Figure 4	Figure 5	Figure 6	Figure 7
Figure 8	Figure 9	Figure 10	Figure 11
Figure 12	Figure 13	Figure 14	Figure 15
Figure 16	Figure 17	Figure 18	Figure 19
Figure 20	Figure 21	Figure 22	Figure 23
Figure 24	Figure 25	Figure 26	Figure 27
Figure 28	Figure 29	Figure 30	Figure 31
Figure 32

THE 2018 PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

The 2018 Activities

     In 2018, hands-on activities at the Kerkenes Eco-Center took place in April when a group of METU students registered for a Hands-on Building course by Prof. Dr. Soofia Elias Özkan, Dr. Berrin Çakmakli and retired Instructor Françoise Summers. The METU students participating in Hands-on sessions for the Architecture in situ course, Arch 326 were hosted for a 3 day program that included visits to the nearby archaeological site, the Iron Age ancient city on the Kerkenes Dag. Project assistants Said Kibarov, Ilya Hayrutdinov and Irfan Gökçe Özer helped with organizing the hands-on activities as well as the repair and maintenance of the amenities. Facilities include the village school now rehabilitated and called the Sahmuratli Visitors and Training Center. Women from the village prepared the meals (Figs 7 and 8).

  Before their trip to Kerkenes, METU students enrolled in the Arch 326 course were given an introduction on the Eco-Center's past activities, its status, mission and also the ongoing archaeological research in the ancient city on the Kerkenes Dagi which they visited (Figs 9 and 10). At the Kerkenes Eco-Center they visited the experimental buildings including the Strawbale Greenhouse, The Kerkenes Strawbale House and The Solar House (Fig. 11). The importance of using appropriate building material and design to improve the environmental performance of buildings was highlighted. As part of the Hands-on program, the students spent time working with local building materials and experimenting with design alternatives.

Hands-on Activities

     During the hands-on sessions, held at the Sahmuratli Visitors and Training Center, educational activities focused on energy efficiency and environmental design. Students learned how to make traditional mudbricks with a wooden frame (Figs 12 and 13). The brick press was also used to experiment with different ratios of mud and straw to demonstrate their different properties (Figs 14, 15 and 16).
     Villagers taught the students how to prepare and apply mud plaster in the traditional way. Matthieu Pedergnana, a doctoral student and adviser to the project, gave advice on how to mix mud with different substances such as egg and oil so as to improve their durability and resistance to rain and snow (Fig.17). The mud plaster prepared following his recommendations was used to plaster the Nubian vault (Fig. 18). Time will tell us if this new plastering will be more weatherproof.

Repair and Maintenance of Solar Cookers

     During the hands-on sessions students have helped with some repair and maintenance tasks at the Kerkenes Eco-Center. Features built by previous groups in the garden needed repair and maintenance (Fig. 19). New silvery adhesive foil was used to reline the parabolic disc of the solar cookers as the original foil had lost its reflectiveness (Fig. 20).

Design and Build Projects

     Assignments were given to students and in small groups they selected a relevant topic to study. Each group then used the given time to design and build a chosen item that would be a useful addition to the Eco-Center. One group chose to design a small oven in the garden (Figs 21 and 22). Another group built a bench by the kitchen door thus providing a place to sit in a sunny area when spring temperatures are still low (Figs 23 and 24). A third group built a planting box where herbs could be grown within the end room of the solar space (Fig. 25).

Visit from AGU Students in October 2018

     On their way from Kayseri to the Kerkenes Eco-Center, the group from Abdullah Gül University stopped at the Votorantim Cement Factory in Yozgat. A presentation on the manufacturing process was given before lunch and the visit of the factory and laboratories were scheduled for after (Figs 26 and 27). It was a pleasure to meet our sponsors before heading to the Kerkenes Eco-Center for the rest of the day's activities (Fig. 28).
      Once arrived at the Sahmuratli Visitors and Training Center, the students were briefed on the afternoon's hands-on activities (Fig. 29). A demonstration on traditional mud brick production was given by two villagers (Fig. 30). Students were given the opportunity to make some bricks using the wooden frame to produce four bricks at a time (Fig. 31). Finally two small ovens were built using mudbricks that had been made previously (Fig. 32).