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CHAPTER 7

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

Awe have seen, th e Early Christians went throughan extensive process to develop architecturalforms suitable for and expressive of th eir religion.Followers of the religion founded by the prophetMohammed experienced a similar evolutionary process,but one that led to quite different results as they createdbuildings to serve and symbolize Islam.

Islam originated in Arabia. In 610 the angel Gabriel issaid to have appeared to Mohammed in Mecca and overtime expounded the revelation of God, or Allah (,Al-lah'meaning 'the God'). These revelations were collected intoa holy book, the Qur'an (or Koran), which expressed inArabic the message of Islam, a word signifying submissionto the will of Allah. Each Muslim accepted five basic truthsor duties: to believe in the oneness of God, and thatMohammed was the messenger of God; to pray five timesdaily; to fast from sunrise to sunset during the month ofRamadan; to give alms to the poor; and to make at leastone pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, wealth andhealth permitting.

Conversion of the tribes to Islam was accompanied byan intense awakening of Arab fervor, and the courage andfighting skill of Arabic tribes, previously exploited by th eSassanian and Byzantine empires, was turned against thesemasters in a fury of rapid conquests, frequently aided bylocal contempt for the corruption associated with Byzantine rul e. By 661 Islamic armies had swept through what istoday Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, and Egypt, and they thenmoved across th e North African coast to enter Spain in711. From Spain they pushed northward into France,where forces led by Charles Martel stopped their Europeanexpansion in 732 at the battle of Tours. Islamic settlersremained in central and southern Spain until 1492,however, and th eir armies continued to batter the southem borders of th e Byzantine Empire until, under theOttoman Turks, they finally conquered Constantinople in1453 . Through trade, Islamic dynasties made contact withChina and India, where their religion would eventuallytake root, and strong Islamic influence made a leap as fareast as modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia. With militaryconquest came economic, social, and cultural dominanceas Islamic customs and the Arabic language replaced surviving practices in the old Roman Empire. Islamic policy

Qibla iwan of the Friday mosque , Isfahan,12th century.What began in the ninth century as a columnar ha ll mosquewas tran sformed over time in to a more elaborate plan,culm ina t ing with a large fou r-iwan courtyard. Note theiwans muqarnas vau lts.

ISLA MIC AR CHITECTURE

toward conquered populations was generally on e ofaccommodation . Islamic rule was often preferred by thenatives of occupied lands to that of harsh Byzantine governors, and th e multi-cultural society the invaders fosteredprovided a model of respectful interaction that themodern world might do well to rediscover. The heady mixof learned men from Islamic and Jewish traditions, sometimes joined by Christian theologians, contributed to ahighly productive era in the arts and sciences from theninth through sixteenth centuries.

Today, Muslims represent a majority of the populationin the Middle East, North Africa, parts of Central andSouth Asia, th e Malaysian peninsula, and the Indonesianarchipelago, bu t sizeable minorities also live in Europeand the United States. Islamic worship requires prayer fivetimes a day, and this prayer is practiced at four levels ofparticipation: 1) the individual or small group, 2) theneighborhood congregation, 3) the entire populace of asmall city, and 4) the whole Muslim world, and discretestructures are built for the first three levels of worship. Fordaily prayer (except on Fridays), small numbers of worshipers use the modestly sized masjid, containing a prayerniche, but no facilities for preaching. For universal corporate worship, a Muslim town requires an idgab, a verylarge, unroofed open space with a long prayer wall on oneside. The residents of a neighborhood attend the mostwell-known Islamic religious structure: the congregationalor Friday mosque, where the principal or weekly service isheld, hence its naming for a day of the week. It is in thecovered prayer hall of such a Friday mosque that massprayer takes place. Worshipers assemble in tightly packed

Chronologyappearance of the Angel Gabriel to Mohammedrevelation of the Qur'an to Mohammedspread of Islam throughout the Middle Eastconstruction of the Dome of the Rock

610610-6337th century687-91

spread of Islam across North Africa early 8th centurydefeat of Islamic forces at Tours by Charles Martel 732construction of the Great Mosque, Cordobaspread of Islam to India, Malaysia, and Indonesiaconquest of Constantinople by the Ottomansconstruction of the Mosque of Siileyman

the Magnificentconstruction of the Taj Mahal

833-98812th-13th centuries14531550-571631-4

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7.1 Muslims at prayer in the Mosque of the Prophet,Mecca.Thi s dramatic photograph illustrates a consistent patterningof highly ordered worshipers at prayer, the repeatedorthogonal structural bays, and polychromatic masonry. Allthe worshipers are facing the prayer wall.

