The explorer arrived at the iconic Blue Mosque around midday. It was very hot and they were tired and thirsty so the explorer purchased a bottle of water and some street food from a nearby kiosk. The explorer settled on a bench with the Mosque in view to enjoy the street food.
As they were partaking in their sustenance the explorer looked around and really studied the Mosque building. They knew from reading his guidebook on the journey there that the Blue Mosque has five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development. Considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period, it incorporates many Byzantine elements of the neighbouring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour. There is approximately 20,000 hand-painted glazed ceramic in 60 different tulip patterns across the upper area. Whilst 200 stained glass windows illuminated the lower stories. The mosque is preceded by a forecourt with a large fountain and special area for ablution.
The explorer pondered about the architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa thinking what a creative, clever and forward looking person he must have been. The explorer was in awe of the building’s design, questioning how it could even have been constructed all those years ago. They felt that an amazing thing about being an architect was that by way of your work you could leave a mark on the landscape for the next generation and many more generations to come. The explorer remembered other iconic buildings they had visited in their life including The Shard and the Gherkin in London and how inspiring they had been to them. Excitedly, the explorer looked up who had been the architect for these buildings and learnt it was Norman Foster a famous architect from the UK.
“I wonder what you have to do to be an architect?” the explorer exclaimed and decided to look it up in the job profiles on the National Careers Service website – Architect | Explore careers | National Careers Service
While our explorer was on the National Careers Website they looked up the following related careers.
Having finished their lunch the explorer made plans to travel onward – as a final google search for the day, they googled for any buildings Norman Foster had designed in Istanbul – they found out that his firm had been part of the building of the Apple Zorlu Centre – a modern Apple retail store. The explorer decided to go past there on their way to the train station as our explorer was thinking of heading to Bulgaria and this seemed an excellent opportunity to have a look at the architecture of another Foster designed building and check out the up to date apple technology at the same time.
The architect job profile tells us that it is possible to train for this job via an apprenticeship or a university course.
You can search for an apprenticeship through https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
If you are a teacher, you can request apprenticeship support for your school through https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/influencers
If you need support with looking for an apprenticeship or applying to college, speak to your careers adviser in school or college, alternatively contact the National Careers Service helpline for support by telephone, email, post or online: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/contact-us
