Self-Organized Actions for the Slow and Incremental Adaptation of Heritage Places: Learning from Pilavoglu Han in Ankara, Turkey

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Abstract: Heritage places are formed through the continuous interaction of the built environment and the local community. However, this interaction is often interrupted over time due to changing conditions, lifestyles economic pressure, and the demands of the heritage industry. While in most cases, these heritage places are transformed through top-down strategies of public authorities or private sectors, in other cases, the local community shows resilience to these changes through the adaptation of heritage places. Pilavoglu Han is a sixteenth-century Ottoman inner-city commercial han building in the historic commercial center of Ankara, Turkey. Starting from the early 2000s, the dilapidated historic commercial center has been transformed into a heritage tourism destination with the attempts of local authorities and private entrepreneurs. While many of the historic buildings have been transformed into cultural and touristic facilities in recent years, Pilavoglu Han has adapted into a multipurpose building for cultural, commercial, and production activities as well as accommodation. The adaptation process of Pilavoglu Han began as a self-organized action of independent artists and craftspeople of Ankara who began renting shops and eventually formed an artisanal community together with Han's main shareholder and remaining residents. At present, the main shareholder and the artisanal community collectively manage the han and choose the "right functions" and "right renters" for empty spaces, which includes employing spatial tactics for new uses to sustain the han's spirit as a multipurpose hub for the local community. This article focuses on the recent transformation of Pilavoglu Han, which can be regarded as a "slow and incremental adaptation" in the form of self-organized actions and mobilization of the community. By examining the community's economic, social, spatial, and functional strategies for adaptation, this article proposes collaborative conservation strategies that involve the collective work of the community and heritage professionals, which might secure the building's future as an exemplar of self-organized incremental adaptation of heritage places.