ranks and fil es, placing themselves as cl ose as poss ible tothe prayer wa ll , which explains the square o r wide- rectangle shapes of such ha lls as o pposed to the long, narrowpl ans o f Christi an churches o r th e central pl ans o f Byzantine ones. Prayer is directi onal, o riented towa rd Mecca,and requires that wo rshipers, a fter ritual purifica ti on,proceed th rough a series of bow ings, pros trati ons, andrecita ti ons from the Qur'an (Fig. 7. 1) .

Islam prescribes th at o rnamentati on be aniconic,meaning sy mb o li c or sugges ti ve rather th an litera lly representati ona l. This o rnament is so metim es executed instone, but more frequ ently in glazed bri ck o r tile, gypsumstucco, gla ss, or even wood . The exteri or envelopes o fIslamic religious buildings are treated like a skin that ca nreceive universa lly applied deco ra ti on. The o rdering o fthi s deco rati on, though app arentl y compl ex, is typica llycont ro ll ed by primary and second ary grids and makesextensive use of repetition, sy mm etry, and patterning. Thiso rdering can be subdivided according to fo ur designstrategies: 1) the repetiti on of an architectural element likean arch, 2) geo metric manipulati ons like rotated andinterl ock ing polygons, 3) o rganic growth in the fo rm ofplant-like fo liatio n, and 4) ca lli graphy. Archi tectural elements ca n be two- o r three-dimensional and appear mos tco mm only as w indow or doo r openings . Geo metricmo ti fs a llow for almos t endl ess crea tivity and include the

ribbing of vaults. Two- and th ree-dimensional organi ccompos itions ca n be highly sty lized o r app roach naturalism, and as they beco me linea r and seemingly endl essprodu ce a so-ca lled arabesqu e, or intrica te pattern of interlaced lines. Calligraphy is the mos t important of th e fourstrategies because it reco rds the word of Allah. It ca n beflowin g, or cursive, as well as angula r. Some ornamentalconditions ex pl o it li ght , such as glass o r transluce ntscreens that filter illumina ti on, and muqarnas vaults thatbo th reflect and refract it.

EARLY SHRINES AND PALACESFo r their ea rli est buildings, the largely nomadic IslamicArabs ass imilated techniques and forms fro m the civilizati ons they encountered . Sy ri an and Christi an influencesare cl ear in one of the most prominent ea rly shrines, theDome of th e Rock (687-91) in Jerusalem (Figs . 7.2-7.4 ).Its loca ti on on Mount Mo ri ah was sacred to the Jews, bothas the site o n which Abraham had offered his so n Isaac asa sacrifice to the Lord and as the loca tion of Solomon'sTe mpl e. Muslims honored it fo r Abraham's presence, butalso venerated it as the pl ace fro m which Mohamm edascend ed in his night journey to paradise. At the center ofthe Dome of the Rock is a rock, under which lies a sma llcave with a single openin g. The shrine is ca refull y pos iti oned around thi s rock, the do med central po rtionenclos ing the rock and a co ncentric aisle permittingci rcum ambula tio n. The building's form was probabl yderived from Christi an precedent. Co nstantine's Church

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72 Domeof the Rock , Jerusa lem, 687- 91.One of the ea rlies t Isamic shrines, thisoctagonal domedbuilding has a double ambulatory surrounding the rock fromwhich Mohammed ascended on his ou rney to parad ise.

7.3 Axonom etric section of the Dome of th e Ro ck,Jerusa lem, 687-91 .This section shows the sophisticated geometry invo lved inthe Dome of the Rock 's design , a characteristic sha red by anumber of fourth - and fifth-century Syrian churches.7.4 The Dome of th e Rock interior, Jerusalem, 687-91.This celebration of aholy site through the erection of adome, in thiscase over a rock above a cave and by JewsandMusl ims in Jerusa lem, can be compared to the build ing ofthe dome of st. Peter 's by Christ ians n Rome (see chapter 11)over the spot whe re the apost le Peter is be lieved to havebeen buried.

