Architecture and Material Politics in the Fifteenth-century Ottoman Empire

Examines architectural design, construction practices, and participation in construction projects in the fifteenth-century Ottoman Empire.

Patricia Blessing (Author)

9781316517604, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 August 2022

296 pages
28 x 22.3 x 1.9 cm, 1.05 kg

In this book, Patricia Blessing explores the emergence of Ottoman architecture in the fifteenth century and its connection with broader geographical contexts. Analyzing how transregional exchange shaped building practices, she examines how workers from Anatolia, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Iran and Central Asia participated in key construction projects. She also demonstrates how drawn, scalable models on paper served as templates for architectural decorations and supplemented collaborations that involved the mobility of workers. Blessing reveals how the creation of centralized workshops led to the emergence of a clearly defined imperial Ottoman style by 1500, when the flexibility and experimentation of the preceding century was levelled. Her book radically transforms our understanding of Ottoman architecture by exposing the diverse and fluid nature of its formative period. It also provides the reader with an understanding of design, planning, and construction processes of a major empire of the Islamic world.

Introduction: Material politics of architecture in a fluid empire
1. Imperial and local horizons: Looking east and west
2. Immersive space: Empire building and the ottoman frontier
3. Under the influence: Creating cosmopolitan architectures
4. Building paradise: Afterlife and dynastic politics
5. An ottoman aesthetic consolidation C. 1500
Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Medieval history [HBLC1], History of architecture [AMX], History of art: Byzantine & Medieval art c 500 CE to c 1400 [ACK]