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EDITOR'S NOTE:
Over 30 years ago architect David Macaulay
began showing the world how great structures were built and how they fit into
the societies that built them, with his debut of Cathedral.
The Mosque is his most recent exploration of architecture and
culture. While not a primer on Islam, it does provide an interesting
perspective on the people who built and worshipped in the mosque described and
illustrated in this fictional account.
We are pleased to bring you this review of Mosque and share with you a look at the unique work of David
Macaulay.
Mosque by David Macaulay
A Book Review |
|
 Author
and illustrator David Macaulay has succeeded again with his latest installment
in his architectural series for children.
Macaulay's Mosque offers an in-depth look at the materials
used to design and erect a mosque in late 16th-century Turkey.
With wonderfully detailed illustrations, Macaulay transports the reader
back in time to witness the step-by-step construction of the mosque.
Macaulay explains the construction of the
mosque using the fictional story of retired Admiral Suha Mehmet Pasa. Admiral Pasa decides to build a mosque as a demonstration of
his faith. Architect Akif Agha is
hired by the admiral to design a series of charitable buildings with the
mosque as the structure's centerpiece. Other
buildings that accompany the mosque include a school, public bath, fountains,
kitchen, and tomb. The mosque
featured in the book is based on actual, existing structures created by the
famous Ottoman architect Sinan, who worked in the 16th-century.
 Macualay's fictional story is seamlessly
interwoven with technical terms and procedures used in architecture as well as
Islamic cultural background. For
example, the reader will learn that the cultural term kulliye is the
complex of buildings associated with a charitable foundation and its mosque.
Readers will also become familiar with architectural terms, such as pendentive,
which is a concave support built from a corner to help form a circular base
for the dome above. A full
glossary of terms is provided at the end of the text.
The reader should, however, be aware that the Mosque is not an introduction to Islam.
To fully understand the importance and significance of the mosque
structure and to get a better picture of the story's setting, the reader would
want to have a basic knowledge of the religion.
The Mosque is appropriate nonfiction reading for children ages
nine and above.
 Macaulay's book has received much praise.
Booklist gave the Mosque a starred review, saying, "Macaulay
offers an unusual, inspiring perspective into Islamic society that's removed
from the charged headlines, and, as in all his work, he conveys a contagious
awe and wonder at the feats of design and engineering that societies have
accomplished." In addition,
the Association for Library Service to Children listed the Mosque in
the "2004 Notable Children's Books for Older Readers."
In an interview conducted by Houghton
Mifflin Books in June 2003, Macaulay discussed his inspiration for
the Mosque:
| "I first considered
creating a book about the building of a mosque when I was doing the
architecture books back in the seventies, but I just ran out of steam
on the series and wanted to try something else.
Twenty-five years later, September 11 happened.
"I've always tried to make books
I thought would be useful. This
time I wanted to make one I thought might actually be needed.
Not so much because it would explain the differences between
people but rather because it might remind us of the similarities.
"Great architecture seems to
bring out the best in people, not only in those who create it but also
in those who use it and are moved by it.
It doesn't matter where in the world we encounter the finest
buildings. They often
have a universal appeal, an emotional as well as an intellectual one
that goes way beyond their inherent respect for gravity." |
In the interview, Macaulay also spoke about
particular features of Ottoman architecture that he admires:
| "The tradition that
stands out the most is that of orienting the mosque toward Mecca
through establishing the kibla -- an imaginary line that links the
faithful either as individuals or as a congregation inside a prayer
hall to the holiest of Islamic cities.
The most striking result of this is that most of the mosques
don't follow the geometry of the surrounding streets or buildings.
The detail that stands out the most would have to be the dome.
Large or small, grand or humble, the hemisphere is the roof of
choice on almost all the buildings associated with any mosque complex,"
said Macaulay. |
 Mosque - Introduction
By the middle of the sixteenth century, the
Ottomans had built the largest Muslim empire in the world.
With superior forces on land and sea, a series of sultans had extended
its borders from Algiers in the west to Baghdad in the east, from the
outskirts of Vienna in the north to beyond Mecca in the south. With the establishment of military dominance came the
inevitable building of trade and cultural links, and with these spread the
message of Islam and its five pillars � faith, prayer, charity, fasting, and
pilgrimage.
One indication of the empire's unrivaled power
was the phenomenal wealth that found its way into the sultan's treasury as
well as into the pockets of Istanbul's most influential citizens. For these individuals, however, adherence to the principle of
charity was further encouraged by laws that prevented the bequeathing of one's
entire fortune to one�s children. It
became a well-established practice, therefore, for the richest members of
society to endow charitable foundations to channel their personal wealth into
a variety of religious, educational, social, and civic activities.
In addition to a new mosque, these foundations would require a number
of specific buildings all grouped into an architectural complex called a
kulliye.
All of the great Ottoman buildings of the
second half of the sixteenth century either were mosques or belonged to their
adjacent kulliyes. Remarkably,
most of these buildings were the work of one man, an engineer and architect
named Sinan. As chief court
architect for almost fifty years, Sinan, along with his assistants, designed
and oversaw the construction of buildings, bridges, and aqueducts all across
the empire. By the time of his
death at the age of one hundred, he had personally served as architect for
some three hundred structures in Istanbul alone.
By Sinan's time, the basic form of the Ottoman
mosque was well established. It
consisted of an open prayer hall -- ideally a perfect cube covered by an
equally perfect hemisphere-shaped dome, a covered portico, an arcaded
courtyard similar in area to the prayer hall itself, a fountain, a slender
minaret (usually more than one if the mosque was built by royalty).
Over time the domed cube became the standard form for all the buildings
of a kulliye, regardless of their function.
While the high domes and minarets of the
various mosques of Istanbul served as beacons for those wishing to pray or
simply to find temporary refuge from the chaos of city life, the countless
rows of smaller domes belonging to the kulliyes must have provided a
reassuring sense of order in the midst of an often disorienting maze of
crooked streets and disappearing alleys.
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book CLICK
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David Macaulay received a bachelor's degree in
architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design.
He is the author and illustrator of many exciting and unusual books for
readers of all ages, including Building Big, the companion book to the
successful PBS Series, the international bestseller The New Way Things Work,
Caldecott Medal-winner Black and White, and Caldecott Honor Award-winners
Castle and Cathedral. Superb design, magnificent illustrations, and clearly
presented information distinguish all of his books. A graduate of the Rhode
Island School of Design, Mr. Macaulay lives and works in Rhode Island.
He published his first book, Cathedral, in 1973.
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