Preservation of Traditional Texture and Soul of Space in Natural Disaster-Prone Areas

The 1999 Marmara and Düzce, the 2009 L'Aquila, the 2010 Haiti and the 2011 Japan earthquakes, the 2010 Pakistan floods and the final earthquake that hit Van first on the 23rd October and later on the 9th November 2011, were the major disasters leaving their mark in the history as affecting the residents and residential areas in the last two-three years. Until recently, the "disaster management" approach, post-disaster improvement work in heritage areas, left its place to "disaster risk management" that includes the risk analysis before the disaster and the short - long term improvement work after the disaster. The authors emphasise the need to revaluate the relation of historical buildings to disasters, from a different perspective. (English summary by Derin Inan) (Author abstract)