From Measuring to Estimation: Definitions of Geometry and Architect-Engineer in Early Modern Ottoman Architecture

Abstract

In From Measuring to Estimation: Definitions of Geometry and Architect-Engineer in Early Modern Ottoman Architecture, Gül Kale examines various definitions and uses of geometry in the Ottoman world through a close reading of a unique book on architecture written around 1614 by the scholar Caʿfer Efendi, a friend and associate of the Ottoman chief architect Mehmed Agha. A contextual analysis of Caʿfer’s remarks on various definitions of geometry and the architect-engineer, and the connotations of these terms for early seventeenth-century readers, sheds light on the different degrees of geometrical knowledge then seen as required for sound architectural and artistic practice. Further, Kale argues that the links Caʿfer and his associates established among estimation, reason, and proportion offer insights into the role of cognitive faculties in Ottoman architectural and artistic processes.