The building industry makes up a considerable fraction of world&amp / #8217 / s energy consumption. The adverse effects of a growing energy demand such as depletion in fossil fuel reserves and natural resources hassled the building industry to a search for new technologies that result in less energy consumption together with the maximum utilization of natural resources. Energy- and ecology-conscious European countries incorporated the well-being of occupants while conducting research on innovative technologies. In view of the fact that double-skin fa&ccedil / ades offer a healthy and comfortable milieu for the occupants and use natural resources hence consume less energy they became a promising invention for all concerns. The analysis of the performance of the double-skin fa&ccedil / ades and energy consumption is inconclusive at this time. However, based upon thermal performance analysis have been done so far, a double-skin fa&ccedil / ade perform better and provide some energy reduction, particularly on the heating side cycle, from a standard double glazed unit wall. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between double-skin fa&ccedil / ades and building management systems in intelligent office buildings as they relate to energy efficiency issues thus to find out whether or not the integration of these systems into intelligent buildings provides optimization in energy performance and comfort conditions. The building for the case study, which is an intelligent office building incorporating a double-skin fa&ccedil / ade was selected as one that promises high comfort conditions for the occupants with low energy consumption. The working principles of integrated fa&ccedil / ade systems, together with their advantages and disadvantages were investigated by means of the case study. It was concluded that due to their high initial costs, these systems offer no real advantages for today. However with the inevitable exhaustion of fossil fuels that is foreseen for the future, these systems would become an innovative solution in terms of energy conservation.

The thesis aims to examine how the formation of fa&ccedil / ades, that is, the interface with a dual response both to interior functioning and exterior urban fabric, is separated from the totality of architectural design by new technological developments and design intentions. This aim is accomplished in three sections, respectively: analysis of the fa&ccedil / ade, the properties and formation process in time / examining the fa&ccedil / ade formation of the high-rise office buildings in Levent-Maslak area in respect to the analysis and examining the working principles and marketing attitudes of fa&ccedil / ade manufacturing firms in terms of their role in fa&ccedil / ade formation. The focus is on the description of a fa&ccedil / ade and the process that generated the autonomy in time is examined. In this sense, the thesis analyzes that the &amp / #8216 / free-fa&ccedil / ade&amp / #8217 / application, by which physical autonomy is totally gained, transforms the fa&ccedil / ade to a production element by using the technological developments and specifications of curtain-wall system in the Turkish context, in particular in Levent-Maslak area. Besides the technical availability, the representational qualities of the new materials transform this production based character of the free-fa&ccedil / ade to a more representational character as an object-fa&ccedil / ade. Finally, the study investigates how the technical knowledge inherent in the new fa&ccedil / ade systems gives the authority,in formation process of fa&ccedil / ades, to the manufacturing firms instead of the architect. It is therefore stressed that the changing role of the architect in the formation process of fa&ccedil / ades is often based on the working principles and marketing attitudes of fa&ccedil / ade manufacturing firms at present.

There is a growing trend to design buildings with colourful and dynamic outer skins through the integration of digital media tools, particularly Led Emitting Diode (LED) systems, and the use of innovative technology. This integration has been discussed in recent conferences under the term &ldquo / media fa&ccedil / ade&rdquo / as a new research field. Discussing the intersection of media, technology, art, and architecture, this field introduces a new form of communication platform, urban space and public perception, which can be viewed through the perspective of Guy Debord&rsquo / s &ldquo / The Society of the Spectacle&rdquo / and Jean Baudrillard&rsquo / s &ldquo / sign value&rdquo / concept. Proceeding from the idea that a fa&ccedil / ade is a communication tool, the thesis compares what Adolf Behne in the early 20th century termed as Reklamearchitektur (advertising architecture) with the current &ldquo / media fa&ccedil / ade&rdquo / . Venturi&rsquo / s comparison of Gothic cathedrals to billboards of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1970s applies today to the &ldquo / Media Building&rdquo / in Paul Virilio&rsquo / s discussion of the digital age, where the information is active and interactive. This study considers the fa&ccedil / ades with attached signs, signboards and billboards as a continuation of advertising architecture, in contrast to the media fa&ccedil / ade examples with integrated digital media tools that are inbuilt to the design. Among the cases presented, three are selected (BIX, GreenPix and Digital Water Pavilion) for discussing the advantages and disadvantages of media fa&ccedil / ades, under the following titles: communication, ornamentation, flexibility, ephemerality, sustainability, and location. It is observed that the new relation between digital media and architecture not only initiates a new kind of communication platform, but also indicates the emergence and proliferation of a potential propaganda tool. To this end, the guidance of a social control mechanism for the applications of media fa&ccedil / ades is suggested.

When human constructs the physical surrounding, a psychological environment of meanings is being created, accompanying the world of shapes and masses. Interventions into built environment affect the meanings extracted from the composition of the physical setting and the response of people to design strategies reveals the importance of them. The entrance spine of a city is important in creating an image of the city in the minds of the observers, and the protocol highway of Ankara introduces the city to other countries&amp / #8217 / leaders and visitors. So any intervention into this highway will affect the symbolic image formed. As such, attaching claddings onto visible fa&ccedil / ades of buildings in terms of beautification changes the appearance of the streetscape, and Municipality&amp / #8217 / s approach to fa&ccedil / ade improvement does not heed the prestige of this corridor / being an application rather than a well-advised project. This thesis aims to study the quality of the streetscape under the principles of design in terms of objective and subjective dimensions with respect to the physical characteristics of the setting and people&amp / #8217 / s interpretations from it, and the objective of this study is to question the success of this intervention with regard to solutions to improve the quality of the streetscape. To this end evaluative analyses are studied in the second chapter and the third chapter introduces a matrix of design principles. According to these evaluations, most design concerns are being underestimated, resulting in the monotony of the streetscape but the streetscape appears to be visually more ordered compared to the past.