Reflection of Construction Technology on the Built Environment

History of architecture, in one respect, is the history of construction technology and its influence on the built environment. Physical environment houses examples that reveal the relationship of materials and construction techniques with architecture in the past and today. Mid-twentieth century marks a period of change in architecture where modern replaces the traditional, especially in the case of residential architecture in Turkey. With increasing urbanization starting from 1950s, transformation in the housing fabric of Turkish cities is recognized. Anatolian residential architecture that may earlier be grouped according to regional differences bound to the use of local materials and construction techniques gradually lost their characteristics. New material and technology seem to have overruled the principles of design, concept of space, function, form, and aesthetics. This paper discusses the dilemma of the loss of local traditional housing types, and the creation of a wide-scale local type, in the context of building technology and material.