Ephemeral Dwellings, Enduring Memory: The Legacy of Nomadic Tent Traditions as Cultural Heritage in Antalya’s Coastal Oba Settlements

Nomadism and the tent tradition constitute foundational pillars of Anatolia’s vernacular building culture, yet the spatial continuity between nomadic dwelling practices and their urban coastal adaptations remains underexplored in the literature. This study examines how nomadic spatial strategies were reproduced in Antalya’s coastal oba settlements, evaluating them as architectural expressions of indigenous material culture and collective building knowledge rather than provisional structures. Employing a qualitative approach, the research synthesizes data from literature reviews, archival analysis, and semi-structured interviews with former residents, utilizing Lefebvre’s Rhythmanalysis as an analytic framework to examine how seasonal cycles, recurring daily rituals, and patterns of collective occupation shaped the spatial logic of these now-vanished settlements. Findings reveal three distinct oba typologies with traceable morphological continuities to the nomadic tent tradition, particularly in semi-open spatial configurations, modular organization, and the flexible adaptation of indigenous materials to coastal conditions. Interpreted through the lens of cultural landscape, the oba emerges as a site where tangible building practice and intangible cultural heritage converge. The study concludes that Antalya’s coastal obas represent a significant yet under documented chapter of vernacular architectural heritage, one whose physical erasure under post-1980 tourism-driven development has rendered its preservation in collective and embodied memory all the more urgent. By transitioning from physical fabric to intangible heritage, these settlements persist as a critical representational field for cultural and social sustainability discourse.