An Approach to Documenting Architectural Heritage in Anatolian Madrasahs: Examples from the 12th–14th Centuries

Madrasahs built in Anatolia between the 12th and 14th centuries are important cultural assets that reflect the geography, educational practices, and spatial organization of the period. Preserving their historical and architectural values is essential to passing on the region’s building traditions and monumental architecture to future generations. Although these buildings share spatial elements such as courtyards, iwans, and cells, their plan and facade configurations and spatial distributions vary. However, studies comparing their plan and facade representations using the same quantitative protocol remain limited. This research aims to describe the geometric characteristics of these two representational planes using reproducible indicators, supporting comparisons of formal features in detailed documentation and monitoring. Six madrasahs dating to the 12th–14th centuries were selected based on the suitability of their survey data for quantitative analysis and their regional and typological diversity. Standardized plan and facade drawings were converted into binary images for Db and L analysis; RGB images were used for facade directionality. Box-counting fractal dimension (Db), lacunarity (L), and facade directionality were measured using ImageJ 1.54d/Fiji and FracLac 2015Sep090313a9330. Across 19 analysis units comprising eight plans and eleven facades, mean facade Db exceeded mean plan Db for every building group, revealing differences in linear complexity and void distribution between plans and facades.