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Evaluation of Mimar Sinan's architecture, firstly as a part of the general Ottoman urban order, and secondly, focusing on the Süleymaniye Mosque through its spatial and structural features.
Evaluation of Mimar Sinan's architecture, firstly as a part of the general Ottoman urban order, and secondly, focusing on the Süleymaniye Mosque through its spatial and structural features.
Ottoman architecture has been under the influence of the architecture of eastern and western cultures due to its location. But in the Ottoman Empire, there was the iqta system, not the fedolic system in Europe. Because of this city planning method, Ottoman cities had different layouts from European cities.
Cities rose around foundation structures. The foundation, which was in the center of the city, included mosques, schools, baths, inns, madrasas, fountains, libraries, tombs, soup kitchens and hospitals. The services affiliated to this institution were located in the form of a soup kitchen or a complex. Imaret estates would be the core of new districts or contribute to the development of new cities to be established.
The buildings, which were built with this modularity approach, were built in a way that would represent history. The universe, the world, like god.
Since the Ottoman city was the economic, religious, administrative and cultural center, the urban functions were diversified; The network of inter-functional relations determines the content of the city, hence its form. One of the features of the Ottoman city is the division of the city into two main parts. Religious, economic and cultural activities are located in the center. the other area consists of residences.
Architect Sinan had a good grasp of the geographical and sociological environment of his time; Complexes of religious, educational and social structures define the silhouette of the city and the cultural landscape of the city. When we examine the architecture of Mimar Sinan, we can see that he has an architecture that is extremely respectful to both the natural and built environment and the human scale, and is based on the existing environment.
When we examine their structures, we see that they are compatible with the city silhouette and not randomly placed gigantic structures. As in the Rabi and Salis madrasas in the Süleymaniye Kulliye, he places the structures on the land in a natural way, gradually.
It is physically and emotionally attached to the natural and built environment. A structure that cares about the human scale, the physical dimension and the perception dimension. Although it has monumental dimensions, people can experience this situation as a part of it without being crushed by internalizing it while walking around and inside the buildings.
The Süleymaniye Complex is the largest complex of the Ottoman Empire. While creating such a large and detailed physical environment, not only a mosque with a large dome was built, but also a foundation work that covers many areas of social life and a small city planning that integrates with Istanbul. Hospital, guesthouse, mosque, education areas, shops etc. had items.
In the days when it was opened for worship, Süleymaniye was placed between the complex buildings, tiled roof houses that did not exceed three floors, and cypresses. The plan of the main mass of the mosque is designed in a rectangle that is close to a square, slightly elongated in the southeast-northwest axis.
The rectangular volume area, four large supports placed in suitable positions and the arches placed on them form the carrier system for the central dome. The long niches and chamfered corners carved into the faces of the four thick carriers built with smooth cut stones make the huge elephant feet look more delicate than they really are. Four big arch domes rising on these pillars are supported by a pulley forming a carrier system, and this pulley, which provides light to the middle space accompanied by many windows, carries the main dome with a diameter of 27.40 meters and a height of 53 meters.
Light was also given great importance, with windows opened quite frequently. Apart from the mihrab windows, which are covered with elephant eyes on the outside and revils on the inside, hundreds of windows that provide a homogeneous light to the building have created a bright interior. XVI, especially concentrated on the mihrab wall. The colored lights filtering through the revzen windows, which are attributed to the master Sarhoş Ibrahim, with the 17th century Iznik tiles, are the other elements that make the interior effective.
REFERENCES
• SDU Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences, August 2016, No: 38, pp. 203-226.
• TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, 2010, No:38, pp 114-119, Istanbul,
• Kuban, D.; “Interior Formation in Ottoman Religious Architecture – A Comparison with Renaissance”, Güven Press and Publishing House, ITU Faculty of Architecture, pp.15-16, Istanbul, 1958.
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