A RESEARCH ON THE USE OF OTTOMAN-ISLAMIC HERITAGE AS A CONSUMPTION OBJECT IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE

The Islamic heritage contains a rich cultural diversity with residential and public buildings such as traditional houses, mosques, palaces, and caravanserais that belong to the Ottoman Empire period. The character of the Islamic tradition is reflected in the environment-form-space organizations and construction techniques of these buildings. But today, the influence of the Islamic heritage has begun to be represented with the dominance of consumption-oriented culture and technology. The references taken from the architecture influenced by Islam are reduced to pure visuality and fashion. Especially, Ottoman architecture and its traditional elements become consumption objects that put visuality in the foreground in contemporary design practices. The Ottoman-Islamic heritage is referenced by imitating traditional buildings’ facades or copying structural elements. These new buildings produced with today’s technologies under the name of continuity of historical culture aim to fulfill the demands of the capitalist economy rather than conveying the essence of design. The study criticizes the transformation of Ottoman-Islamic architecture’s authenticity into “looking/pretending authentic” as a theme. In this context, this study discusses the Ottoman-Islamic heritage has become an object of consumption through a variety of examples that are located in Turkey such as hotels, shopping centers, residential buildings.

Mosque Architecture in Cyprus—Visible and Invisible Aspects of Form and Space, 19th to 21st Centuries

A comprehensive analysis of Cypriot mosque architecture between the 19th and 21st centuries, from the Ottoman and British colonial periods to the present, does not exist. The phase after 1974, after the division of the island into a Turkish Cypriot, predominantly Muslim north and a Greek Cypriot, mainly Christian south, is especially insufficiently studied. This paper aims to interpret Cypriot mosque architecture and its meaning(s) through a comparative analysis, considering cultural, religious, and political developments. Based on an architectural survey and studies about Muslim Cypriot culture, this study investigates formal and spatial characteristics, focusing on the presence/absence of domed plan typologies and of minarets which, as visual symbolic markers, might express shifting cultural-religious notions and/or identities. Inconspicuous mosques without domes and minarets dominate until 1974. However, with the inter-communal tensions in the 1960s, the minaret possibly became a sign of Turkish identity, besides being a cultural-religious marker. This becomes more obvious after 1974 and is stressed by the (re)introduction of the dome. Since the late 1990s, an ostentatious and unprecedented neo-Ottoman architecture emphasizes visible and invisible meanings, and the Turkish presence in Cyprus stronger than before. The new architectural language visually underlines the influences from Turkey that North Cyprus has been experiencing.

Contribution to the study of public buildings of ottoman architecture in Southern and Eastern Serbia

The paper presents buildings from the period of Ottoman domination in southern and eastern Serbia. The paper first presents the architectural analysis of the buildings in question. The historical context of their construction, their original function and the social role they had when they were created are also considered. A special emphasis was placed on the analysis of the current state of preservation of these buildings, their new functions and the role they play in society today.

Making the Unwanted Visible: A Narrative on Abdülhamid Ii’s Ambitious Project for Yedikule Central Prison in Istanbul

This study aims to investigate three architectural projects proposed for constructing a central prison inside the Yedikule Fortress in Istanbul during the end of the 19th c. Ottoman State assigned the famous architects of the era for this mission such as August Jasmund, Alexandre Vallaury, and Kemaleddin. The narration on the projects shows that there was a strong intention for constructing a central prison in the capital of Ottoman Empire as a sign of success for the overall penalty and prison reform that was one of the main goals for Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II (r. 1876-1909). The interpretation of these distinctive projects is significant since this interpretation helps us both to understand the transformation of the criminal justice spaces of the Ottoman Empire and to provide a new perspective for reading 19th c. Ottoman architecture.

