Spatial Composition of Selected Ottoman Mosques by Mimar Sinan 1540-1580

Spatial Composition of Selected Ottoman Mosques

by Mimar Sinan, 1540-1580

a diagrammatic analysis Alexander Rosenthal ARH 510: Islamic Architecture

Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque, from Kuran, 1987

I have selected 12 mosques designed by Mimar Sinan, chief royal architect of the Ottoman Empire between 1540 and 1588, with the intention of analyzing their spatial composition and geometric relationships diagrammatically. The relationship between spaces in the built environment, whether interior and described by a building, exterior and bound by natural or built elements, or a combination of the two and mutually engaged through a coherent relationship of volumes and proportions, while rarely analyzed by those who use them, inherently affect people in ways that may not be easy to pinpoint. How a space feels, and how it relates to previous spaces and forthcoming spaces in a sequence (the procession into a mosque is a fine example) has an impact on the user. Hopefully the impact is one that is supportive of the intended purpose of the building or space. Through a diagrammatic analysis, I will demonstrate that proportional relatedness was a key element of Sinan’s architecture, and perhaps the underlying order behind the spaces that he created.

Much of the historic Islamic architecture that we have studied has been associated with rulers, locations and time periods, but rarely did we discuss the people responsible for the design and construction of the buildings. The single exception is Sinan, and for good reason. His name has been attributed to hundreds of buildings, including mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and royal complexes for the sultans of his time.

In Sinan’s work, as these 12 examples show, he experimented continuously with structure and spatial arrangements. Sinan’s earlier mosques were of a squarebased, central dome type. In some plans the prayer hall lies entirely beneath the dome, while in others the prayer hall extends into flanking galleries or sub-spaces, covered by semi-domes. Sinan’s experiments with structure and its spatial ordering led him to make extensive use of hexagonal-based domes, injected into rectangular and square plans, and octagonal-based domes, speaking to rectangular and square plans, but often standing free, with the building rising up around the sub-structure to meet the dome high above the prayer hall. While similarities in spatial arrangement can be found between the 12 examples herein, each represents a unique variant on the schemes that Sinan used again and again.

Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Uskudar (1540-48) Sinan Pasa Mosque, Besiktas (1555) Suleymaniye Mosque (1550-57) Molla Celebi Mosque, Findikli (1562) Rustem Pasa Mosque, Tahtakale (1562) Kara Ahmet Pasa Mosque, Topkapi (1558-65) Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Edimekapi (1562-65) Sokollu Mosque, Kadirga (1572) Piyale Pasa Mosque (1573) Selimiye Mosque, Edime (1568-75) Zal Mahmut Pasa Mosque, Eyup (1577) Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque, Tophane (1580)

Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Uskudar (1540-48)

Square-based dome surrounded by three semi-domes.

The proportion of the prayer hall to the mihrab beneath the semi-dome is based on similar rectangles.

The square-based dome is based on a 2 x 2 module, recurring in the gallery spaces as well as outside of the prayer hall.

The same square created by the piers that support the dome are found one deep and three wide, generating the proportions of the late-comers’ porch.

Sinan Pasa Mosque, Besiktas (1555)

Hexagonal-based dome.

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The overall proportion of the prayer hall is very close to 2:1.

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The relationship of the depth of the prayer hall to the distance between the two free-standing piers is a square. The flanking spaces are each described by two squares, half the width of the larger square.

The rectangle that represents the overall width of the mosque and distance from the outside of the qibla wall to the inside of the courtyard wall is found to describe several other proportional relationships in the prayer hall and the courtyard.

An equilateral triangle describes width to depth relationships of the courtyard; the point at which a visitor steps beneath the cover of the arcade as they prepare to enter the mosque and the width of the qibla wall; and the width of major structural elements of the prayer hall (that undoubtedly has a strong presence in the room), and the mihrab.

Suleymaniye Mosque (1550-57)

Square-based dome with semi-domes above the qibla wall and opposite wall.

