New museum project · Edirne, Türkiye

Mimar Sinan Museum: a 15th-century madrasa full of models

Inside the Peykler Madrasa, built under Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, we designed a museum about the life and works of Mimar Sinan, the great Ottoman architect. The courtyard became an open-air model garden; the domed rooms became exhibition halls.

Explore the planSee the photos

Sinan’s three milestones, told in scale models

Sinan himself called the Şehzade Mosque his apprentice work, the Süleymaniye his journeyman work and the Selimiye in Edirne his masterpiece. The museum follows that story, placing a historic building model of each landmark where visitors can study it from every angle.

Şehzade Complex model

Sinan’s “apprentice work” in Istanbul, the first great külliye of his career, shown as a külliye model with its mosque, madrasa, guesthouse and tombs.

Süleymaniye Complex model

A large-scale külliye model showing the mosque together with its madrasas, hospital, soup kitchen and tombs as one urban whole.

Selimiye Complex model

Sinan’s masterpiece stands in the very city that hosts the museum, so the Edirne Selimiye Complex model, with its mosque, madrasas and arasta bazaar, has a place of honour.

Tap the dots: how the madrasa became a museum

The building keeps its original layout of 19 student cells behind arcades, an open and a closed lecture hall, and a wide courtyard. Each part received a new role.

Mimar Sinan Museum layout plan in the Peykler Madrasa
Sinan’s lifeThe domed lecture hall tells the architect’s life story, from his youth in Ağırnas to his decades as chief royal architect.
Typologies of his worksCells along the north wing compare mosques, madrasas, baths and bridges designed by Sinan.
Details of his worksDomes, arches, portals and ornament explained up close with models and panels.
Courtyard model gardenAn open-air diorama where historic building models sit on lawns among the original arcades.
Café and shopA place to pause, read and pick up a souvenir.
AdministrationMuseum offices, next to the monumental entrance portal.

From render to reality

Drag the yellow handle: on the left the 3D design, on the right the courtyard as it looks today.

Courtyard todayCourtyard designDesignToday

The Peykler Madrasa

Sultan Mehmed II commissioned the madrasa next to the Saatli Madrasa where he had studied, beside the Üç Şerefeli Mosque in Edirne’s historic “golden triangle”. Because it came after the Saatli Madrasa, locals called it Medrese-i Cedide, the New Madrasa. The scholar İbn Kemal is known to have studied and taught here.

After major repairs in 1968 and 1992 and a recent restoration, part of the building now houses the Mimar Sinan Museum, while the rest serves students as a youth centre.

What we delivered

  • Museum concept and exhibition design for the courtyard and rooms
  • Historic building models of Sinan’s mosques and complexes
  • A diorama-style model garden with landscaping
  • Showcases, plinths and interpretation panels
  • Model and museum restoration know-how for long-term care

Watch our models in motion

Planning a museum, a miniature park or a heritage exhibition?

Like Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg or Madurodam in The Hague, a well-made scale model makes history easy to read. We design and build them turnkey.

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