An Idiosyncratic Building in Amasya? Early Ottoman Architecture and the Waqfiyya of the Yakub Pasha Çilehane-Mosque

This article examines the waqfiyya of the earliest surviving Halveti lodge, the Yakub Pasha Çilehane-Mosque in Amasya. Built in 1412 by the Ottoman vizier Yakub Pasha for his shaykh, Gümüşlüoğlu Abdurrahman, the foundation of this building stands at the intersection of historical processes such as the development of Ottoman architecture and Sufism, and urban colonization in Anatolia during Ottoman expansion in the fifteenth century. The particular layout of the Çilehane contributes to debates on the role of form vs. function in the categorization and naming of early Ottoman T-shaped buildings. Its waqfiyya, however, is the earliest record of the practices, organization, and rituals of the Halveti Sufi order and the networks involved in its transfer from Iran to the Ottoman world. In addition to providing the Arabic text, translation, and photographs of the waqfiyya, the article discusses the potential of this recently unearthed document to contribute to the abovementioned fifteenth-century debates.

The Evolution of Ottoman Architecture and its Distinct Characteristics

Architecture reflects and pinpoints its nation’s progress and mindset. Ottoman Empire, which ruled over three continents, is known for its unique and magnificent architecture represented by grand mosques, seminaries and imperial palaces .The so called Ottoman Architecture was created with in the domain of the Ottoman Empire and is known for its distinct characteristics. This architecture was initially influenced by Seljuk architecture. All Ottoman Sultans had special taste for architecture .Later on, the center was shifted to the capital of the fallen Byzantine Empire, and thus got inspirations from byzantine art .The most well۔known architect of that era was Sinan who revolutionized the art of architecture. He designed almost three hundred buildings distinguished for spacious courtyards surrounded by vast gardens. In the 18th century, Ottoman Sultanate came into contact with Europe, and therefore Baroque influences came to be seen in their architecture. Hence, internal decorations became prominent in the architecture.

Formulation of historic residential architecture as a background to urban conservation

PurposeThe paper explores how interpretations of vernacular traditional architecture played a significant role in the development of urban conservation practice in Turkey in the 1960s and 1970s. At the turn of the 20th century, the value of Ottoman historic residential architecture began to develop with the label of the Turkish House. At the turn of the 20th century, historic residential architecture of the Ottoman Empire gained a heritage value and labeled as the Turkish House. Thus, these houses became a part of a national heritage discourse, though their preservation only came to agenda in the early 1970s through preservation programs for Istanbul's waterfront mansions (yali). Turkey simultaneously adapted international heritage developments throughout the 1960s and the 1970s and introduced urban conservation both in practice and in theory to heritage management system of Turkey.Design/methodology/approachThe main research material is derived from the archives of the primary preservation council of Turkey that functioned from 1951 to 1983. The earlier works of the members of the council, journals of the period and urban projects are investigated to outline the complexities of urban conservation.FindingsThis paper explores how modernist efforts of the early 20th century framed traditional Ottoman architecture with the label “Turkish House.” In addition, it reveals how preserving the Turkish House was a major motivation that triggered early urban conservation attempts primarily along Istanbul's Bosporus shores.Originality/valueThe paper outlines dynamics of urban conservation. It outlines that urban conservation did not only emerge as a response to postwar context, but it was also a historic continuation of modernist understandings of “cultural heritage.”

Surface Weathering of Tuffs: Compositional and Microstructural Changes in the Building Stones of the Medieval Castles of Hungary

Volcanic tuffs have a historical tradition of usage in Northern Hungary as dimension stones for monumental construction, Ottoman architecture, common dwellings, etc., admirable at its best in the medieval castles of Eger and Sirok. This research explores tuff deterioration in the castle walls, dealing with the mineralogical composition, microstructure, trace-element geochemistry, and microporosity of the surface weathering products and the near-surface stone substrate. The classic microscopic and mineralogical techniques–optical microscopy, SEM-EDS, and XRD–were supported by ICP-MS and nitrogen adsorption analyses. The textures and mineral assemblages of the tuffs are partly diverse, and so are the weathering characteristics, although including common features such as secondary crystallization of gypsum, swelling clay minerals, and iron oxides-hydroxides; deposition of airborne pollutants, i.e., carbon particles and heavy metals; formation of crusts and patinas; decreased surface microporosity. Nonetheless, the entity of deterioration varies, in relation to air pollution–involving changing emissions from road and rail transport–and the specific tuff texture, porosity, and durability–affecting pollutant absorption. The studied stone monuments offer the possibility to examine materials with analogue composition and petrogenesis but utilized in different environmental contexts, which allow pointing out the environmental and lithological constraints and cause-effect relationships related to surface weathering.