PERSON/PLACE
ISTANBUL
TURKEY
Because of my connections with Turkey, it is a culture that has always interested me. The richness of their regions history is incredible and I realised this the most when in the city of Istanbul. The cultures aesthetics is present in many aspects of the city and its inhabitants: Architecture, Funiture, fabrics, materials, history, religion and landscapes. There are also many recognisable formats and methods of art that are centuries old have a unique look and feel.
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ISTANBUL
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and is among the 25 largest urban areas in the world. It is located on the Bosporus Strait and covers the entire area of the Golden Horn - a natural harbor. Because of its size, Istanbul extends into both Europe and Asia. The city is the world’s only metropolis to extend into more than one continent
The city of Istanbul is important to geography because it has a long history that spans the rise and fall of the world's most famous empires. Due to its participation in these empires, Istanbul has also undergone various name changes throughout its lengthy history.
Here are a few of my own Photographs from my trip to Istanbul.
THE BLUE MOSQUE
AYASOFIA / SULTAN ARMET MOSQUE
US INSIDE THE TOPKAPI PALACE
HISTORY OF ISTANBUL
BYZANTIUM
Though Istanbul may have been inhabited as early as 3000 BCE, it was not a city until Greek colonists arrived in the area in the 7th Century BCE. These colonists were led by King Byzas and settled there because of the strategic location along the Bosporus Strait. King Byzas named the city Byzantium after himself.
The Roman Empire (330-395 CE)
Following its development by the Greeks, Byzantium became a part of the Roman Empire in the 300s. During this time, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great undertook a construction project to rebuild the entire city. His goal was to make it stand out and give the city monuments similar to those found in Rome. In 330, Constantine declared the city as the capital of the entire Roman Empire and renamed it Constantinople.
The Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire (395-1204 and 1261-1453 CE)
After Constantinople was named the capital of the Roman Empire the city grew and prospered. After the death of the emperor Theodosius I in 395, however, enormous upheaval took place in the empire as his sons permanently divided the empire. Following the division, Constantinople became the capital of the Byzantine Empire in the 400s.
As part of the Byzantine Empire, the city became distinctly Greek as opposed to its former identity in the Roman Empire. Because Constantinople was at the centre of two continents, it became a centre of commerce, culture, diplomacy, and grew considerably. In 532, though, the anti-government Nika Revolt broke out among the city’s population and destroyed it. After the revolt however, the Constantinople was rebuilt and many of its most outstanding monuments were constructed- one of which was the Haghia Sophia as Constantinople became the centre of the Greek Orthodox Church.
AYASOFYIA (TURKISH PRONUNCIATION)
THE LATIN EMPIRE
(1204-1261)
Although Constantinople significantly prospered during decades following its becoming a part of the Byzantine Empire, the factors leading to its success also made it a target for conquering. For hundreds of years, troops from all over the Middle-East attacked the city. For a time it was even controlled by members of the Fourth Crusade after it was desecrated in 1204. Subsequently, Constantinople became the centre of the Catholic Latin Empire.
As competition persisted between the Catholic Latin Empire and the Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire, Constantinople was caught in the middle and began to significantly decay. It went financially bankrupt, the population declined, and it became vulnerable to further attacks as defence posts around the city crumbled. In 1261, in the midst of this turmoil, the Empire of Nicaea recaptured Constantinople and it was returned to the Byzantine Empire. Around the same time, the Ottoman Turks began conquering the cities surrounding Constantinople, effectively cutting it off from many of its neighbouring cities.
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
(1453-1922)
After being considerably weakened by constant invasions and being cut off from its neighbours by the Ottoman Turks, Constantinople was officially conquered by the Ottomans, led by Sultan Mehmed II on May 29, 1453 after a 53-day siege. During the siege, the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, died while defending his city. Almost immediately, Constantinople was named as the capital of the Ottoman Empire and its name was changed to Istanbul.
Upon taking control of the city, Sultan Mehmed sought to rejuvenate Istanbul. He created the Grand Bazaar (one of the largest covered marketplaces in the world), brought back fleeing Catholic and Greek Orthodox residents. In addition to these residents, he brought in Muslim, Christian, and Jewish families to establish a mixed populace. Sultan Mehmed also began the building of architectural monuments, schools, hospitals, public baths, and grand imperial mosques.
THE GRAND BAZAAR
THE BLUE MOSQUE
From 1520 to 1566, Suleiman the Magnificent controlled the Ottoman Empire and there were many artistic and architectural achievements that made it a major cultural, political, and commercial centre. By the mid-1500s, the city’s population also grew to almost 1 million inhabitants. The Ottoman Empire ruled Istanbul until it was defeated and occupied by the allies in World War I.
THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
(1923-today)
Following its occupation by the allies in World War I, the Turkish War of Independence took place and Istanbul became a part of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. Istanbul was not the capital city of the new republic and during the early years of its formation Istanbul was overlooked and investment went into the new centrally located capital Ankara. In the 1940s and 1950s though, Istanbul re-emerged new public squares, boulevards, and avenues were constructed. Because of the construction though, many of the city’s historic buildings were demolished.
In the 1970s, Istanbul’s population rapidly increased, causing the city to expand into the nearby villages and forests, eventually creating a major world metropolis.
ISTANBUL TODAY
Istanbul's many historical areas were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985. In addition, because of its status as a world rising power, its history, importance to culture in both Europe and the world, Istanbul has been designated the European Capital of Culture for 2010 by the European Union.
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ISTANBUL LANDSCAPE
Istanbul is situated in the top left hand corner of Turkey and was once the countries capital. However the city of Ankara has is now Turkeys official capital city.
Istanbul is the only city on the planet that extends over to continents, Asia and Europe. The great Bosporus river runs through the middle of the city. this river flow from the Black sea eventually meeting the sea of Marmera. The city is also partially split for a second time by a branch of the Bosporus river called the Golden Horn.
Important historic places in Istanbul:
* * * * FIND YOUR IMAGES FROM ISTANBUL VISIT! * * * *
The Topkapi Palace was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624-year reign. The palace complex consists of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. At its peak, the palace was home to as many as 4,000 people and covered a large area with a long shoreline. It contained mosques, a hospital, bakeries, and a mint. Construction began in 1459, ordered by Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople. It was originally called the New Palace (Yeni Sarayı) to distinguish it from the previous residence. It received the name "Topkapı" (Cannon Gate) in the 19th century, after a (now lost) gate and shore pavilion.
The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)
Nick-named the Blue mosque due the thousands of blue tiles that adorn it.It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I.
Hagia Sophia - Source
The construction of the Hagia Sophia began on February 23, 532. It was completed before long, approximately within 5 years and 10 months. It was then opened to divine service with a great ceremony on December 27, 537.
It was used as a church for 916 years but, following the conquest of Istanbul by Fatih Sultan Mehmed, the Hagia Sophia was converted into mosque. Afterwards, it was used as a mosque for 482 years. Under the order of Atatürk and the decision of the Council of Ministers, Hagia Sophia was converted into a museum in 1935.
The Grand Bazaar
The construction of the future Grand Bazaar's core started during the winter of 1455/56, shortly after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. Sultan Mehmet II had an edifice erected devoted to the trading of textiles.
Today the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.
THOUGHTS ON DIRECTION
Because the brief states that each subject must be 'appropriate to Graphic Design', I think that it is most suitable for me to look into arts with in this culture. I feel that one of the most appealing aspects of this ancient City.
A big influence to me when visiting Istanbul was the art forms, architecture, decor and materials that were present everywhere you looked. You can see this through my pictures as well as others sourced from the internet. I feel that concentrating on this side of this magnificent city would be fitting for the brief as well as suitable for Graphic Design.
One of my personal Highlights of the trip was the visit to the Blue Mosque. Not only from the sense of awe that i felt in such a spiritual place but from the Artist/Design point of view. The vibrant patterns and intricate stone carvings are a feast of the eyes and is something I would love to look into further and maybe work with.
BLUE MOSQUE INTERIOR
At Blue Mosque lower levels and at every pier, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles, made at Iznik city (Nicaea) in more than fifty different tulip designs. The tiles at lower levels are traditional in design, while at gallery level their design becomes flamboyant with representing flowers, fruit and cypresses. More than 20,000 tiles were made under the supervision of the Iznik master potter Kasap Haci,and Baris Efendi from Avanos,Cappadocia. The price to be paid for each tile was fixed by the sultan's decree,due tile prices in general increased over time. Result is, the quality of the tiles used in the building decreased gradually. Their colours have faded and changed and the glazes have dulled. The tiles on the back balcony wall are restorated tiles from the harem in the Topkapı Palace, when it was damaged by fire in 1574.
The upper levels of the Mosque interior is dominated by blue paint. More than 200 stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light. On the chandeliers, ostrich eggs are found that where meant to avoid cobwebs inside the mosque by repelling spiders.The decorations including verses from the Qur'an, many of them made by Seyyid Kasim Gubari, regarded as the greatest calligrapher of his time. The floors are covered with carpets, which is donated by faithful people and are regularly replaced as they wear out. The many spacious windows confer a spacious impression.
