ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

EPILEPSIA, CATHERINE M.

The great strength of Islamic Art as a whole lies in its ability to synthesize native design elements with imported ones. Unique style of Muslims was derived from synthesizeing the Byzantine Arts, the Copts, the Romans and Sassanids.

Abstract decoration of the surface is an important factor in every work of Islamic art and architecture. Curving and often interlaced lines, of which the arabesque is a typical example, and the use of brilliant colors characterize almost all of the finest productions, which are of greatly varied styles. Islamic art eschews the realistic representation of human beings and animals, and its floral designs are extremely distant from their original models

HISTORY

DOME OF THE ROCKQubbat al-Sakhrah (691-92)

GREAT MOSQUE OF DAMASCUS

KHIRBAT AL-MAFJAR

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF SAMARRA

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA

CHARACTERISTICSEARLIER TRADITIONSWESTERN TRADITION- The regions of the newly conquered Byzantine Empire (Southwestern Anatolia, Syria, Egypt and Maghreb) supplied architects, masons, mosaicists and other craftsmen to the new Islamic rulers. They were trained in Byzantine Architecture and decorating in Byzantine Style, which had developed Hellenistic and ancient Roman Architecture

EASTERN TRADITION- Mesopotamia and Persia, despite adopting elements of Helllenistic and Roman representative style, retained their independen architectural traditions

PARADISE GARDENGardens and water have for many centuries played a role in Islamic Culture and are often compared to garden of Paradize. It originated from the Achaemenid EmpireOne of the hallmarks of Persian gardens is the chabar bagh

AFIF-ABAD GARDEN

COURTYARD (SEHAN)-Found in secular and religious structures-When within a residence or other secular building is a private courtyard and walled garden. It is used for: the aesthetics of plants, water, architectural elements, and natural light; for cooler space with fountains and shade, and source of breezes into the structure, during summer heat; and a protected and proscribed place where the women of the house need not be covered in the hijab clothing traditionally necessary in public.-A sehan—courtyard is in within almost every mosque in Islamic architecture. The courtyards are open to the sky and surrounded on all sides by structures with halls and rooms, and often a shaded semi-open arcade. Sehans usually feature a centrally positioned ritual cleansing pool under an open domed pavilion called a howz. A mosque courtyard is used for performing ablutions, and a 'patio' for rest or gathering.

THE GREAT MOSQUE OF KAIROUAN

Has a large courtyard surrounded by arcades

HYPOSTYLE HALL-Open hall supported by columns combined with a reception hall set at right angle to the main hall; from Achaemenid Period-Main feature of the hypostyle mosque. One of the earliest is the TARIKHANEH MOSQUE

VAULTING-Diaphragm arches and barrel vaults in Umayyad Architecture

They were mainly used to cover houses and cisterns.

-Islamic WestThe double-arched system of arcades of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba is generally considered to be derived from Roman Aqueducts . Columns connected by horeshoe arches, support pillars of brickwork, which re in turn interconnected by semicircular arches

-Islamic East• Four intersecting ribs, at times redoubled and intersected to form an

eight-pointed star;• the omission of a transition zone between the vault and the

supporting structure;• a central dome or roof lantern on top of the ribbed vault.

-DomesBased on the model of pre-existing Byzantine domes, the Ottoman Architecture developed a specific form of monumental, representative building: Wide central domes with huge diameters were erected on top of a centre-plan building. Despite their enormous weight, the domes appear virtually weightless. Some of the most elaborate domed buildings have been constructed by the Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan.

REGIONAL STYLES• INDO-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTUREA Fusion of Arab, Central Asian and Persian Elements with the local varieties of the Indian subcontinent, including Hindu Architecture

The Taj Mahal is completely symmetrical except for Shah Jahan's sarcophagus, which is placed off center in the crypt room below the main floor. This symmetry extended to the building of an entire mirror mosque in black marble to complement the Mecca-facing mosque place to the west of the main structure.

• TURKISTAN (TIMURID) ARCHITECTUREThe style is largely derived from Persian Architecture. Axial Symmetry is a characteristic of all major Timurid structures, notably the Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand and the mosque of Gowhar Shad in Mashhad. Double domes of various shapes abound, and the outsides are perfused with brilliant colors.

• SINO-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTUREThe first Chinese mosque was established in the 7th century during the Tang Dynasty in Xi’an. The Great Mosque of Xi’an, whose current buildings date from the Ming Dynasty, does not replicate many of the features often associated with traditional mosques. Instead, it follows traditional Chinese Architecture. Some Chinese mosques in parts of western China were more likely to incorporate minarets and domes while eastern Chinese mosques were more likely to look like pagodas

An important lathan feature in Chinese architecture is its emphasis on symmetry, which connotes a sense of grandeur; this applies to everything from palaces to mosques. One notable exception is in the design of gardens, which tends to be as asymmetrical as possible. Like Chinese scroll paintings, the principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring flow; to let the patron wander and enjoy the garden without prescription, as in nature herself.