Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 7(42), pp. 3625-3638, 31 October, 2012 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/SRE DOI: 10.5897/SRE11.2139 ISSN 1992-2248 ©2012 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Investigation of the hygienic situation of kitchens, bathrooms and toilets in the traditional residential architecture Reyhan AKAT 1 *, I. Raci BAYER 2 and Zeynep SOFUOĞLU 3 1 Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Forestry, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080, Trabzon, Turkey. 2 Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, 06531, Ankara, Turkey. 3 Department of Construction and Technical Works, Ministry of Transport, 61080, Trabzon, Turkey. Accepted 16 July, 2012 This study investigated the hygiene state of kitchens, bathrooms and toilets and how they are used in the traditional houses (their characteristics, the changes in their uses and the extent of these changes). The study also attempted to find the principles and criterions on which the arrangements that are the products of accumulated experiences were based in the spaces or systems. Furthermore, the study investigated how and at what level the new equipment that the new age presents are reflected in the traditional house. The dimensional, positional, directional, constructional, equipment and material characteristics of these elements were investigated in accordance with the knowledge, theories and principles of architecture and instructive data on these were obtained from the traditional houses. The traditional Turkish houses, Greek houses and hybrid houses in the city of Trabzon, Turkey, were chosen as the sample of the study. Key words: Kitchen, bathroom, toilet, location, direction, construction, equipment, traditional houses. INTRODUCTION Architectural concepts are prospective and therefore they have the power to change the environment. That these decisions are taken under certain contexts and conditions make them dependent on both the past and present (Dickens, 1989; Edwards et al., 2005). In our expectations from the future, we need to try to evaluate, interpret and explain the past and present in an interaction. This affects our decisions for the future and therefore creates the context for change. In order to improve the comfort conditions in the space that separates man from the physical environment to a suitable state, some auxiliary equipment is needed. Buildings must have heat, water and moisture insulations and there should be enough ventilation. There must be *Corresponding author. E-mail: rgedikli@gmail.com. Tel: +90 462 3772848. enough skylight and heat (Ranson, 1991; Heyman et al., 2005; Jones et al., 2007). Fresh water, one of the most important needs, must be brought into the building and waste water must be taken away from the building and in this way building conditions must be improved to make the use of different systems possible. Building construction is a biological process, not an aesthetic one (Meyer, 1991). A building must, first and foremost, respond to a function and this requires the building not to fail in its use in any way. However successful a building is in terms of aesthetics, if it does not perform this function, it can never be a healthy building (Ineichen, 1993). Protection from the unwanted conditions of the physical environment is the most important need of man (Novoselac and Siegel, 2009). The above mentioned factors must be controlled through the help of building elements. According to Özdeniz (1978), it is possible to remove the unwanted climatic variables from the building: