RE-INTERPRETING THE BODRUM CASTLE UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM: SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION AND EXHIBITION DESIGN STRATEGIES

Abstract

The Bodrum Castle was built by the Order of Knights of Saint John at the beginning of the 15th century. The Castle, situated within a first-degree archaeological site, is one of the most visited museums in Turkey with its underwater archaeology collection. Throughout the processes of its transformation into a museum, the authentic characteristics of the medieval castle have been overshadowed by the urges and challenges to display and preserve an underwater archaeology collection and by the practical necessities of serving as a museum. An architectural conservation project of the Bodrum Castle was developed between 2014-2016 and restoration implementations have been conducted in three stages since 2018, which were recently completed in the summer of 2021. This study introduces the analyses of problems in the functional and spatial organization of the museum and discusses critical interventions on cultural properties to be used as museum spaces. By re-assessing the Bodrum Castle as a monumental building and as a museum, it presents thematic frameworks, spatial formation strategies and exhibition approach employed in the processes of museum design and implementation.