Architecture and Sinan
Stone carving is something like addiction which has gone beyond a vocation in Gesi, Bürüngüz, Tomarza and Ağırnas. The Stones in relevant places are soft and easy to carve. They get hard under some weather conditions and as the seasonal impacts pass over them, finally to become “stones”.
One day a kid with a smart vision was born in one of these places and he started to watch the work of master-builders. He grabbed all he observed, and one day he started to build small domes and miniature bridges in the same method he saw. We are yet to know who discovered his talent, but Sinan moved to İstanbul from Kayseri at the age of 22. He finished his education, visited hundreds of places and observed architectural characteristics of these places. He became fond of some works, but finds deficiencies in some others. He could get inspiration from anything which was handmade. He took his inspiration from everything around him and he used to take detailed notes about everything.
After a long period of observation and experiencing, he started building at the age of 40 to make his trustees honoured. He went beyond design, he also standardized and checked all building equipments and materials throughout the emperorship. He also audited the construction works of other states and he was fond of making discussions about aesthetics and methods in the Hassa association of architects. That is, he was not just a minister of public works, but also a director of technical works and municipal police of his locality.
Sinan the Architect worked hard and presented his country lots of mosques, bridges, madrasahs, workhouses, dispensaries, khans, Turkish baths and caravanserais. It’s interesting but none of his works look like the others. He always revived himself, by breaking the limits and stereotypes. He could manage to produce 477 works of art in his short period of architectural life. He put a taller and larger dome than the one in Hagia Sophia, one of the important values of Christianity, to his mosque named Selimiye. He demonstrated the summit of his mastership by catching a more elegant and lighter interior inside the mosque.
We had celebrated the week of architecture on the 4th and 5th of October to commemorate Sinan the Architect, who now has an important place in the field of architecture both on the national and global scale. The Activity named “Kentin Ruhunda Mimar Sinan-Sinan the Architect in the Spirit of City” focused on Ağırnas. As we all know, Sinan the Architect left important works of art not just inside Turkey, but also in all places within the borders of Ottoman Emperorship. As a worldly famous architect, his works are analyzed in doctoral and master theses, projects and in other studies. Sinan the Architect was the eclipse point of carving time into space and meaning onto the Stone.
When it comes to architecture, it is important that the places in which we spend out times are comfortable, peaceful and aesthetical and they should stand against passing centuries. We take Sinan the Architects works as the best as they endured for so many years and they set an example in terms of aesthetics. Because the mosques, bridges and caravanserais he constructed have inspired the architects of modern times and they are now taking him as an example in their works. No doubt, Sinan the Architect is by far the best and most valuable master of architecture in our culture. He took his place in our hearts by his works we see everywhere and he has now become a brand-name for the career of today’s architects. It’s crucial that we introduce him to todays and next generations and protect his works to present new dimensions to modern architecture with modern technology and information.
We take his words as a setting point “I hope that the wise people of future will see my works as long as the world exists and they will take my efforts for granted with a fair eye and pray for me with their innermost feelings”. We are very proud to have him as a cultural figure and pray for him with all our goodness.
