ABSTRACT
The most obvious building to consider under this heading is the mosque, a building with a religious function. Muslims can pray almost anywhere of course but the mosque is a building especially built for that purpose, and a variety of designs of such buildings have been tried over the years. Different cultures favor different types of mosques, and often allegiance to a region of the world is indicated by the sort of mosque that is constructed. The Ottoman Empire had a wonderful architect, Sinan, who designed and supervised the construction of many mosques and similar buildings, and it is very difficult to get away from the influence of someone like that. In recent decades there has been a plethora of mosque construction in Turkey, during a period when religion became fashionable again and when it became cool to pray and be seen to be attached to a place of worship. The styles of most of these mosques has been pedestrian at best, many of them seek to follow some of the general patterns of Turkish mosques, sometimes looking back to the Seljuk period, sometimes to Sinan himself, and sometimes to a more Arab character, often depending on who the patron of the building is and the doctrinal allegiance of the local community.
