Hagia Sophia Istanbul 537 AD
Erected on the orders of Emperor Justinian and completed in 537 AD for 1000 years the “shrine of the holy wisdom of god” with its vast dome was the largest church in the world. Damaged again and again in earthquakes each time it was repaired and made stronger, its form evolving and subtly changing. Designed by a physicist, a mathematician and a scientist its construction was an extraordinary engineering feat that was the ultimate evolution of the huge vaulted public spaces of ancient Rome.
Constructed by hand from masonry its domed and arched structure works within the nature of its materials yet is not constrained by them, achieving a shimmering internal volume that was a marvel. Its original gilded dome appearing to float above spectators below.
Before all else it is a building of its place. Sitting by the sea its echoes the flat hills and the forms of the landscape around it. The imperial structures of ancient Byzantium with which it was surrounded are long since gone. Yet looking at it sitting amongst the structures and dwellings that have accumulated over the centuries it gives a sense of what the great buildings and cities of ancient Rome must have been like. So much has been erased yet in structures like this memories of our roots linger.
Constructed by hand from masonry its domed and arched structure works within the nature of its materials yet is not constrained by them, achieving a shimmering internal volume that was a marvel. Its original gilded dome appearing to float above spectators below.
Before all else it is a building of its place. Sitting by the sea its echoes the flat hills and the forms of the landscape around it. The imperial structures of ancient Byzantium with which it was surrounded are long since gone. Yet looking at it sitting amongst the structures and dwellings that have accumulated over the centuries it gives a sense of what the great buildings and cities of ancient Rome must have been like. So much has been erased yet in structures like this memories of our roots linger.
Ref:
Istanbul
Date:
Location:
Photographer:
Hagia Sophia Istanbul 537 AD
Erected on the orders of Emperor Justinian and completed in 537 AD for 1000 years the “shrine of the holy wisdom of god” with its vast dome was the largest church in the world. Damaged again and again in earthquakes each time it was repaired and made stronger, its form evolving and subtly changing. Designed by a physicist, a mathematician and a scientist its construction was an extraordinary engineering feat that was the ultimate evolution of the huge vaulted public spaces of ancient Rome.
Constructed by hand from masonry its domed and arched structure works within the nature of its materials yet is not constrained by them, achieving a shimmering internal volume that was a marvel. Its original gilded dome appearing to float above spectators below.
Before all else it is a building of its place. Sitting by the sea its echoes the flat hills and the forms of the landscape around it. The imperial structures of ancient Byzantium with which it was surrounded are long since gone. Yet looking at it sitting amongst the structures and dwellings that have accumulated over the centuries it gives a sense of what the great buildings and cities of ancient Rome must have been like. So much has been erased yet in structures like this memories of our roots linger.
Constructed by hand from masonry its domed and arched structure works within the nature of its materials yet is not constrained by them, achieving a shimmering internal volume that was a marvel. Its original gilded dome appearing to float above spectators below.
Before all else it is a building of its place. Sitting by the sea its echoes the flat hills and the forms of the landscape around it. The imperial structures of ancient Byzantium with which it was surrounded are long since gone. Yet looking at it sitting amongst the structures and dwellings that have accumulated over the centuries it gives a sense of what the great buildings and cities of ancient Rome must have been like. So much has been erased yet in structures like this memories of our roots linger.
Ref:
Istanbul
Date:
Location:
Photographer:
TURKEY
Hagia Sophia Istanbul 537 AD
Erected on the orders of Emperor Justinian and completed in 537 AD for 1000 years the “shrine of the holy wisdom of god” with its vast dome was the largest church in the world. Damaged again and again in earthquakes each time it was repaired and made stronger, its form evolving and subtly changing. Designed by a physicist, a mathematician and a scientist its construction was an extraordinary engineering feat that was the ultimate evolution of the huge vaulted public spaces of ancient Rome.
Constructed by hand from masonry its domed and arched structure works within the nature of its materials yet is not constrained by them, achieving a shimmering internal volume that was a marvel. Its original gilded dome appearing to float above spectators below.
Before all else it is a building of its place. Sitting by the sea its echoes the flat hills and the forms of the landscape around it. The imperial structures of ancient Byzantium with which it was surrounded are long since gone. Yet looking at it sitting amongst the structures and dwellings that have accumulated over the centuries it gives a sense of what the great buildings and cities of ancient Rome must have been like. So much has been erased yet in structures like this memories of our roots linger.
Constructed by hand from masonry its domed and arched structure works within the nature of its materials yet is not constrained by them, achieving a shimmering internal volume that was a marvel. Its original gilded dome appearing to float above spectators below.
Before all else it is a building of its place. Sitting by the sea its echoes the flat hills and the forms of the landscape around it. The imperial structures of ancient Byzantium with which it was surrounded are long since gone. Yet looking at it sitting amongst the structures and dwellings that have accumulated over the centuries it gives a sense of what the great buildings and cities of ancient Rome must have been like. So much has been erased yet in structures like this memories of our roots linger.