The Istanbul Pattern

«They remind me of that huge turban that Sultan Suleiman the 1st was wearing», said my boyfriend. «I understand that», I said laughing.

He got it all wrong.

My Istanbul pattern is a fusion, a mix of two sources of inspiration. Let me tell you where I found them.

Through out history an infinite number of churches, basilicas, cathedrals and mosques have been designed, built and not to forget, decorated in the most sumptuous and luxurious ways. Both Christianity and Islam have inspired thousands of creative artists, architects and craftsmen and craftswomen to reach for the heavens with their works. And many emperors, kings, popes, bishops and sultans have gladly both paid them and forced them to do so.

Just a short, two-hour drive southeast of Istanbul we find the small town of Iznik. The town has seen many rulers and empires come and go. In 325 it became the centre of things, when the Roman emperor Constantine summoned the bishops of all of Christianity to the first ecumenical church council. Back then Iznik was known by its old name, Nicaea. A thousand years later, in 1331, it was captured by the Ottomans and was even for a short time capital of the expanding empire.

From around 1475 and until the end of the 1600s, Iznik was famous for its beautiful pottery and skilled tile makers. The town’s artists and craftsmen were influenced by arabesque art and Chinese porcelain art – and they combined the two to transform these traditions into wonderful patterns on tiles, which again were used for impressive mosaics. In Istanbul alone, you can find more than 40 mosques, tombs, libraries and palace buildings decorated with Iznik tiles.

So, I let these elegantly crafted Iznik tiles with their gorgeous patterns, shapes and colors inspire me in designing parts of my Istanbul pattern. However, I needed another inspiration source to add some kind of symmetry and repetition. But what…

My boyfriend has studied religions and religious art, and he is fascinated by religious architecture. And knowing that played a part in it, I think. But it was only when he – who used to live on the sixth floor in a tiny, old apartment in Paris, with a roof-window – told me how he loves the view to the city’s roof tops with their endless number of terracotta colored chimneys, that I found my second source: Roof tops of churches and mosques.

I looked through hundreds of pictures of domes – both outside and inside churches and mosques. The soft, rounded and feminine shapes, yet so strong and awe-inspiring, presented themselves to me as inspiration for the second part of my Istanbul pattern.

These two sources of inspiration, combined with powerful solid colors, has turned the Istanbul pattern into a pattern I am truly proud of.

So, my pattern has nothing to do with a sultan’s turban. However, now that my boyfriend has pointed it out to me, I can see why he might have that association. So, why not! But it still makes me laugh.

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