An Adaptive Reuse Proposal For
Nicosia City Museum*
This study is developed to examine the adaptive reuse of historic buildings and to identify the intervention approaches. Selected examples are analysed and a new project for the old “Nicosia Museum” is proposed. Cyprus island, situated to the east of the Mediterranean Sea, has hosted many different settlers due to its natural resources, climate conditions and strategic location, while Nicosia continued its existence as a capital. The walled city of Nicosia has a unique urban, architectural, historical and cultural fabric with its long and multi-layered past. In 1974, “The buffer zone” was created due to the conflicts among the communities in Cyprus, the island and the city was divided into two parts and the original fabric of the walled city was corrupted. Nicosia with the ruined buildings, abandoned shops and houses, traces of the battles, barricades and sandbags is one of the places where the past and the division are seen most dramatically. Concordantly; it was aimed to convert the old Cyprus Museum, which has significance in the memory of the city, to the "Nicosia City Museum" and to contribute to the construction of the social memory.
*This project has been developed from the thesis produced in Istanbul Technical University IMIAD (International Master of Interior Architectural Design) Programme and supported by Research Fund of ITU.
