Mosques and Modernism in the Three Phases of the Turkish Republic

• This article builds on interviews with eight Turkish modern architects that were born in the 1930s, conducted in a research project called “Modernity retired”. The main focus of the interviews was the ageing architects’ views on modernism and modernity. Here, I focus on how those views relate to the Muslim heritage of Turkish architecture and more specifically on mosque architecture. The article traces the historical relations between modernist architecture and mosque architecture, with a special focus on the founding fathers of modernism and on Turkish architecture. The key question is how the modernist concept of “function” can be understood in relation to religious practice and architecture. The conclusion is that the modern Turkish history shows more constructive meetings between modernism and Islamic tradition than the current dichotomy between government endorsed neo-Ottomanism and oppositional secular modernism.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Idé- och lärdomshistoria (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- History of Ideas (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Arkitektur (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Architecture (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Kulturstudier (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Cultural Studies (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Religionsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Religious Studies (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Turkish architecture Modernism Mosque Function Neo-Ottomanism

Publication and Content Type

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