The next door apartment block has just received an unusual spring makeover. Over a period of two weeks, we watched in bemused amusement as the entire building (excluding the roof) was clad in grey polystyrene tiles. These were eventually rendered then whitewashed to suit Bodrum’s standard livery. The re-modelling was watched from the opposite side of the street by one of the residents, a little old man wearing an embroidered pillbox* hat and an inscrutable perma-grin.
Buildings hereabouts are little more than simple concrete boxes and are notoriously difficult to keep warm in the winter or cool in the summer. They would also collapse like a pack of cards if an earthquake struck. So, is this some new and ingenious insulation technique – like a tea cosy or a padded jacket for a hot water tank? If so, let’s hope it breaks the time honoured annual cycle of frostbite and heatstroke. The unconventional wrap was completed just in the nick of time. The following day the mother of all storms lashed the coast. The rickety scaffolding would surely not have survived the tempest. Neither would the little old man.
*This type of hat is called a kufi kofi hat in parts of Africa but I don’t know what it’s called in Turkey – any ideas?
Perking the Pansies 
Polystyrene cladding sounds… uncomfortable. Maybe it’s experimental.
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Wouldn’t be necessary if insulation was added when it was built!
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Yes, insulation is a simple concept and the answer to extreme heat and cold too!
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I want that tea cosy. Does it come with knitting instructions? (As if !)
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Don’t be silly!
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I’m sure the tiles will fall off. This is what as known as “job security.” They will be back time and time again to replace them.
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I have never seen such bad quality builds as I have seen here in Turkey I can’t imagine how any of it stands up. The cladding business just seems to cover up, much like the pebble dash craze back in the UK, hiding cracks and major faults. After saying all that the ‘make do’ attitude has a certain appeal and I am learning to live with it. No idea what they call that type of hat here, sorry.
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It’s all part of the rich tapestry of Turkish life!
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. . looks like a pouffe to me! 😉
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Just like my mum used to have. Come to think of it, she still does.
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