Sakirin Mosque Istanbul
First Turkish Mosque Designed by A Woman
The Sakirin Mosque opened in May 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey. It’s the first mosque in the country to have an interior designed by a woman, Zeynep Fadillioglu. An interior designer known for jet setting ways, she nonetheless won a commission to redesign the religious structure in Istanbul. She even recruited women to help in the construction. Begun last year, the project was just recently completed. It's a fairly impressive building, subtly blending modern techniques and materials into what might be the world's most conservative design vernacular. It has a gorgeous interior, with a lovely soaring, open feel to it. It’s got lots of gold in the color scheme, but it manages to be tasteful and elegant, instead of looking like Trump Mosque. The unfinished wood accents contrast nicely with the dramatic “dripping chandelier” and the mosque blends modern and contemporary design very well. As with all mosques, men and women worship on separate floors which has sometimes led to cramped space for women. But Fadillioglu has addressed this issue by making the women´s floor equal in both size and beauty.
