Ottoman-Islamic aesthetics and visual culture in palatial architecture and landscape: The case of Topkapi Palace in the 15th and 16th centuries

This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. Its main inquiry is how the Ottoman mindset shaped it from the 15th to the 16th century when the Ottoman Empire was strongest and Ottoman art and aesthetics matured and reached their peak. This study introduces a methodological aesthetic analysis and reveals the meanings, values, and thoughts underlying spatial preferences in this age. The factors that shaped the Ottoman mindset are grouped into political, philosophical, religious, and sufī thought systems. This study started with the premise that the dominant factor that influenced the Ottoman mindset was the Sunnite belief system, and the analysis of the Topkapı Palace is based on the theoretical framework of Islamic aesthetics. Its doctrines are discussed in terms of a detailed study of the literature on Islamic aesthetics, revealing basic concepts which are related to the spatial features of the Topkapı Palace. Since the palace is the household of the state and the sultan, the preferences for the spaces are further studied by specifically following the household aesthetics of Islam.