The Age of Sinan Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire

Mimar Koca Sinan (c. 1489-1588), the 'Great Architect Sinan', was appointedchief royal architect to the Ottoman court by Sultan Suleyman I in 1539.During his fifty-year career he designed and constructed hundreds of buildings and he became the most celebrated of all Ottoman architects, particularlyrenowned for his influence on the cityscape of Istanbul. In this innovative, major study, Gülru Necipog ̄lu argues that Sinan's rich variety of mosque designs sprang from a process of negotiation between the architect and his patrons, rather than from restless, unrestrained formal experimentation as has been previously described.