Survival of the Vernacular Environments in North Cyprus Through Sustainable Tourism Implementation

Abstract

Today while the discussions are more concentrated on the reduction of environmental resources, the sustainability concept is gaining importance especially in today’s architectural developments. The acceleration in the building activities on North Cyprus creates the discussion of continuity in both natural resources and the cultural heritage of the island. Due to the lack of a conservation master plan, the traditional/vernacular environments of North Cyprus are under the threat of these rapid unplanned developments. Sustainable approaches include the adaptive re-use of existing building stock especially if this building stock is worth preserving since it is the reflection of a multi-cultural accumulation of different sovereignties¹ through many centuries; and since it is the result of design principles that are evolved and developed through centuries, according to the environmental factors in addition to the cultural ones. The unique vernacular environment of the Island bears the potential to be learned from the tried, developed and evolved architectural solutions. For centuries, the Cypriots have benefited from both conscious and unconscious design criteria in shaping their living environments. Evaluating those decisions in the light of today’s discourse, sustainable identity of these environments can be emphasized in terms of locality, energy and resource efficiency of the building materials. In the light of right design decisions on location, orientation and formation; appropriateness to the natural and cultural environment has been achieved. The vernacular environments, as well as the previously untouched coastline of North Cyprus can be destroyed by the unplanned new constructions, causing demolishment in the vernacular environments as well as the flora and fauna of the island. As demand increases in the area, an interest in modernization, densification or reconstruction of existing traditional environments may come to a reversible level. In this study, it is aimed to discuss the survival of these unique rural vernacular environments of North Cyprus through sustainable tourism implementations.

¹Throughout the history, Cyprus had been inhabited by the people from different cultural backgrounds ranging from Persians, Egyptians, Romans, Frankish, Venetians, British and the Ottomans [10].