International Symposium on Domes From Antiquity to the Present: May 30-June 3 1988, İstanbul, Turkey

Abstract

The dome as one of the structural forms for wide spans has been in frequent use since the earliest cultures and is still among the most popular types of roofing. Pantheon, Hagia-Sophia and Selimiye are historic master-works in masonry and in this type of domes Istanbul is Nr.I in the world. The oldest large dome of Christendom, Hagia-Sophia, built in 537 AD as Constantinople was ehe Capitol of the East Roman Empire and the highest dome of Istanbul built in 1556 by Sinan for the mosque of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificient, together with some hundred smaller domes built as Istanbul was the Capitol of the Ottoman Empire, create the fabulous sky-line of the old Metropolis unique in the World. The symposium is organized on the occasion of the celebration t1imar Sinan' s (1490?-1588) 400th Anniversary as one of the many ceremonies which are partly sponsored by UNESCO. Being the Chief Architect and Builder of three Ottoman Sultans, between 1538-1565 of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificient, Sinan had the opportunity to build or to supervise the building of 360 obj ects including mosques, schools, hospitals, baths, tombs ete., all together more than 200 buildings, with the dome as roofing; in addition many arch bridges and aqueducts. Geopraphically; the area where he has built reaches from Budapest to Persian Gulf and from Crimea to Mecca on Arabian Peninsula. The Symposium focuses on domes and provides an international forum for presentations and discussions on historic domes and on modern domes as Reinforced Concrete Shells, Reticulated, Cable-Supported Domes and Air-Supported Membranes with examples from all over the World.