Architecture of Suleyman the Magnificent and the Ottoman Golden Age - Book Report/Review Example

Book Review Sinan: Architecture of Suleyman the Magnificent and the Ottoman Golden Age by John Freely and Augusto Romano Burelli‬‬ The text ‘Sinan: Architecture of Suleyman the Magnificent and the Ottoman Golden Age was written by two authors called Augusto Burelli and John Freely in the month of February of the year 2001. The most popular and renowned architech of the sixteenth century’s Ottoman Golden Age English via pictures book three, we find that Sinan designed a number of buildings under the Magnificent Suleyman together with Selim Two English via pictures book three. Nevertheless, this version pays visual tribute to the English buildings of his via pictures book three, which include the greatest of mosques of Turkey, the Selimiye and the Suleyman, and it is complemented by the texts that provide some new interpretations of the art English of Sinan via pictures book three. The writers have done a wonderful job by first telling us about the life history and experiences of the main subject; that is Sinan, which makes it easier for the reader to have a good understanding of the man or individual that they are reading about. We are told about the achievements of Sinan, and some of his greatest works that gave him such recognition across Europe. This makes the writer to easily link the achievements of Sinan to what is described in the text for better comprehension. The writers describe Sinan as the greatest and most renowned of the Ottoman Golden Age architects of the 16th century, a time when the Ottoman Empire reached or came to the pinnacle of its of its magnificence and power. Just at the same time when Michelangelo was making the St. Peter’s, we find that Sinan completed the designing of the Selimiye and the Suleymaniye, as well as the greatest of the mosques of Turkey. The apogee of the art of Turkey is marked by his style. According to the text, the writers describe Sian as ‘the son of Christians,’ who, as a boy, was drafted into the Janissaries’ Imperial Corps, and participated in majority of the campaigns of the Ottoman in the parts of Eastern Europe during the periods of 1520s and the 1530s. Sinan started as a military designer and engineer of the fortifications, and got the appointment as the Chief Imperial Architect during the year 1538. In the text, we are told by the writers that under Suleyman the magnificent together with his successor known as Selim Two, he actually designed a number of buildings, which included palaces, places of treatment or hospitals, mosques, tombs, baths, caravanserai, aqueducts, mausolea and even schools. The authors claim in their text that in the greatest works of Sinan, he adopted some of the popular and most common styles of the Islamic and Byzantine in the production of something news. We are told that these are some of the things or additions to his works that really made him together with his works to become very popular and well liked as he produced very unique and exceptional designs that appealed to many. Byzantine and Islamic styles are some of the best in architecture the fact that Sinan adopted them is the major reason as to why he was able to do the designing of majority of the important buildings and structures during his time. The writers of this text say that some of the major characteristics of the styles that were seen in the buildings or structures that he designed include a centralized organization of the absolute space that is not affected or even hindered by the columns or pillars and then covered by a kind of dome that appears to be soaring. Sinan is described by the authors in this text as an architect ofgenius and brilliance in a dynamic or actively new empire that expanded or extended into both the parts of Europe and Asia. From these, we can agree with the writers of this text that it is true the fact that Sinanwas a real man of the period of the Renaissance. In addition, the way in which the book has been written is also excellent, and this is another addition that makes it very appealing to readers, whereby it appears to be attractive to the eye. The writing of the text has been done with opulent color illustrations. Most of the pictures that are seen in the book are actually a tribute to the one of its kind or exceptional light together with space of the buildings that were designed by Sinan himself. Another thing that has just made the text to be as brilliand and comprehensive the way it is s the fact that it has been written by some of the best writers in the field, and it is beyond reasonable doubt that they did not disappoint. The authors have been successful in passing out their intended message as they have done or presented everything in an organized manner, and in a way that the reader can be able to have a good understanding. The book has been writer by some of the most renowned and important professionals in the field of writing and this is a factor that appears to be a great complement of the very beautiful and attractive visuam material and also provides some new meanings and interpretations of the arts of Sinan. Nonetheless, we find that the result or outcome is a magnificent and outstanding testament to the success of one individual, who had a substantial stamping of his imprint on a whole culture. This text is a good and comprehensive description of Sinan and his great works that he did during his time. The text is also very simple and easy to understand or comprehend. This is a text of its kind and is recommended for those who are interested in the field of architecture such as the tutors, those who want to be architectures, or in other words aspiring architectures, and even those who would want to know more about the history of architecture, those contributed to its development and even how it transformed. Sinan: Ottoman Architecture and its Values Today by Godrey Goodwin ‘Sinan: Ottoman Architecture and its Values Today’ is a text that was written by Godrey Goodwin in the year 1993, and it is one hundred and thirty two pages long. The book has been written with some white and black illustrations together with maps, which actually give it a good and exceptional look. This text is actually a critical and fundamental contribution to the comprehension of the establishment and development of the architecture of the Ottoman. The major focus of the author of this text who is Godfrey Goodwin is on SinanAbdulmennan, who is one of the most popular and well liked architectures of the sixteenth century. The writers tries to show how Sinan greatly revolutionized the inherited methods of building of the Ottoman empire, which is a tradition that has its basis on structure; by a cognizance of the psychology of space; that is making good use of space not to waste it. The author has done his analysis on the basis of a comprehensive comparative study of a particular building that was designed by Sinan himself. The best example that can be pointed out is the imaginative or artistic leap that is represented by the Selim Two mosque that is located at Edime, which is the second capital of the empire of Ottoman. Nevertheless, of significance in the text are the chapters that are about the matters of space and light; the minaret, the dome together with the apsidal form; as well as the tiles and decorations. Moreover, the book is illustrated by some pictures, plans together with elevations of several of his works that range from the grandiose Sulleymaniye complex that is found in the city of Istanbul, the capital of the country where he was born to the new Kilic Pasha mosque. In addition, of exceptional importance are the plates by the nineteenth century Gurlitt, an architect from Germany, whereby mostof them show characteristics of before the later restoration. The book has been written in an excellent manner and covers the life and works of Sinan in a comprehensive manner. The text targets mainly the architects, those who are aspiring to be architects, those who teach about architecture. The writer has used a very simple language in his descriptions, which makes the work very easy to read and understand. The work has also been organized well and this also makes it easy for the reader or targeted audience to read and understand. I believe the writer has successfully passed the intended message to the reader as he has done substantial research and the work is also comprehensive. This is particularly true as it is a fact that Sinam was a great figure in the field of architecture, and this is exactly what the writer has done as he has described how Sinan transformed architecture and managed to leave behind a lasting legacy, which has been illustrated well by the author. Works cited Goodwin Godrey. Sinan: Ottoman Architecture and its Values Today, 2001. Thames & Hudson.Print. Freely John and Augusto Romano Burelli.Sinan: Architecture of Suleyman the Magnificent and the Ottoman Golden Age, 1992. Thames & Hudson. Print.‬‬ Read More