* * * * * * * IMAGES AND VIDS FROM INSIDE MOSQUE* * * * * * * * *
One of my favourite types of art form from the Blue Mosque was the interlacing floral patterns that adorned the inside of the Domes. Unfortunately I found it very hard to pin point the actual name of this type of painting. This was mainly down to issues with translation. With help from my other half , the Turkish name is 'Hattat', however when I typed this in to find out more nothing relevant came up on Google UK. On Google Turkey a lot of relevant images came up but I could not read the accompanying Turkish text.
Eventually I managed to find the correct translated names that allowed me to find the right information.
I found this image which I found incredibly helpful when trying to pin-point the specific types of islamic art.
ISLAMIC ARABESQUE
The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements.
The Islamic arabesque is a development of the Late Antique and Byzantine types of scrolling vegetal decoration that were inherited by Islam, and used with relatively little change in early Islamic art.
The plants most often used are stylized versions of the acanthus, with its emphasis on leafy forms, and the vine, with an equal emphasis on twining stems.
I can see that this tyre of art from is used to decorate the inside of the Blue Mosque domes as well as on many of the Iznik tiles that are present inside the mosque as well as all over the city.
IZNIK POTTERY
İznik pottery, named after the town in western Anatolia where it was made, is a decorated ceramic that was produced from the last quarter of the 15th century until the end of the 17th century.
The town of İznik was an established centre for the production of simple earthenware pottery with an underglaze decoration when in the last quarter of the 15th century, craftsmen in the town began to manufacture high quality pottery with a fritware body painted with cobalt blue under a colourless lead glaze. The meticulous designs combined traditional Ottoman arabesque patterns with Chinese elements. The change was almost certainly a result of the active intervention and patronage by the recently established Ottoman court in Istanbul who greatly valued Chinese blue-and-white porcelain.
After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman sultans started a huge building programme. In these buildings, especially those commissioned by Süleyman, his wife Hürrem (Roxelana) and his Grand Vizier Rustem Pasha, large quantities of tiles were used. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul (the "Blue Mosque") alone contains 20,000 tiles. The Rüstem Pasha Mosque is more densely tiled and tiles were used extensively in the Topkapı Palace. As a result of this demand, tiles dominated the output of the Iznik potteries.
Under Süleyman the Magnificent (1520–66), demand for İznik wares increased. Jugs, hanging lamps, cups, bowls and dishes were produced, inspired by metalwork and illuminated books as well as Chinese ceramics. Many large dishes were made with looser designs, incorporating ships, animals, trees and flowers. The dishes appear to have been made for display, as most have pierced footrings so that they can be hung up, but they have been observed also to be scratched from use. Designs in the 1520s include the saz style in which a long, serrated saz leaf, dynamically arranged, is balanced by static rosette forms. In the later 16th century, the quatre fleurs style used a repertoire of stylised tulips, carnations, roses and hyacinths.
The last highlighted section on the last paragraph explains designs that are very familiar to me. The Tulip flower is a very iconic flower in the Turkish culture and is present on most modern Iznik products (usually for tourist sales). To research into this area I visited a local Iznik tile painter in the town I am staying and took some pictures.
IZNIK TILES DISPLAYING THE TURKISH TULIP
(PICTURES TAKEN BY ME)
THE TURKISH TULIP
The Tulip Period or Tulip Era (21 July 1718 - 28 September 1730) is a period in Ottoman history. This was a relatively peaceful period, during which the Ottoman Empire can be said to have begun to orient itself towards Europe.
The name of the period derives from the tulip craze among the Ottoman court society. Cultivating this culturally ambiguous emblem had become a celebrated practice. The Tulip Period illustrated the conflicts brought by early modern consumer culture and was a shared material symbolism. During this period the elite and high-class society of the Ottoman Period had established an immense fondness for the tulip, which were utilized in various occasions. Tulips defined nobility and privilege, both in terms of goods and leisure time.
Iznik pottery can take many forms mainly for decoration purposes whether this be through different shaped tiles, or bowls but they can be be used due to the robustness of the ceramic and its glaze.
The owner of the shop in town was also the artist that paints the designs. He had a half finished ceramic plate on display to show how the plate looks before it is glazed and then baked in a kiln.
As you can see the freshly painted colours are ver soft and almost pastel, once the paint is dry, a glaze is painted over the top and then taken in the kiln.
