Hızlı servis restoranlarında kurumsal kimliğin mekan tasarımına etkileri ve değişimi
Effects of corporate identity on the spatial design and changes in fast food restaurants
Yazar: HALİDE GÜLİZ TAVUKÇUOĞLU
Danışman: PROF. DR. GÜLÇİN PULAT GÖKMEN
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Mimari Tasarım Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2014
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture

Özet:
Kurumların sahip olduğu kimliği görünüşlerine yansıtma ihtiyacı, kurumsal kimlik tasarımının gerekliliğine işaret etmektedir. Bu çalışma, hızlı servis restoranlarında kurumsal kimlik ile mekan tasarımı arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektedir. Kurumsal kimliğin mekan tasarımına nasıl yansıdığı ve mekan içerisindeki görünürlüğünün nasıl sağlandığı ile ilgili McDonald's restoranları üzerine ayrıntılı bir araştırma yapılmıştır.
Geçmişte ve günümüzde kurumlar sahip oldukları değerlerini mimari tasarımı aracı olarak kullanarak ve kendileriyle ilişkili olan çeşitli simge ve şekillerden yararlanarak çevrelerine ilettikleri görülmektedir. Kurum kültürü ile beslenen kimlik oluşumu ve bu kurum kimliğini yansıtacak olan kurum imajının mimari bütünlük içinde mekanlara aktarılması gerekir. Bu kapsamda, mekan ve kullanıcı arasındaki iletişimin mimari unsurlar aracılığıyla kurulması, kurum kimliğinin görünürlüğünü kolaylaştıran ve arttıran güçlü bir etmen olmuştur. 
Kurum kimliğinin mekan tasarımına etkilerinin temel olarak ele alındığı bu tez  çalışmasının amacı, hızlı servis restoranlarında ( fast food ) kurumsal kimlik ile mimari ve iç mekan tasarımı arasındaki ilişkiyi ilişkiyi incelemek ve kurumsal kimliğin mimari bileşenlere ve tasarımlarına nasıl yansıdığını McDonald's restoranları örneği ile ele almaktır. Kurumsal kimlik kavramının mekan tasarımına etkilerinin ''hızlı servis     restoranları'' konusunda incelenmesi, küreselleşme sonrasında en çok sözü edilen ve ilk fast food restoranı olması açısından McDonald's markası tercih edilmiştir. Ayrıca 1998-2014 yılları arasında araştırmacının McDonald's markası için restoran tasarımları yapmış olması önemli bir etmendir.Tez kapsamında, kimlik, kurumsal kimlik, küreselleşme ve kimlik etkileşimi, mekan ve algı kavramları ile hızlı servis restoranlardaki mimari ve iç mimari kriterler incelenmiştir.
Beş bölümden oluşan oluşan bu tez çalışmasının giriş bölümünde; tezin amacı, kapsamı ve yöntemi belirtilmiştir. Kavramsal yapıyı ve tanımları içeren ikinci bölümde; öncelikli olarak kimlik kavramı ele alınmış, sonrasında kimlik ve kurum kimliği kavramı ile  kurumsal kimlik çalışmasının etkileşim içinde olduğu alanlar incelenmiştir.Son yıllarda küreselleşme olgusu ile kimlik ve farklılaşma konusu yoğun bir şekilde önem kazanmıştır. Küreselleşmenin etkileri ekoloji, kültür, ekonomi, eğitim ve birçok alanda görülmektedir. Çeşitli alanlardaki bu etkilenmeler kurumsal kimlik kavramı açısından da önemli olduğundan çalışma içinde küreselleşme kavramı ve kimlik etkileşimine yer verilmiştir. Kurumsal kimlik kavramının mekan tasarımı ile olan ilişkisi konusunda; mekan kavramı çok önemlidir. Mekan bileşenlerinin anlamları ve algısal etkileri konusunda çalışmalar incelenerek mekan tasarımının, kurumsal tasarımının önemli parçalarından biri olduğu ve mekan bileşenlerinin her birinin yüklendiği anlamlarının mekan algısını değiştirdiği gözlemlenmiştir. Mekanı oluşturmak için kesin sınırlar yerine, duyularla algılanabilecek biçimde, desen ve doku ile de görsel olarak mekanın sınırlanması konusuna değinilmiştir. Algılamanın tüm duyular yoluyla oluştuğu ve mekan algısının da tüm duyuların etkisiyle geliştiği görülmektedir. Bu amaçla bilgi verme açısından algı ve mekan algısı konuları da çalışma içinde yer almaktadır.
