 
hi I'm architect Banu Altay from Sia Moore. Today I'm with you with our
Explore Architecture series. In these videos I'm going to explore architectural buildings on site.
 
Located in a suburban neighborhood in the outskirts of İstanbul, the underground Sancaklar Mosque
is designed by renowned Turkish Architect Emre Arolat in 2012.
Inspired by the essence and the idea rooted in Islamic doctrines, that anywhere clean may be a prayer’s room,
and that a mosque does not have a predefined form; Sancaklar Mosque
distinguishes from the classical Ottoman architecture.
Overlooking the Buyukcekmece, the award-winning mosque project is built upon this grassy landscape.
Echoing the emotions of serenity, the mosque blends perfectly with the topography.
Wandering through the landscape, down the hill and in between the stone walls
one achieves a state of meditation, isolated from the outer world.
just being here helped me find some
peace and just look at the grass growing
around the stones it gives the
architecture such an organic feel as if
the stone were here from the beginning
of the time
this project constantly plays off the
tension between man-made and natural.
The inscripted vertical prismastic mass of stone that is set upon the courtyard over there;
is designed as the minaret of the Sancaklar Mosque.
And the inscription shows that this is a place for praying.
the sleeves and fractures you see on
this black screen and hence the
directionality of the prayer space gives
the structure a sense of moment.
In Arabic bow means love responsibility and
loyalty.
you may wonder what this black screen is? It actually isn’t an element of décor. It has a very specific
function. In Islam
woman and man worship in segregated
places. Now this black wall happens to be separating the two. The screen provides privacy
while allowing the congregation to
maintain eye contact with the Imam.
Received the 2018 Royal Institute of
British Architects RIBA award for
international excellence the Sancaklar Mosque proved to be one of the
most impactful architectural projects I
have came across lately.
So what do you think about this project? If you were an architect would you prefer such a contemporary design for a mosque?
Let me know in the comments below and if you you are interested in architecture make sure to comeback!
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