structural clarity, and adaptability, guided by the participating universities and architectural firms.
Constructing the Modern Çardak in Hızırşah Village
The second phase of the workshop moved to Hızırşah, an agricultural community where the schoolyard acts as the main public gathering space. With support from the Datça Municipality, which provided the site, and Asmaz Ahşap Karkas Yapılar, which supplied timber, the team constructed a 22-square-meter wooden structure. This pavilion, designed around a long built-in table, stepped seating platforms, and shaded areas, creates an open-air room for various activities such as community gatherings, play, informal education, and celebrations. The design incorporates a repetitive timber frame, reed infill panels, and agricultural fabric for shading, echoing the material logic of the historic çardak while allowing for future modifications and flexible use within the village.
Collaborative Learning and Community Engagement
The workshop brought together students and recent graduates from the collaborating universities, along with participants from the Wentworth Institute of Technology. Under the leadership of faculty members Burcu Kütükçüoğlu and Elif Kendir Beraha from Istanbul Bilgi University's Faculty of Architecture, the program integrated academic research, design development, and practical construction experience. Throughout the construction process, local villagers, especially children, actively engaged with the site, observing and interacting with the evolving structure. This approach positioned the project as both an educational endeavor and a community-focused intervention, mirroring the historical significance of the vernacular çardak. The long-term success of the structure will depend on its adoption, adaptation, and maintenance by the residents of Hızırşah.