The built environment has mostly evolved under the influence of cultural heritage and has been shaped in response to our needs and resources. However, rapid changes have occurred in this environment with the impacts of globalization and mass production. The impact of these changes threatens to obliterate the unique character of rural settlements, which unlike urban areas still possess cultural identity. The aim of this study was to investigate the sustainable transmission of rural building heritage to prosperity / the potential of its adaptation for new settlements / and the interpretation of designing new houses in the light of traditional ones / as an integral part of sustainable rural development. To this end, a case study was conducted in the village of G&uuml / zel&ouml / z in Kayseri, where the transition from historical to contemporary styles and techniques was readily observable. The principles for effectively implementing projects which relate to the preservation and transmission of rural heritage have been formulated in the European Rural Heritage Observation Guide (ERHOG), which was initiated by Committee of Senior Officials of the European Conference of Ministers Responsible for Regional Planning/Spatial Planning (CEMAT) and the Village Design Statement (VDS) Packs, which were initiated by the Community Councils in United Kingdom (UK). The new development in G&uuml / zel&ouml / z village, as carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement (PWS) together with additions and alterations to existing traditional houses, were studied to understand the changing needs of the villagers. A comparative analysis was made between the level of satisfaction for both the traditional houses and post-disaster houses (PDH). An evaluation according to the ERHOG and VDS criteria was conducted for both types of houses regarding the relation of buildings with their immediate vicinity / use of materials / functional requirements / and constructional concerns. The results showed the importance of the recognition and promotion of cultural heritage to create an appropriate built environment.

In this study, the geometric Additive market models are considered. In general, these market models are incomplete, that means: the perfect replication of derivatives, in the usual sense, is not possible. In this study, it is shown that the market can be completed by new artificial assets which are called &ldquo / power-jump assets&rdquo / based on the power-jump processes of the underlying Additive process. Then, the hedging portfolio for claims whose payoff function depends on the prices of the stock and the power-jump assets at maturity is derived. In addition to the previous completion strategy, it is also shown that, using a static hedging formula, the market can also be completed by considering portfolios with a continuum of call options with different strikes and the same maturity. What is more, the portfolio optimization problem is considered in the enlarged market. The optimization problem consists of choosing an optimal portfolio in such a way that the largest expected utility of the terminal wealth is obtained. For particular choices of the equivalent martingale measure, it is shown that the optimal portfolio consists only of bonds and stocks.

In this study the design of the sanitary ware and bathrooms are examined, concentrating on small bathrooms and changing design aspects of bathrooms. The design considerations of bathrooms and the design of the bath tub, wash basin and toilet which forms the sanitary ware sets in bathrooms is reviewed as for being dominant elements of bathroom design.

Multidimensional datasets are getting more extensively used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in recent years. Due to large volume of these datasets efficient querying becomes a significant problem. For this purpose, before creating index structure with these enormous datasets, choosing an efficient index structure is an urgent necessity. The aim of this thesis is to develop an efficient, flexible and extendible index structure which comprises 3D spatial data in primary index and fuzzy attributes in secondary index. These primary and secondary indexes are handled in a coupled structure. Firstly, a 3D spatial primary index is built by using X-tree structure, and then a fuzzy secondary index is overlaid over the X-tree structure. The coupled structure is shown more efficient on a certain class of queries than uncoupled index structures comprising 3D spatial data in primary index and fuzzy attributes in secondary index separately. In uncoupled index structure, we provided 3D spatial primary index by using X-tree index structure and fuzzy secondary index by using BPlusTree index structure.

Studies to determine the location of antique quarries, from where building stones were obtained, are done by comparison of the properties of antique stones and the possible quarry sources around them. In the case when no stonemason marks exists, geologic formations that may be used as building stone should be investigated and properties of antique building stones and geologic formations should be correlated. The aim of this study was the investigation of tuff quarries that could be the source of tuffs used in the construction of Apollon Smintheus Temple. For this purpose, the studies were carried out about the geology of the region, and possible three quarries selected around Smintheion. Durability properties of stones in Temple and quarries were determined with the analyses of physical, physico-mechanical properties and artificial weathering tests of wetting-drying, salt crystallization / Effective porosity, bulk density, water absorption capacity, dry and saturated unit weight, salt content, ultrasonic pulse velocity, modulus of elasticity, uniaxial compressive strength, pore size distribution, capillary absorption and moisture absorption capacities were determined for Temple tuffs and possible quarry tuffs in fresh and artificial weathering cycles. Microstructural investigations were done by mineralogical, petrographical and chemical analyses which were optical microscopy, stereomicroscopy, XRD, SEM, FTIR, MBA and XRF. The results indicated that Temple tuffs and two of the three quarries (Fatma Gerdan and Kizilke&ccedil / ili) had similar engineering geological and micrstructural properties. Therefore, they could be used as building stone during the construction of Temple.

The meaning of term &ldquo / representation&rdquo / has shifted in both relevancy and definition in the discipline of architecture with the introduction of computational design technologies. The assumption of this study is that the selected mode of representation has the power to affect the process of design and even the production of architecture. At the present time, while the discipline is witnessing a change in its tendencies and terminologies, such as from drawing to 3D modeling, from construction to fabrication, and from geometry to topology, it is crucial to look at the &ldquo / conventions&rdquo / of architectural representation that are identified through &ldquo / projections,&rdquo / and particularly the &ldquo / orthographic set&rdquo / . This study aims to challenge the prejudices against the &ldquo / orthographic set&rdquo / that consider it to be an ineffective or inadequate tool for representation in the contemporary practice of architecture following the emergence of &ldquo / digitization&rdquo / . It is the claim of this thesis that the &ldquo / orthographic set&rdquo / is actually a methodology that is still powerful in the visualization of the &ldquo / rational&rdquo / thinking processes of design, and is still a highly pertinent technique in the representation and production of architecture. With the arrival of computational design technologies to the practice of architecture, the &ldquo / visibility&rdquo / of its representations have started to blur / and considering the dialectics between architectural representation and the architectural object, while Modern Architecture can be assessed as the transformation of the orthographic set into a declaration of a stylistic manifesto, in the digital age the question arises of what makes architecture visible, and whether it is possible to come up with a &ldquo / new&rdquo / definition of style.

