Project . Stone Mosque
Area . 350 m² Site . Isparta / Turkey Year . 2018
Program . Recreation Area, Mosque
Project Team . Ali Sinan, Dinçer Dönmez, Elif Yılmaz, Hasan Okan Çetin, Nehir Biçer
“While the first slums were forming, their inhabitants took quite naïve and perhaps respectful approach in erecting their small plain masjids with roof textures that did not distinguish themselves from the rest of the neighborhood.” Turgut Cansever / Kubbeyi Yere Koymamak
“The interior of the mosque is an empty space and a scene where the body moves in prostration. […] Whether it is a single person or a group, the image of the prayer in the mosque gives the impression that the interior, intended to be seen with all its corners and to be equal in every aspect, is designed for the viewing of that performance.” Jale N. Erzen / Üç Habitus
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The mosque is a critical actor in its physical context due to being a framework for a ritual of worship, its characteristic of urban sculpture and its place in social life. At this point, how the typology of the mosque is interpreted is shaped by
the invariable parameters of the ritual and the defining features of the context. For example, while it itself exists as a masjid in a slum region, it is formed with an empty interior as a result of the requirements of the ritual.
Stone Mosque is located on an inclined area between Isparta-Konya Highway and Egirdir Lake. The determinants of the context are considered as a level difference of approximately 4 m, an upper scale pedestrian circulation scenario which is far from the the highway and is planned by the lake, and the dominant wind direction in the northeast side. As a parameter of the worship ritual, the Qibla axis in the southeast direction is also another determining factor.
Design Decisions
The Stone Mosque is considered as the main worship mass and service areas, and the service areas are located under the ground level provided by the topography. While designing the main worship space, it is aimed to create a clean empty space that is facing the embedded service area through an axial direction due to the Qibla axis. While doing so, a retaining wall that holds the topographic movements, a wall parallel to the Qibla axis and a wall cutting the dominant wind direction were placed, and a single glass cube was created with a 90 cm offset to the inside of these walls to form the main worship mass. While the wall standing parallel to the Qibla axis is specialized as the mihrab wall, the gaps on the gabion walls create different lights and shadows and form an intermediate space within the main prayer place. The whisper of the lake and the light of the sun are greeted by the walls, and are left to infiltrate the worship space…
