Courthouse Design

This book was prepared with the aim of philosophically and analytically presenting the design logic of courthouses located at the intersection of law and architecture, supporting their distinctiveness in terms of design typology with examples and analyses, and ultimately determining the general criteria for courthouse design. Although the basic idea originated from my master's thesis, with the invaluable contributions of my master's and doctoral thesis advisor, Prof. Dr. Şengül Öymen Gür, it has evolved into a theoretical study both specifically on courthouse design and architecture in general.

In the second chapter of the text, where the relationship between law and architecture is explained with a brief introductory section, the semantic value of justice buildings is discussed, and Gür advocated for and proven the necessity of considering the concepts of meaning and typology together in courthouse buildings, thus creating the most original part of the book. In this chapter, precursors such as typification paradigms and typologies, and other precursors such as exemplary projects, formats, and tectonic details, rules, and principles are presented in detail. The chronological exemplification of historical typologies in the evolution of justice buildings in this chapter proves the thesis of the chapter and reveals the functional/symbolic meaning of justice buildings.

In the third chapter, foreground and background typologies based on the positioning of courtrooms are discussed in detail, and the validity of this important typological paradigm is demonstrated by analyzing 44 justice buildings according to these criteria.

In the fourth chapter, the necessary spaces in courthouse buildings specifically for Turkey, the users of the building, and a functional scheme are created through an exemplary program. In light of this information, general design criteria for courthouse buildings are provided.

The fifth chapter, which is the conclusion, brings up an important discussion in the context of function, meaning, and creativity, and evaluates the information presented by this work within the context of current design methods and techniques.

In the appendix, the results of a courthouse design project topic, worked on with 3rd-year students at Beykent University in the 2015-16 Spring semester under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Şengül Öymen Gür, are shared with the reader.