This glaze gives the pottery a shine swell a intensifying the colours present on the ceramic.
Our next door neighbour in Turkey, Kalkan runs the local, online newspaper in out town. this website has many many articles on all types of topics that evolve around this very popular tourist town as well as sharing the local news. One evening when we went round for a cup of tea and a chat, we noticed that he had an Iznik tile plaque with the name of his villa outside his door. When I asked about were he got the this plaque from he explained that it was an exchange. Another local Iznik painter (different from the painter above) ,Nural Seramik, offered to paint a house tile in exchange for publicity on the local website, this publicity was in the form of an article on how the ceramics are made.
Here is the article.
Applying the glaze
Once the paint is dry the glaze is applied. Nurettin tells us this is soft glaze. They make it in large quantities back in Kütahya, but for our piece he makes up a small quantity in his rooftop kitchen at home. The pieces are fully coated in glaze, then as it begins to dry Nurettin trims off any excess. It is then ready for the oven.
Once the paint is dry the glaze is applied. Nurettin tells us this is soft glaze. They make it in large quantities back in Kütahya, but for our piece he makes up a small quantity in his rooftop kitchen at home. The pieces are fully coated in glaze, then as it begins to dry Nurettin trims off any excess. It is then ready for the oven.
ARTICAL FROM - http://kalkan.turkishlocalnews.com/portal/kalkan-news/25724-hand-made-in-kalkan-ceramics
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GEOMETRIC PATTERNS
Geometric patterns have always had a particular appeal to Muslim designers and craftsmen. They convey a certain aura of spirituality, or at least otherworldliness, without relating to any specific doctrine. In an Islamic context they are also quite free of any symbolic meaning. Above all they provide craftsmen with the opportunity to demonstrate his skill and subtlety of workmanship, and often to dazzle and intrigue with its sheer complexity
There was a few pieces of pottery at the shop in town that also had this form of Islamic art present. Through research I discovered that this type of geometric are is names 'Girih'.
GIRIH / ISLAMIC GEOMETRIC ART
Girih (Persian: "knot"), also (girih sāzī "knot making") is an Islamic decorative art form used in architecture and handicrafts (book covers, tapestry, small metal objects), consisting of geometric lines that form an interlaced strapwork. In Iranian architecture, gereh sazi patterns were seen in banna'i brickwork, stucco, and mosaic faience work. Girih has been defined as "geometric (often star-and-polygon) designs composed upon or generated from arrays of points from which construction lines radiate and at which they intersect."
Straight-edged symmetric shapes are used in girih. Girih typically consists of a strapwork that form 6-, 8-, 10-, or 12-pointed stars separated by polygons and straps, and often they were drawn in an interlacing manner. Such patterns usually consist of a repeating "unit cell" with 2-, 3-, or 6-fold rotational symmetry that tiles the plane with no gaps. The three-dimensional equivalent of girih is called muqarnas. It is used to decorate the underside of domes or squinches.
The term "girih" was used in Turkish as a polygonal strap pattern used in architecture as early as the late 15th century. Also in the late 15th century, girih patterns were compiled by artisans in pattern catalogs such as the Topkapi Scroll.
While curvilinear precedants of girih were seen in the 10th century, fully developed girih patterns are not seen before the 11th century in Iran. It became a dominant design element in the 11th and 12th centuries, as for example, the carved stucco panels with interlaced girih seen in Kharraqan towers (1067) near Qazvin, Iran. Stylized plant decoration were sometimes co-ordinated with girih.
After the Safavid period, the use of girih continued in the Seljuk and later the Ilkhanid period. In the 14th century girih became a minor element in the decorative arts and was replaced by vegetal patterns during the Timurid era. However, geometrical strap work patterns continued to be an important element of decorative arts in Central Asian monuments after the Timurid period.
THE TOPKAPI SCROLL
Complete Panel 28 from the Topkapi scroll, where the red dotted lines mark the boundaries of the girth tiles. The black and red lines correspond to girth tiles at two different scales.
Panel 50 from the Topkapi scroll. The red lined indicate were the edges of the girth tiles are which them make up the girth pattern you can see in black.
From reading through multiple sources on the subject of geometric pattern and the Girih style of tiling that this type of art is very complex and relies very heavily on mathematics.
I found this blog that helped to explain the mathematic behind the use of girth tiles and the art work on them however maths is not my strong point and I only what is happening visually rather than the complex sums behind it.
In any case this type of art from is very aesthetically pleasing to me and seeing it work on large surface areas is a feast for the eyes.
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