The proportions of the courtyard are repeated, creating the rationale for the width and depth of the spaces surrounding the main dome, the larger corner spaces opposite the qibla wall, and the pavilion covering the fountain in the courtyard.

Similar rectangles describe the proportions of the main prayer hall (emphasized linearly through the continuity of space beneath the dome and semi-domes) and the overall proportions of the mosque, including the courtyard. The proportions of the fountain are also suggestive of following this pattern.

An equilateral triangle describes the proportional relationship between the width of the prayer hall and the distance from the mihrab to the two main piers furthest away. The same proportion describes the overall width of the mosque to its depth, and two proportions of width to depth in the courtyard.

Molla Celebi Mosque, Findikli (1562)

Hexagonal-based dome with protruding semi-dome-covered mihrab niche.

The proportions of the prayer hall, when divided in two, create a rectangle and proportional relationship that is repeated in the mihrab niche and closely describes the two wings of the street level arcade.

The implied subdivision of space by the two piers at the sides of the prayer hall yields sub-spaces that are three square modules wide. The same module generally describes the interior width of the mihrab niche and depth to the outside of the qibla wall. The three-to-one module describes the structural relationship between the free-standing piers that support the dome, the columns of the arcade, and its overall width.

The proportion of width of the prayer hall between piers and the distance from the center of the dome to the mihrab is that of an equilateral triangle.

Rustem Pasa Mosque, Tahtakale (1562)

Octagonal-based dome.

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The 3:1 relationship of the square prayer hall to the flanking gallery modules is inverted to describe the overall proportions of the late-comers’ porch and arcade, and the width of the bay on axis with the mihrab.

The overall proportions of the prayer hall, including gallery spaces, are the same as the proportions of the late-comers’ porch.

The prayer hall and the latecomers’ porch each take the proportions of two equilateral triangles, end to end.

The width of the arcade and its distance to the mihrab are the proportions of an equilateral triangle.

Kara Ahmet Pasa Mosque, Topkapi (1558-65)

Hexagonal-based dome.

The rectangle implied by four of the exposed columns that support the dome describes the same proportional relationship of the prayer hall itself, the courtyard including the side arcades, and the two spaces resulting from the implied subdivision of the courtyard by the fountain.

The proportions implied by the hexagonal structure that supports the dome in the prayer hall are previewed in the overall proportions of the courtyard, including the arcades.

The proportions of the courtyard are described by an equilateral triangle, seen again in the prayer hall, as the width of the space between the free-standing columns, and the distance between the mihrab and the exposed columns toward the opposite wall.

Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Edimekapi (1562-65)

Square-based dome.

The square, delineated by the depth of the prayer hall and the width between gallery columns, is a proportion found again in the overall width of the prayer hall (including the gallery spaces), and the distance between the qibla wall and the edge of the courtyard.

The courtyard takes the proportions of two squares side by side.

The overall proportions of the courtyard, including the arcade, are the same as those of the prayer hall, including the gallery.

The rectangles that describe the courtyard and prayer hall, each take the proportions of two equilateral triangles arranged end to end.

Sokollu Mosque, Kadirga (1572)

Asymmetrical hexagonal-based dome.

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The proportions of the prayer hall are 3:2, the same as the relationship between the depth of the courtyard and the overall width between the outside walls.

The square that is implied beneath the dome is a module that is repeated and doubled in the courtyard.

The courtyard and the prayer hall are related proportionally by similar rectangles.

The rectangles that describe the proportions of the courtyard and prayer hall are derived from equilateral triangles.

Piyale Pasa Mosque (1573)

Non-centralized, multi-domed prayer hall.

The square module beneath each dome informs the proportional relationship between the depth of the prayer hall and the depth of the gallery and arcade spaces.

The proportional relationship between the width of the prayer hall and the distance between the arcade columns and the qibla wall is echoed by the overall proportions of the mosque.

