HISTORICAL BUILDINGS TURNED INTO MUSEUMS

Abstract

Historical buildings are tangible heritage elements that need to be kept alive for reasons such as creating a bridge between the past and the future, being an inseparable part of the identity of the settlements, and reflecting information on many issues from the architecture of the period to the lifestyle. However, criteria such as changing world and living conditions, environmental factors, economic conditions, family structure make it impossible to use them with their original functions over time. In this case, the buildings in question should be evaluated with a secondary function suitable for their environment, architecture and structure. One of these functions is the use as a museum. The aim of the study is to examine the suitability of the museum function for the historical buildings and their restoration in the context of universal criteria and regulations, through selected examples from different countries. In this respect, dialectical method and sampling method are used in the study, and the subject is discussed with different dimensions. The scope of the study is limited to the examples selected from historical buildings with different original functions turned into museums. In this context, it is emphasized that refunctioning of historical buildings as museums is important in terms of making them accessible to everyone, exhibiting the building together with the artifacts, and ensuring its sustainability.