Use of Advanced Digital Technologies in Re-Presentation of an Ottoman Caravanserai and Its Surrounding Historic Built Environment in Bursa, Turkey

Conservation issues in architectural heritage require negotiating complex data encompassing geographical, architectural, social, and economic aspects of a historic urban area. Various types of advanced digital technologies can be used for such detailed work. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the utility of these techniques in the re-discovery of the original architectural character of a mostly collapsed sixteenth-century Ottoman caravanserai, Ali Paşa Caravanserai, which was constructed under the supervision of Mimar Sinan (the major Ottomans’ Major Architect) within the Historic Trade Center of Bursa as one of the World Heritage Sites (WHS) in Türkiye. Meanwhile, it also aims to represent the changes in its form and function with the urban transformation activities that appeared in the city center since the end of the nineteenth century. For this purpose, the prevalent use of digital techniques to preserve a hardly damaged architectural heritage is described initially. Following brief information about the spatial character of the study area, including this historic monumental building, the method prepared in different phases of its rehabilitation project is designated by using digital tools to document its original structure and evaluate the physical changes in parallel with manmade deformations. At the end of the study, the necessity of digital technologies to express the authenticity of architectural heritage is discussed, while using them in finding solutions for the preservation and perception of its surrounding traditional urban texture.