This text is focused on the history of the extant buildings in the Republic of Turkey. The book begins with a brief history of the Ottoman Empire and develops by outlining the mains features of Ottoman architecture and discusses the biography of the great Ottoman architect Sinan.

The Balyan family were a dynasty of architects, builders and property owners who acted as the official architects to the Ottoman Sultans throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Originally Armenian, the family is responsible for some of the most famous Ottoman buildings in existence, many of which are regarded as masterpieces of their period – including the Dolmabahçe Palace (built between 1843 and 1856), parts of the Topkap? Palace, the Ç?ra?an Palace and the Ortaköy Mosque. Forging a unique style based around European contemporary architecture but with distinctive Ottoman flourishes, the family is an integral part of Ottoman history. As Alyson Wharton's beautifully illustrated book reveals, the Balyan's own history, of falling in and out of favour with increasingly autocratic Sultans, serves as a record of courtly power in the Ottoman era and is uniquely intertwined with the history of Istanbul itself.

This is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging survey of Ottoman Architecture ever produced. It extends to over 700 pages and is illustrated with over 1000 fabulous illustrations, plans of buildings, maps and drawings. The author is a leading authority on the subject having taught throughout the United States, in Paris and in Istanbul. Whilst this work will become an invaluable reference tool to students, its appeal will also be broadened due to the high quality of its photographs, many of which were commissioned for the publication. In particular the reader will be impressed by the the superb interiors of buildings often decorated by stunning Iznik tiles. Ottoman Architecture developed in parallel with the political structure of the Ottoman Empire. Located at the intersection of Asia and Europe it was influenced by the numerous competing traditions of Islam, China, the Mediterranean and Byzantine worlds. Building on its early development particularly in Bursa and Edirne at the end of the 14th Century, the Ottoman world reached its high point during the so called Classical period 1437-1703 notably under the Sultans Suleyman 1st and Selim 2nd. The finest architectural achievements were undoubtedly the works of the court architect Sinan 1489-1588. It is these works that form the core of this spectacular book. This book, unlike any other, also seeks to survey the extensive building works of the Ottomans throughout their Empire which extend to Damascus, Cairo and as far as the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. AUTHOR: Professor Kuban has held various academic positions in the USA, Italy and Turkey. He was a founding member of the Turkish Commission of the International Council of Monuments and Sites. He holds many awards and has written many works of reference. He has also written numerous articles and research publications. SELLING POINTS Comprehensive survey of the huge wealth of Ottoman architecture Extensive and highly illustrated text by a leading authority Wide appeal for the serious student as well as the arm chair traveller ILLUSTRATIONS 1000 colour illustrations

A new approach to late Ottoman visual culture and its place in the world With its idiosyncratic yet unmistakable adaptation of European Baroque models, the eighteenth-century architecture of Istanbul has frequently been dismissed by modern observers as inauthentic and derivative, a view reflecting broader unease with notions of Western influence on Islamic cultures. In Ottoman Baroque—the first English-language book on the topic—Ünver Rüstem provides a compelling reassessment of this building style and shows how between 1740 and 1800 the Ottomans consciously coopted European forms to craft a new, politically charged, and globally resonant image for their empire’s capital. Rüstem reclaims the label “Ottoman Baroque” as a productive framework for exploring the connectedness of Istanbul’s eighteenth-century buildings to other traditions of the period. Using a wealth of primary sources, he demonstrates that this architecture was in its own day lauded by Ottomans and foreigners alike for its fresh, cosmopolitan effect. Purposefully and creatively assimilated, the style’s cross-cultural borrowings were combined with Byzantine references that asserted the Ottomans’ entitlement to the Classical artistic heritage of Europe. Such aesthetic rebranding was part of a larger endeavor to reaffirm the empire’s power at a time of intensified East-West contact, taking its boldest shape in a series of imperial mosques built across the city as landmarks of a state-sponsored idiom. Copiously illustrated and drawing on previously unpublished documents, Ottoman Baroque breaks new ground in our understanding of Islamic visual culture in the modern era and offers a persuasive counterpoint to Eurocentric accounts of global art history.