The mosque of Sancaklar is located on the outskirts of Istanbul, in a park of vast prairies separated from the city by a motorway. The position of this exceptional enclave set between natural and artificial worlds largely determines the strategy applied in the project, which is conceived as a topographic prolongation of the landscape. Hence, the greater part of the mosque is buried. Capitalizing on the uneven land, the building is incrusted in the ground in such a way that the garden roof is integrated with the adjacent meadow, and the only construction visible is a sunken band that protects itself with a deep cantilever and sometimes acts as a facade.

The access to the mosque also emphasizes the telluric nature of the project. The visitor, drawn to the image of a minaret of pure geometry, approaches from the park, following an architectural promenade that leads from above and downward. From the prairie one descends to the lower platform through stone stairs aligned with the curves of the land, arrives at the platform, crosses the threshold under the cantilever, and enters another world, a place of prayer, calm, cave-like space far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city, immersed in a penumbra which is broken only by the stream of light coming in through the skylight, bathing the mysterious wall of the Qibla.