Architect Mimar Sinan - Book Report/Review Example

Architect Mimar Sinan Thesis statement Architectural work has undergone through series of metamorphosis from centuries to centuries. Various building such has residential, institutional as well as religious building has evolved from simple structures to modern and sophisticated ones. This transformation is because of the ancient dedicated and celebrated architects, one of those architects was Mimar Sinan. He was renowned for its architectural work that resulted into more than three hundred structures together with several modest projects that included Islamic primary schools and mosques. Examples of the mosques he worked on are Suleiman Mosque, which is found in Istanbul and Selimiye Mosque, which is found in Edirne (Rogers 58). He enormously contributed towards the evolution of architectural work of the modern Turkish. Introduction Mimar sinan was born in a Christian family in the year 1489 and lived up to 1588 when he died. He was renowed to be the chief Ottoman architect and the civil engineer for several sultans that include Selim II of the Suleiman the magnificent and Murad III. His history reveals that he was an heir to a stonemason; in addition, he was educated up to the level of technical that enabled him to become military engineer at a tender age of 21 years. His hard work and dedication made him to rise rapidly through the hierarchy from a mere an officer to Janissary commander (Pierpont 12). During his time in military, he sharpened both architectural and engineering skills where he became a specialist of constructing different types of structures that include buildings, bridges, aqueducts, and even roads. His success as an engineer and architect made him to be appointed an honorable position as the royal architect, at this time he was fifty years of age. He used his skills and experience to construct fine and prestigious religious buildings together with the different kinds of civil structures. His good work appeased the royals consequently, kept him in that position for a period of fifty years. Furthermore, he was entrusted with various governmental departments and participated in training of numerous assistants who later became his apprentices. Classic example of one of his famous assistants is Sedefkar Mehmmed Agha who was architecture of the famous Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Because of his success, Mimar Sinan was regarded as the greatest architect during the period of the Ottoman architecture. For this reason, he has drawn comparison with the legendary Michelangelo from the west. Sadly, the magnificent life and career as both an architect and an engineer came to abrupt stop in the year 1588 when he died. He was then buried in a tomb that he built for himself near Selimiye Mosque. Though he died, his legacy still lives on because around 196 out of all the buildings he constructed still exist. Furthermore, there in Istanbul, there is a university that is named after him; actually, the name of the university is Mimar Sinan University of Fine arts, to honor his contributions in architecture and engineering (Pierpont 212). Sinan Diaryz: A Walking Tour of Mimar Sinan's Monuments Without doubts, this book is compulsory for anybody who wishes to travel to Turkey or is interested in the ancient Ottoman Empire architectural work. The author has presented his work in a presentable and appealing manner with simple language and beautiful illustrations. Furthermore, the author has included Sinan’s diary that presents the reader with the personal touch of the Sinan’s important work. In this book, the author has brought Sinan back to life together with the rich Ottoma’s ancient culture in regards to the structural constructions. In addition, the 216 pages book also describes into details some of the Sinan’s important pieces of work that includes their history, their locations as well as how to locate them. A good example is the Shezade Mosque that he built in the year 1543 for sultan Suleyman in memory of his son Sehzade Mehmet who died at the tender age of 22 years. The author explains the events that leads to the building of this Mosque and why Sinan gave it the delicate touch. In the book, we discover that Shezade died when sultan Suleyman was in a Balkan campaign, Shezade was a son and the heir to the throne, and therefore Sultan Suleyman wanted a befitting send off for his son (Pierpont 82). The author also gave a detailed account of how Sinan planned to achieve his work in building this mosque. In this case, he collected sample designs of different mosques that enabled him in coming up with a magnificent mosque. The mosque itself had a central large dome with freestanding piers, which are octagonal fluted. Furthermore, the mosque had four piers incorporated in all of the lateral walls to offer support. There were also four turrets located at each corner above the roof levels to act as anchor stabilizers (Pierpont 112). This description is vital since it takes the reader back at that time. Most importantly, the author has incorporated pictures of the mosque to supplement