The major subject of this study is the multi-layered historical towns which are the outcome of continuous inhabitation process. This continuous inhabitation is reflected in the current town by the physical remains belonging to different periods. These remaining elements of the past periods can be conserved, as long as they become an integral part of the current urban context. Thus, sustaining the multi-layeredness requires sustaining the integration of the remaining elements of the former periods with the current context. Thereupon, the main aim of the thesis becomes to develop a method for assessing the integration of historical stratification with the current town in accordance with the physical, visual, functional, social and managerial aspects. Consequently, the main concerns of this thesis are understanding and assessing the historical stratification together with its integration with the current town. This makes possible to expose the factors of disintegration which can provide a basis for defining the strategies and tools for their reintegration with the current urban context. With regard to this aim, the thesis is composed of two parts. In the first part a method for the assessment of the integration of historical stratification with the current context is proposed by considering various factors affecting the integration. It also covers a preliminary discussions on re-integration tools and strategies. In the second part, the proposed method is applied on the case of Amasya which is a multi-layered historical Anatolian town in Turkey. Following this, a preliminary discussion on possible reintegration strategies and tools for the case of Amasya is carried on. The thesis concludes with a general evaluation of the method developed in this thesis for the assessment of the integration of the historical stratification with the current town based on the outcomes of the implementation of the proposed method on the case of Amasya . The method developed in this thesis can be regarded as an initial step for revealing the factors effecting integration of the remains of past periods forming up the historical stratification in multi-layered towns, which can lead to the future possible re-integration strategies and tools in order to provide their sustainable conservation.

Traditional financial modeling is based on semimartingale processes with stationary and independent increments. However, empirical investigations on financial data does not always support these assumptions. This contradiction showed that there is a need for new stochastic models. Fractional Brownian motion (fBm) was proposed as one of these models by Benoit Mandelbrot. FBm is the only continuous Gaussian process with dependent increments. Correlation between increments of a fBm changes according to its self-similarity parameter H. This property of fBm helps to capture the correlation dynamics of the data and consequently obtain better forecast results. But for values of H different than 1/2, fBm is not a semimartingale and classical Ito formula does not exist in that case. This gives rise to need for using the white noise theory to construct integrals with respect to fBm and obtain fractional Ito formulas. In this thesis, the representation of fBm and its fundamental properties are examined. Construction of Wick-Ito-Skorohod (WIS) and fractional WIS integrals are investigated. An Ito type formula and Girsanov type theorems are stated. The financial applications of fBm are mentioned and the Black&amp / Scholes price of a European call option on an asset which is assumed to follow a geometric fBm is derived. The statistical aspects of fBm are investigated. Estimators for the self-similarity parameter H and simulation methods of fBm are summarized. Using the R/S methodology of Hurst, the estimations of the parameter H are obtained and these values are used to evaluate the fractional Black&amp / Scholes prices of a European call option with different maturities. Afterwards, these values are compared to Black&amp / Scholes price of the same option to demonstrate the effect of long-range dependence on the option prices. Also, estimations of H at different time scales are obtained to investigate the multiscaling in financial data. An outlook of the future work is given.

The aim of this study is to define structural and architectural features of vernacular houses in Uzung&ouml / l, town of &Ccedil / aykara, Trabzon and to determine intervention types of houses in order to prevent loosing original architectural characteristics. For this purpose, the studies that were carried out about the history, geographical/physical character, settlement pattern and socio-economic character of the region in general and the district of the study area were surveyed. To be able to take reliable results, a study area, which has a representative character, was defined. All registered houses in the study area were surveyed and building characteristics of Uzung&ouml / l were identified. Beside gathering information, all surveyed buildings was documented in various details as structural scale and architectural scale. In order to examine the intervention character at houses in the district, all applied interventions at houses were documented. At the end of the documentation, specific intervention types were found. Values of the study area were listed and physical/architectural features that decided be preserved were identified.

This thesis is an architectural study surveying on miniature parks and miniature models exhibited in them and particularly focuses on Miniaturk - the first miniature park of Turkey- located in Istanbul. It is established as an environment containing a group of miniature models of buildings and landscapes, which display the variety, and richness of the cultural tradition of the previous and contemporary Anatolian civilizations, and especially Ottoman grandeur. In this study, it is argued that Miniaturk stands as a hybrid category between a museum, a public park and entertainment centre. Miniaturk is also conceived as an architectural environment providing a possible ground to discuss the conceptions, misconceptions and presuppositions about architecture in the popular realm and in the professional and disciplinary framework. Thereby, Miniaturk is investigated through the processes of its production including the initial design idea and all the stages of its construction. This study also tries to discuss the miniature models from different points of view. Whether they are considered as tools of architectural representation or not by the professionals, the popularity and the communicative advantage of these models can be used to arouse interest in the cultural and historical heritage as well as the contemporary architecture. The daily life of man on the street is strictly connected with architecture / therefore Miniaturk requires recognition as an environment for realization of these connections and relations.