Turkish Journal of Forest Science

Öz

The structural environment, which is formed as a result of society's feelings, thoughts, and tendencies, provides various information about the users of the space by presenting the traces of these inspirations. On the other hand, cities are public spaces where different experiences and temporal changes are reflected as a product of collective memory. As a result of dynamic connections, while people shape the space, they are also shaped. Public spaces that host social activities have imaginary integrity and offer socio-psychological and socio-cultural meanings to their users. One of the most important public spaces is the squares that characterize the city's identity and tell the story of the city. For this reason, defining squares spatially, understanding their story and spirit, and making sense of them is of particular importance in terms of social history and urban identity. One of the most used methods in this interpretation process is the analysis made with the semiotics approach. While semiotic analyzes define any item to be analyzed in denotations with the formalities and expressions that are directly perceived by the masses, in architectural studies, the space and the elements that make up the space are evaluated with connotations it makes and the images it creates. Therefore, in semiotics, the denotation is social, the connotation is subjective, it varies according to communities and cultures. Semiotics enables a city, a place or an architectural product to be analyzed by reading it like a text. In this context, while it provides a methodical approach to the individual in the reading of the architectural environment, in terms of learning, solving, evaluating and providing effective communication, it also provides a very productive approach when used to make sense of landscape analysis and landscape designs in landscape architecture studies. In the study, Izmir Konak Square and its surroundings, which is one of the symbolic places of the city of Izmir and hosting the city symbols, were analyzed and evaluated with the semiotics approach. In the evaluation, the selected elements that make up the space were examined with the denotation and connotation approach, which examined the construction and meaning of the space; which examined the data obtained with the main design themes of the space, and what questioned the efficiency of the design and spatial setup.