Approaches in Today's Mosque Architecture: Examples of Mosques in Konya City Center

In each settlement, architectural forms have appeared that form the own self-identity of societies. An important place reflecting these architectural forms is the mosques, which developed depending on the culture of faith. The formal change of the mosque architecture from the first masjid to the present one has been studied. The formal existence of mosque architecture reflects the way of thought and life of the society at the time they were built. However, when looking at the mosque architecture practices today, in many cities of Anatolia, the formal style is like the mosque architecture of the Ottoman period. In addition to this analogy, it is also known that there are different formal mosque design practices that reflect the innovations of the era in terms of expressing new thoughts and discourses. In this study, formal readings of mosque applications, which are likened to the past, and mosque architecture shaped with today's design understanding were made. These readings examined the examples that imitate and interpret the traditional approach in Konya city center and the examples of mosques shaped with a different design understanding. The plan, façade, and architectural elements (dome, minaret, mihrab) of the selected mosque samples were analyzed and their formal layout was evaluated. As a result, the formal layout that brings different interpretations to the mosque architecture gives designers new ideas and creates a base for subsequent work.