Üçüncü bölümde; hızlı servis restoranlarının tanımı, dünyadaki ve Türkiye'deki gelişimi konularına değinilmiş ve bu tür restoranlarda olması gereken mimari ve iç mimari bileşenler açıklanmıştır. Kurumsal kimlik kavramının hızlı servis restoranları iç mekan tasarımlarına yansıtılmasında yararlanılan başlıca tasarım bileşenleri; mekanı oluşturan mimari bileşenler ve kullanıcılara ilişkin kriterler olarak iki ana başlık altına toplanmıştır.
Mimari ve iç mimari bileşenler olarak belirlenen konular, kurumsal kimlik kavramının hızlı servis restoranlarındaki mekan tasarımına etkileri, küreselleşme sonrasında en çok sözü edilen ve ilk fast food restoranı olması açısından McDonald's markası üzerinden bir örnek analiz olarak ele alınmıştır. Bu kapsamda araştırmacının kurum için tasarladığı restoranlardan seçilen örnekler üzerinden yapılan tespitler, gözlemler ve planlamalar üzerinden yapılan değerlendirmelere ilave olarak inşaat departmanı müdürü, restoran müdürleri ve yöneticilerle yapılan görüşmeler ile yapılan anket çalışması sonuçlarından yararlanılmıştır. 
Sonuçta, kurumların kimlik ve vizyonlarını gösterdikleri olan olan mekanlarda iletişim içeren eylemler gerçekleşmektedir. Mimari ürünlerin bünyesinde barındırdığı simgesel anlamlar, mimari ürünün kimlik özelliklerinin, kurumun imajına göre ortaya çıktığı görülmektedir. Modern dünyanın, hızlı gelişmenin ve rekabet ortamının yarattığı kimlik edinme çalışmaları, mekan tasarımına etkileri belli simgesel anlamlarla iletilmektedir. Hizmet kalitesi yanında mekan kailtesinin de müşterilerin işletmeyi tercih kriterleri içinde olduğu yapılan araştmalar ile görülmektedir

Abstract:
The need of the corporations to reflect identity to their image points out to the need for the design of a corporate identity. This study examines the relationship between the corporate identity and the spatial design in fast service restaurants. A detailed research has been carried out on McDonald's restaurants to illustrate how the corporate identity reflects on the spatial design and how visibility is attained within space.It is seen that the corporations conveyed in the past and still convey at present their values using the architectural design as a medium and by benefiting from various symbols and shapes related to them. The formation of the identity nourished by the corporate culture and the corporate image to reflect such corporate identity should be incorporated into spaces within architectural integrity. Within this scope, communication between the space and the user through architectural elements is a strong factor facilitating and enhancing the visibility of the corporate identity. Within the scope of thesis, the concepts of identity, corporate identity, interaction of globalization and identity, the concepts of space and perception and the architectural and interior architecture criteria in fast food restaurants have been examined.
The introductory part of this thesis, which consists of five parts, lays down the purpose, scope and method of the thesis. The second part, covering conceptual structure and definitions, first addresses the concept of identity and then examines the areas, where the concepts of identity and corporate identity interact with the efforts aimed at corporate identity.Corporate identity plays a very important role in communicating the overarching corporate philosophy to people and identifying necessary architectural components. Architecture is a modern and agile field that can evolve and adapt the elements of corporate identity to the customer trends and needs. In the conceptual work of the thesis, topic of globalization is examined as it plays a significant role in the rise of the concept corporate identity.

Recently, identity and diversity have become intensely important along with the phenomenon of globalization. The impacts of globalization can be observed in ecology, culture, economy, education and in many other areas. As such interactions in various realms are important for the concept of corporate identity as well, the study also includes the concept of globalization and interaction of identities. The concept of space is very important in terms of the relationship of the concept of corporate identity with the spatial design. People tend to think space as in the architectural sense. Through space the identity is communicated by using visual elements. While modernism does not embrace communicating the identity through visual definitions in the consumer societies, post-modernism Triggered by the increasing competition, corporations began their corporate identity creation efforts where they could differentiate themselves and express their unique identity in their architectural spaces via visual definitions. The studies on the implications of the spatial constituents and their perceptual influences have been examined and it has been observed that the spatial design is one of the important parts of corporate design and that the implications assumed by each spatial constituent change the perception of space. It is mentioned that the space can be limited visually through patterns and textures that can be perceived through senses, rather than setting absolute boundaries to create the space. It is seen that perception takes place through all senses and that the perception of space develops with the influence of all senses. This is because that space is where a brand makes the initial and direct contact with the customer. The notion of perception is a very crucial component of this study. The starting point of communication is feeling and perceiving the interior space by senses. This way people start a mindful process of assigning various definitions and values to the architectural elements and symbols that they feel and perceive around them in order to communicate.For this purpose, the topics of perception and spatial perception are also included in the study for information purposes.The third part addresses the definition of fast food restaurants and their development in the world and in Turkey; and the architectural and interior architectural constituents necessary for such restaurants are explained. The main design constituents used to reflect the concept of corporate identity on the interior spatial designs of fast food restaurants are classified under two main groups; being the architectural constituents constituting the space and the criteria relating to the users.  