Interior Architect Umut Mehmet Gürler made statements about uninformed renovations

In Turkey, and more widely across the Middle East, some owners break columns or knock down walls to gain space. In a country on a fault line, that kind of work can bring a building down in even a small quake. Many of the buildings that failed in past earthquakes had been altered this way.

Interior architect Umut Mehmet Gürler says that even a small alteration can be dangerous without professional advice. People have cut columns and demolished walls to make car parks, galleries or shops under old buildings, or to give a shop a new look. Research after the 1999 earthquake showed that a large share of the collapsed buildings had been weakened by this kind of work.

Engineers and architects size a building as a whole. Columns, beams and the steel ties between them share the load. Cut a column and the load moves onto the others. In a quake the system is damaged and the building can fall.

Gürler says anyone who suspects that a column or beam has been cut should look at whether the structure still runs continuously, then have it checked and tell the municipality. A resident can ask the municipality for the building permit and, with an architect, see whether a column is missing.

Before buying a home, the same care people give a car should go to the structure. Photographs on sale listings sometimes show load-bearing parts already removed. That puts everyone in the building at risk. Columns and beams have to be built with the right materials, with safety and earthquakes in mind. In this country, design and location are often put first, and even in expensive projects the structure is overlooked.

Load-bearing columns should not be cut for a cable, a design detail, or extra floor area. A building whose columns and beams have been cut is standing by chance. Gürler recalls that in the 17 August earthquake, and later in Van and Elazığ, buildings weakened by bad alterations failed. He compares it to breaking a person's legs and expecting them to stand. The skeleton of a building, from the basement to the roof, has to stay continuous. Even partition walls should be changed only with an architect's advice.

In new housing schemes, and in buildings with shops on the ground floor, some shop owners cut columns and beams to open the space. Residents should notice that and go to the municipality, with an architect, so the damage can be found and limited.

The office helps individuals and companies both during alterations and in the rest of the architectural work, and it builds places that are both calm to look at and safe. Even a small change at home needs an interior architect, because the stakes are the building itself.