The width of the prayer hall and the distance from its structural edge to the mihrab is described by an equilateral triangle, as is the overall width and depth of the mosque.

Selimiye Mosque, Edime (1568-75)

Octagonal-based dome with protruding semi-dome-covered mihrab niche.

The overall proportions of the mosque can be divided into four modules that very closely describe the interior of the courtyard and the exterior of the prayer hall.

The proportions of the courtyard and surrounding arcade are found to closely describe those of the prayer hall.

The same equilateral triangle that describes the width and depth of the courtyard to the point where a visitor enters the space of the prayer hall is found to relate the distance between stair towers at the structural edge of the prayer hall space to the distance from the opposite wall to the mihrab.

Zal Mahmut Pasa Mosque, Eyup (1577)

Square-based dome.

The square beneath the dome, spatially reinforced by the gallery columns and free-standing piers, is echoed by the overall width of the mosque, and the distance from exterior arcade columns to the qibla wall.

The proportions of the prayer hall, surrounded on three sides by gallery space, is described by an equilateral triangle.

Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque, Tophane (1580)

Square-based dome, centrally located and bound by two semidomes and protruding semidome-covered mihrab niche.

The square that describes the space beneath the main dome can be subdivided into modules that further describe the overall proportions of the prayer hall, the distance between piers, and the distance from the edge of the space beneath the main dome to the edge of the flanking galleries.

The square beneath the dome, when offset toward and away from the qibla wall, further reinforce the 2:1 square module.

The central square, when examined from the middle of the piers and divided into thirds as the gallery columns suggest, accurately describes the proportions of the flanking gallery spaces, as well as the space just inside the main wall of the mosque, opposite the qibla wall, and bound by two sets of stairs on either end.

The relationship between the overall width of the mosque and the distance from the two dome-supporting piers furthest from the qibla wall, the width of the arcade and its distance to the center of the main dome, and the width of the structural grid suggested by the piers and the distance from the qibla wall to the center of the dome, can all be described by the relationship of base to height of an equilateral triangle.

While I attempt to make no ultimate conclusions about how Mimar Sinan approached the design of buildings, it is remarkable to note how the composition and proportion of spaces relate to one another many times over in these 12 works. Could it be that he intentionally echoed the proportions of the prayer hall in the dimensioning of the courtyard? Is it coincidence that the proportion of an equilateral triangle’s base to its height appears so often in the proportions of these buildings? If Sinan’s intention was to create spatial harmony in his buildings through repeated proportions, he has succeeded, whether through intuition or through calculated, methodical planning.

Through this diagramming process I have attempted to reverse engineer some of the design decisions that Sinan may have made in planning 12 of his mosques. While some of the proportions revealed may not have been intentionally used in his designs, spatial composition and proportional relatedness were undoubtedly valuable to both the architect and the users of the space, and provided the rationale behind the order that his buildings exhibit.

Bibliography: Necipoglu, Gulru. The Age of Sinan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Günay, Reha. Sinan: The Architect and His Works. Istanbul: YapiEndüstri Merkezi Yayinlari, 1998.

Erzen, Jale. “Sinan as Anti-Classicist.” Muqarnas 5 (1988): 70-86.

Güngör, I. H. “The Dome in Sinan’s Work.” Environmental Design: Journal of the Islamic Environmental Design Research Centre 1-2 (1987): 156-167.

Kuran, Aptullah. Sinan: The Grand Old Master of Ottoman Architecture. Washington, D.C.: Institute of Turkish Studies, Inc., 1987. Özer, Bülend. “The Architect of Domed Mosques as a Master of Pluralism.” Environmental Design: Journal of the Islamic Environmental Design Research Centre 1-2 (1987): 146-155.

Gebhard, David “The Problem of Space in the Ottoman Mosque.” The Art Bulletin 45, no. 3 (September 1963): 271-275.

Plans used in this document were scanned from Kuran, 1987, and graphically modified to highlight structural elements.