"Evaluation of Spatial Fictions, Design Concepts, Aesthetic Quests of Traditional, Modern Mosques from Past to Present and the Analysis of Mosque Samples"

Mosque has played a central role in Islamic society. The Prophet ordered for the construction of a mosque in Medina (Yesrib) where he arrived after hegira, thus he began to form Islamic institutions from the mosque. That’s why the mosque maintained its place throughout the history as an important source for Islamic institutions. Mosques are also the spaces, as a socio - cultural element, where the social life is maintained, which are used for worship by Muslims as their primary objective, which are appropriate for individual and common worship and where they are educated religiously. Mosques have been always considered as an area of usage for people, and for achievement of these functions in a healthy manner; necessary elements of the structure should comply with users’ properties and should be convenient for use. Besides being functional, further architectural features which the mosques are required to involve are that; they should meet users’ aesthetic quests and should have a design concept. Evaluation criteria in architecture depend on “robustness”, “suitability” and “aesthetic” concepts. In the evaluation, numerical data may be obtained. Suitability and robustness arise in the structure or building which replies people’s material needs. But to consider a building as an architectural work, it should acquire “aesthetic” values and should meet psychological and socio- cultural needs of the user as well. Within this context, in the study; architectural fictions of the mosques from past to present was evaluated, thus the outdoor qualitative properties and indoor schemes of the mosques were analyzed. Totally, 10 separate mosques were evaluated in two separate categories; “Traditional and Modern”. Historical mosques were defined within the scope of “Traditional Approach”, whereas the structures which had been constructed by the attempt of being different by using modern material and technique within its own style and aesthetic, out of traditional concept, were defined within the scope of “Modern Approach”. Based on the mosques which were analyzed due to their space fictions and qualitative properties; the mosques selected under modern and traditional classifications were analyzed. Architectural elements involved by the mosque were grouped and these elements were discussed in terms of material, form and aesthetic. The design concepts of the mosques were made within the context of the materials and forms of indoor and outdoor spaces, whereas space fiction analysis was made within the context of covering system and plan arrangement, and the aesthetic concept analysis of the indoor space was achieved within the context of basic design principles. In line with the data obtained; differences and similarities were revealed in terms of physical compliance, design concepts, spatial fictions, ergonomics, aesthetic quests and psychological perception, and suggestions were made in this respect.

CEA3-14805678.pdf