Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu (1955,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

) is a Turkish designer and owner of a Turkish architecture and interior design company. She designed the interiors of Istanbul's

Şakirin Mosque Şakirin Mosque (pronounced Shakirin) is a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. The building is located at one of the entrances of the historic Karacaahmet Cemetery in Üsküdar. It was built by the Semiha Şakir Foundation in memory of İbrahim Şakir and ...

in 2009 to wide international acclaim, possibly becoming the first woman to design a mosque.

Biography

Fadillioglu studied computer science at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

and at

Control Data Institute Control Data Institute (CDI) was an international technical vocational school created by the American Control Data Corporation in the mid-1960s. Historical timeline * 1965 Control Data Corporation established Control Data Institutes in the United ...

. In 1978, she became interested in interior design, completing a course in art history and design at London's

Inchbald School of Design The Inchbald School of Design was founded in Chelsea, London, England in 1960 by Jacqueline Ann Duncan (then Jacqueline Inchbald, married to and working with designer Michael Inchbald), in the family home at 10 Milner Street. Description The impe ...

. Attracted to the world of restaurants and clubs as a result of her husband's business, she went on to design some 20 establishments before setting up her own firm, Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu Design or ZF Design, where she has completed more than 140 projects. With a staff of 18, her company brings together architects, interior designers and artists. It is licensed in Qatar, the Netherlands, India and Turkey."Zeynep Fadillioglu: Visionary Award"
''The Women's International Film Television Showcase'', 3 December 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2012."Profile: Zeynep Fadillioglu"
''BBC News'', 8 October 2010. Examples of her restaurants, hotels and luxury homes can be seen in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

and London. Fadillioglu's design of the Şakirin Mosque has been widely acclaimed despite the fact that it appears to be the first time a mosque has been designed by a woman. In addition to managing her design studio, Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu teaches at

Istanbul Bilgi University Istanbul Bilgi University () is a private university founded in 1996, located in Eyüpsultan, Istanbul, Turkey. The university has four campuses in Istanbul: SantralIstanbul, Kuştepe, Dolapdere, and Kozyatağı. History The university was ...

Designing the Şakirin Mosque

Fadıllıoğlu is the interior designer of the

, combining modern techniques with traditional

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...

. Her contributions include a large metal sphere above the entrance, a graceful curved

minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...

and a glass chandelier crafted in China. Conscious of the need to pay special attention to women, she has ensured that the women's upper gallery matches the men's area of the mosque in both size and beauty. It is separated from the rest of the mosque only by criss-crossed rails. The chandelier consists of globules shaped like drops of water, recalling a prayer that Allah's light should fall like rain. The large windows have gold designs reminiscent of pages from the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

. The overall impression is one of light, space and elegance. The mosque was built in memory of Ibrahim and Semiha Şakir by their descendants. Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu is in fact their great-niece. Fadıllıoğlu's design of the mosque makes her the first female interior designer of a mosque, as well as the first woman to design a mosque in modern Turkey.Strickland, Carol. "Mosque Modern." ''Christian Science Monitor'', 3 August 2009. http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0803/p17s01-algn.html Retrieved 25 September 2009.

Awards

Among the awards Fadıllıoglu has received are: *Andrew Martin International Designer of the Year Award (2002) *House & Garden International Interior Designer of the Year (2002) *Modern Designer of the Year, Design and Decoration Awards (London, 2005) for an apartment overlooking the Bosphorus *The Wifts Foundation International Visionary Award (2011)

References

External links

ZF Design websiteNews from Turkey video interview with Zeynep Fadillioglu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadillioglu, Zeynep Architects from Istanbul 1955 births Living people

Biography

Designing the Şakirin Mosque

Awards

References

Further reading

External links