URBAN CODES: Familiarity, Impressiveness, Complexity and Liking in Façades of Houses

This study aims to see the local residents of Kahramanmaras who are not in the design profession, to know  how they find connotative meanings in house styles concerning different cultures and to see how these  meanings differ according to socio-demographic qualities. It is hypothesized that foreign examples would be  preferred as a ‘social status’ indication compare to the domestic ones which might be considered as ‘warm’.  Regarding this, a total o f 102 respondents, c omp o s e d o f middle- aged people insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(25 female, 26 male);  and students insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(25 female, 26 male); have evaluated the façades of 12 houses through using five-point semantic  differential scales under four headings: Familiarity, Impressiveness, Complexity and Liking. The results have  shown that different styles with different forms, elements and materials have been evaluated differently by  the respondent groups. While the most impressive foreign vernacular examples were defined as the ‘social  status’ indication, the most familiar local vernacular examples were indicated as the ‘warmest’ house façades.  Amongst these results, it was also noted that the students a p p r e c i a t e d the foreign vernacular examples  and found them attractive than the middle age respondents.