Süleymaniye Mosque

Throne of my lonely niche, my wealth, my love, my moonlight.
My most sincere friend, my confidant, my very existence, my Sultan, my one and only love.
The most beautiful among the beautiful …
My springtime, my merry-faced love, my daytime, my sweetheart, laughing leaf …
My plants, my sweet, my rose, the one only who does not distress me in this room …
My Istanbul, my Karaman, the earth of my Anatolia
My Badakhshan, my Baghdad and Khorasan
My woman of the beautiful hair, my love of the slanted brow, my love of eyes full of misery …
I’ll sing your praises always
I, lover of the tormented heart, Muhibbi of the eyes full of tears, I am happy.

This poem is written by Süleyman the Magnificent to Hürrem Sultan. He was the emperor in the golden age of the Ottoman State. This mosque named after him carries a history through architecture. The Süleymaniye Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in İstanbul, designed by Mimar Sinan in 1550. Nevertheless, I made this Süleymaniye model in 2002 for my master’s study about the rule-based design theory of Sinan. So, beyond being an academic and technical work, it is one of the reasons for me to become an architect.

I made this digital model by using reference images from the internet. Moreover, I used the plan and section drawings of Ali Sami Ülgen. I made the model specifically for exterior rendering. However, it is not a high-detail model. Therefore, I am planning to make a much better version of this model.