his descriptions with the aim of making it appear vivid. Ann Pierpont who is the author of Sinan Diaryz: A Walking Tour of Mimar Sinan's Monuments has left enough empty spaces after each site she describes for the reader to affix their own photographs. This is a brilliant move because she allows the reader to be part of the book, which is a clear indicator that she has no pertinent issues as far as addition of foreign contents to the book is concerned. The main issue tackled by this book is the masterpiece work of the legendary Mimar Sinan. As you read the book, it is very difficult to believe that all of those structural works were done during the 16th century. Even at the look of the illustrations, the surviving buildings can still stand the test of modern civilization. Classic examples are pictures of the Mehmed Pasa Sokolovic Bridge that was built in the year 1577, the Ṣehzade Mehmet Mosque that was completed in the year 1548, the Osman Shah Mosque found in Trikala and completed by the year 1538 among the rest (Pierpont 156). All these works portray high standard of architectural and engineering works that has withstand the test of time. The production quality of this book is up to standard, with clear pictures containing hand painted frames. The printing is clear and visible while the font is large enough to enable reading to be easier. Furthermore, there are spaces left after every site described for the reader’s personal comments and picture. Additionally, the text itself is very interesting to read, because of its well-constructed sentences and beautiful illustrations that will leave anybody glued to the book for a long period. The ideal audiences for this book are the academics particularly the students embarking in academic field trip. This is because the book act as a guide for studying ancient Turkish architectural work, the empty pages provide space for the students to comment on or even make sketches of the structures identified. Sinan: Makers of Islamic Civilization Right from the book cover, there is a picture of a big building presuming a mosque that is thought to be one of the buildings designed and constructed by the Sinan. The entire book revolves around the life, architecture and the general influence of the Sinan from the time of his birth in the year 1489 to the time of his death in the year 1588. The book reveals that Sinan is the only Muslim architect whose name has appeared continuously with the rest of the greatest European. From a humble background to the famous royal architect, the book portrays Sanan as a hardworking and devoted young man with technical education. He got inspired from his father who was also an architect (Rogers 24). Right from the first page, the author who is J.M Rogers portray Sanan as a Mosque builder on behalf of the Muslim sultans. The author also gives an account of the origin of Sanan where he claimed that he was born in the year 1489 by the Rum (the present Armenian) Christian parents in a town called Agirnas (the present Mimarsinankov). By then he was given the name Joseph. A part from the history of Sinan, the book also captured his architectural work with beautiful illustrations of almost each of them (Rogers 53). As one move from one site to the next, it is evident that they were fine piece of artwork. The descriptions alongside the illustrations are there to support that claim. To make the book more interesting, the author has used variety of sentence structures that include short sentences with combination of long ones. In addition, the author has included several hand drawings and paintings; a good example is the painting of Sanan with his assistants at the tomb of the Suleyman magnificent in the year 1566 (Rogers 78). The author to take back readers back through the history to the time of Sanan, purposefully did this. As evident from the 133 pages book, the author is very strict as far as a pertinent right of the content of the book is concerned. He does not allow for any addition, subtraction, or duplication of the book contents. However, the book is of high production quality with clear printed pages, well-structured sentences, and clear pictures but less detailed. Furthermore, from the content and mode of presentation of the book, it majorly target public as the audience. Conclusion The authors of the two books have adequately covered the life and the architectural work of the much-celebrated architect, Mimar Sinan. However, based on the content, style and the quality of production, I prefer Ann Pierpont’s book Sinan Diaryz: A Walking Tour of Mimar Sinan's Monuments. This is because of her choice of style of using the actual Sinan’s diaries to give the readers a rare opportunity of taking them through all the Sinan’s architectural work. Up to this point, I agree with both authors by the claim that Mimar Sinan was one of the greatest architects ever to grace this world. Work cited Pierpont, Ann. Sinan diaryz: a walking tour of Mimar Sinan's monuments. İstanbul: Çitlembik Publications, 2007. Print. Rogers, J. M.. Sinan: makers of Islamic civilization. London: I.B. Tauris, 2005. Print. Read More