Architect Sinan's Works in Thrace: The Formation of an "Ottoman Landscape"

This presentation about the Ottoman landscape of Sinan’s architecture in Thrace is a new opportunity to rethink the value of the famous Ottoman architect today and his huge legacy, presented through his architectural and engineering works, spread over a vast territory that once was in the possession of the powerful Ottoman Empire. Especially in the Balkan Peninsula, a land of conflicts but also of important cultural and commercial exchanges due to the proximity and coexistence with the European powers and characterized by different cultures, traditions and religions, these traces are still visible today. Positioned along the ancient caravan roads or in populated areas, these traces showed how the Ottoman civilization was able to expand but also to adapt to the conquered places. In this sense, the case of Thrace analyzed here stands as a model of that modus operandi of 'otomanization' of the territory, which was largely realized during the 16th century. The architecture of Sinan thus became a sign of the Ottoman artistic and creative inspiration linked to the ability to administer and manage different people and lands leaving a strong impact in the territory. The ability of the great Ottoman architect Sinan to read and interpret the landscape in which he built his masterpieces was also possible thanks to the patronage of the enlightened sultans like Suleiman the Magnificent and Selim II or Grand Vizier such as Sokollu Mehmet Pasha and Rustem Pasha. Luca Orlandi is an architect and an architectural historian. He graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at University of Genoa (Italy); in 2005 he obtained a PhD from the Polytechnics of Turin (Italy), within the program: History and Critics of the Architectural and Environmental Heritage. He lives in Istanbul where he teaches History of Architecture, Contemporary Architecture and Architectural Design Studio as Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at Özyeğin University. He often participates in lectures, seminars and workshops in other Turkish and international universities and his fields of interests cover several topics like Ottoman architecture and Sinan, Contemporary Turkish architecture, Genoese colonies in the Levant and Travelogue in Orient.