(b Garmish, Berat, Albania; d Istanbul, c. 1660). Ottoman architect. He followed the typical career path for an architect at the Ottoman court: recruited as a janissary, he was trained in the imperial palace in Istanbul before his appointment (by 1626–7) as chief court architect. Twice exiled because of court intrigues and the fall of fellow Albanian officials, he always managed to return to the capital. Although Kasim Aga had general responsibility for all imperial foundations during his tenure as chief court architect (c. 1623–44 and 1645–51) and for many of the projects commissioned by senior members of the Ottoman ruling élite, his exact role in the design and execution of these projects is unclear. Works frequently credited to him personally include the Çinili complex (1640) at Üsküdar in Istanbul and the Revan and Baghdad kiosks (1635 and 1638) in the Tokapi Palace there. He is said to have completed the Sepetciler Kasri (1643) at Sarayburnu and to have worked on the Yeni Valide Mosque at Eminönü. He was almost certainly in charge of the conversion in 1638–9 of the baptistry to the south of Hagia Sophia into a tomb for Sultan Mustafa I (reg 1617–23 with interruption). It is uncertain whether Kasim was directly involved in the design of the Sultan’s fountains at Berat in Albania, mentioned by the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi (1611–84), or other pious foundations mentioned in the Sultan’s endowment deed. The only buildings for which documentary evidence exists about Kasim’s role are the stables (1630–34) and Baltacilar Dairesi (1639–40), which he erected in the Üsküdar Palace at Istanbul, but both these buildings have been destroyed.

• Kasim Aga
  • Albania, §II: Architecture