The matters classified as architectural and interior architectural constituents and the impacts of the concept of corporate identity on the spatial design in fast food restaurants are addressed by an exemplary analysis through the McDonald's trademark, being the first and most talked about fast food restaurant of the post-globalization era. Within this scope, the determinations and observations on the samples picked among the restaurants designed by researcher for the corporation and assessments on planning have been used in addition to the interviews with the construction department director, restaurant managers and directors and the results of the survey performed.Observations have been made on 5 restaurants constructed before the standard concepts and 5 restaurants constructed after certain concepts were accepted as standards in 2010, which restaurants are picked specifically for analysis. Examples have been picked so that the restaurants picked would also include the McD Cafe concept, which is developing as a side brand of McDonald's. Benefiting from the interviews with the managers of such restaurants and the architects in charge of architectural projects of McDonald's in Turkey, an analysis has been made on architecture and the constituents of interior architecture in the realm of Fast Service Restaurants through McDonald's restaurants.100 individuals were surveyed using quote sampling methodology targeting 4 main, equally distributed group of individuals: 25 middle/high-income level (for higher income level, parents of individuals who went to private schools were accepted and selections were done randomly based on that), 25 low-income level (families in this group were randomly selected from low-income individuals who went to public schools), 25 graduate degree and 25 post-graduate degree professionals. Survey participants with up to a high school degree were mostly the parents of younger children where those with a higher education degree were university students and working professionals.
How the corporate identity elements are reflected on a commercial space is an important matter to understand how that corporate image is perceived in that space by the patrons. This is a major factor in the reconsideration of that space/establishment in the future. Studies done examining this phenomenon have clearly stated the noteworthy differences in how patrons perceive the brand image based on their age, income level and education levels. Based on these studies, it's explained with statistical significance that patrons who are younger, male and with a middle education levels have a more positive perception of the brand image than patrons who are older, women, and with higher education levels, respectively. 
As a result of the observations and analyses conducted, the notion of corporate identity, which is the foundational focus of this thesis, is clearly used as a management tool and highly valued by the global McDonald's brand. The corporate culture that exists within this framework continues its historical growth through change and evolution. The corporate identity guidelines sourced from individual interactions and business relationships weren't permitted for use due to confidentiality restrictions. Evaluations were based on the information released on the company website and information gathered from interviews.

The results of the analyses performed reveal that, in general, the criteria for architectural and interior space designs are on a line to reflect corporate identity at McDonald's restaurants. The architectural language is based on a certain discourse, and the message intended is reflected through spaces and visual arrangements. Visual graphic arrangements used in interior spaces vary depending on the location of the restaurant and the target audience, pointing out to the fact that the user's perception is taken seriously. Digital printing over laminate has replaced stickers so that the visuals used on the walls would last longer. Fixed and moving seat units, combined with the cafe concept integrated into the trademark, enable longer and more comfortable stay in parallel with the changing consumer trends and the competitive environment. Although the fast service restaurant image continues to shorten the delivery period for the order, the customers are asked to spend longer time at the restaurant. Accelerated daily life, flow of business and time flowing more rapidly in all aspects reflect on consumer behaviors as well and these trends play an important role in terms of design and setup for all firms working in a customer-oriented manner. Currently developing coffee concepts and coffee shops have brought about the creation of a side trademark in this field, especially for McDonald's but also for Subway, another international trademark in FSR, and it is seen that these trademarks have started creating spaces serving coffee alone abroad. 
As a result, actions of communication take place in these spaces, where the corporations demonstrate their identities and visions. It is seen that the symbolic meanings and the identity traits embodied by the architectural products are put forth depending on the corporate image. The efforts to gain an identity created by the modern world, fast development and the competitive environment and their efforts on the spatial design are conveyed through certain symbolic meanings. It is seen that spatial quality as well as service quality are also among the criteria for the clients for preferring a certain enterprise.
The results of this study find that the architectural design should be taken seriously as an element with an impact on the consumer preferences. The firms may be preferred due to their attributes considered to be positive and may not be preferred due to their attributes considered to be negative. So, it follows that architectural design is an element that one is affected from without noticing. It has been observed that the clients desire to be at the restaurants that they like. The fast service restaurants spreading rapidly at present are perceived by the mass audiences by their visual identities at first and they make an impression conveyed,on their minds by such visual identity. The stronger the impact of visual identity in a FSR, the better it is remembered and kept in the mind; and the better and the more accurate the message the more it is preferred.