Mosque

To the reviewer who suggested that this book is about Agia Sophia - it is NOT! It is a ‘generic’ Turkish mosque. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to Agia Sofia. There are thousands of Turkish-style mosques, not only in Turkey, and not only in Istanbul. This book is a terrific explainer regarding both the construction and the decoration of Turkish-style mosques.

Mosque is David Macaulay's latest book on architecture. Macaulay does not get into politics and does not dwelve deep into religion; he just focuses on architecture. I have read all of Macaulay's other books (Castle, Cathedral, Underground, Ship, and City) and Mosque lives up to all the books he wrote and illustrated before. However, this book is Macaulay's first in color. All his other books were in black and white pen drawings. With the color in Mosque, you are able to picture the towering minarets and the grand interior of the mosque. Macaulay's books are a tribute to architecture and should not be overlooked. Buy this book!

Macaulay has been writing thrillingly illustrated books about architecture for over 20 years. This latest volume seems to grow out of a desire to increase understanding of Islam in the West after the attacks on the US. In his preface he says, "I was convinced ... that the time had come to find out where these extraordinary buildings came from, who built them, and of course how." There follows a wonderful explanation of the planning and constructing of a fictional mosque. Along the way, you learn the meaning of minaret towers, qibla walls, and why much Islamic art is so closely tied with Arabic calligraphy. During the Dark Ages, Islam was the caretaker of geometry and architecture, and this book is a quick primer on how they did it.

A very informative book about the building of a mosque in the Middle Ages that can be appreciated by anyone from teenagers on up (anyone younger might not get the full benefit of the text, unless they are intellectually gifted). Macaulay focuses on the architectural and social aspects surrounding these holy structures, so that even those with no knowledge of Islam can appreciate the significance that these buildings have in Muslim culture. Not only that, the author's drawing style has improved greatly from his books of the mid-70s, bringing more vividness to the subject and doing justice to the intricacies and beauty of the artwork within the mosque. As always with Macaulay's books, a treat for the eye and the mind.

When I take such pleasure in reading about Paul Edward Logan's accomplished woodworking skills in THE LAND, when I become so attached to Alex and Morris Rose's old house and unique towers in THE OUTCASTS OF 19 SCHUYLER PLACE, and when I delight in telling middle school audiences about Duncan's toilet-stealing scene in ACCELERATION, it is within the context of those beloved childhood memories: Days breathing sawdust and trying to keep my hands warm through a gray autumn Saturday as I did a man's work on my dad's construction jobs and created something lasting. Thus, I can imagine being one of Huseyin Bey's nine sons. Huseyin is hired to serve as the superintendent of building for the fictitious, late-1500s construction feat that is chronicled in David Macaulay's MOSQUE. To read David's dedication, "For my children and their children's children" is to get but an inkling of the temporal scale we must learn to think in when discussing the subject matter. This is a book which can quite handily serve as the front step for a comprehensive study of the Islamic religion, or of the Ottoman empire, or of what is going on today. And while the impeccable work of David Macaulay is no secret to any of us, this focus on the magnificent vision, the mathematical beauty, and detailed craftsmanship inherent in these structures sacred to a large part of the world, is a wonderful way to begin educating children (and their parents) about that which most of the West is so ignorant. (I am sad to say that as I read MOSQUE during half-time at a freshman basketball game yesterday, someone's parent leaned over and muttered, "Yeah, mosques, that's where they hide the weapons of mass destruction.") Throughout the book we're treated to those illustrations for which David Macaulay is so well known and loved: from large overviews of the overall project as it rises from the ground, down to detailed views of creating stained glass windows, bricks, forged iron grilles, perfectly rounded arches, and the Muezzins' balcony. The what? Yes, that's another great thing about MOSQUE. We are provided with a whole series of new "languages," involving architecture and the Islamic culture. And not only do we see how the project is laid out so that the worshippers are facing Mecca when they pray, but we also get to see the balconies, the bakeries, the bathrooms and the bath house. Not a picture book for little kids, MOSQUE is an entertaining and info-packed illustrated introduction to a world different from our own--temporally, geographically, and culturally--which we learn is not all so different as some would want us to think.

As the author has shown in numerous award-winning books-Cathedral, Pyramid and City, to name a few-his unique gift is the ability to show how monumental historical creations have been fabricated through wonderfully complex sequences of logical steps. This book fits neatly into that lineage, which could seem formulaic by now if each book were anything less than fascinating. Though the mosque, architect and patron in his story are all fictional, the book is set in Istanbul between 1540 and 1580, during the life-time of Sinan, the most renowned architect of the Ottoman Empire. The author remains faithful to that history, and imparts genuine awe at the resulting beauty. DD