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7.5 Muslims circumamb ulat ing the Ka 'ba during the Haj,Mecca.The idea of pilgrimage is one shared by Christ ians andMus lims. In this scene n Mecca, throngs of pilgrims surroundthe Kaba. In chapter 8, you will find Romanesque churchesalong the pilgrimage roads n France and Span that lead tothe city of Compostela and the highly venerated tomb ofthe apostleJames son of Ze bedee.

of the Holy Se pulcher in Jerusalem had featured a similarrotunda, and there were many centra lly planned domedchurches throughout the Byzantine world. Un like mostByzantine domes, however, the structure here is of wood.(There is evidence that early Christian shrines also hadwooden domes, although none has survived to the presentday. ) The dome of the Jerusalem sanctuary, sixty-seven feetin diameter, is constructed of a double shell, each shellhaving thil1y-two converging wooden ribs, and the who lerests on a cornice atop a maSOI1lY drum. The inner ribs areplastered and adorned with painted and gilded designs(fourteenth-centUlY reconstructions), while the exterior issheathed with boards and finished with lead and go ld leaf.

The general scheme employed at the Dome of theRock, that of a central shrine around which the faithfulcould circulate, was used earlier at Mecca in rebu ilding theKa'ba, the goal of Islamic pilgrimage (Fig. 7.5). This clothdraped cubical shrine contains the Black Stone, believed tohave been given to Abraham by the angel Gab riel. Thestone was venerated in pre-Muslim times. Mohammeddestroyed the ido ls placed around it, and his successorscleared neighboring buildings in order to provide clear ci rculation space around the stone. At the Haj, or annualpilgrimage, the devout process seven times around theKa'ba, fo llowing the sets of concentric rings set in thepavement encircling the shrine.

CONCEPTION OF THE MOSQUEThe building type most closely associated with Islam is themo squ e, th e primalY place of worship, which evolvedfrom several sources . These included the House of theProphet at Medina (ca. 622), Christian churches , andperhaps th e audience halls of Persian kings.

Beside Mohammed's house stood a square enclosure,with small chambers set in the southeast corner for hisliving qual1ers (Fig. 7.6) . The remainder of the space wasa partially open central court. Although constructed originally for domestic purposes, it also served as a gatheringplace for his followers to hear sermons and prayers, andafter Mohammed's death its form was imitated in simpleworship facilities built in other settlements.

76 Reconstruction of the House of the Prophet, Medina,ca. 622.Thisbuilding became a prototype for the mosque. Followersof Mohammed assembled in the open courtyard to hearse rmons and participate in group prayer, func t ions hat hadto be accommodated into mosquedes ign.

CHAPTER 7 ISL AMIC ARCHITECTURE


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Paye r ha ll or haram

prayeror qibla

Co rdobaN$

Finaquibla

The Great Mosque at Damascus (706-15, with laterrebuildings) is the oldest extant mosque and illustrates aprocess through which the form developed (Fig. 7.7). Thesite is an ancient one on which had stood a Roman templededicated to Jupiter and a fOUl1h-centUlY Christian churchdedicated to St. John the Baptist. For a time after theIs lamic conquest of the city in 635, both Christians andMuslims worshiped on the site, but in 706 the church waspu lled down and an impressive mosque, based in pa11 ontripartite aisle-and-nave basilican church plans, was constructed under the ca liphate of al-Walid I. The mosque'soutline was determined by the shape of the Roman shrinethat was entered through a gateway in the center of theshorter, east side. Four towers, or minarets, provided elevated platforms at the corners of the site from which aca ller (muezzin) could summon the faithful to prayer. Thegenera l design of these towers may have been based onearlier fortification towers or lighthouses, but, with theirincorporation at Damascus, minarets became standardfeatures of subsequent Friday mosques. Just as belltowersor ra ised domes do for churches, minarets serve to identifythe mosque in the landscape. Much later, particularlyimp ortant mosques were sometimes given multipleminarets, but one generally sufficed.Over half of the inner space is given over to an openarcaded court, or sahn, containing a domed fountainpavilion for ritual ablutions and an octagonal pavilionoriginally used for the public treasury. The covered prayerha ll, or haram, extends along the entire long south wall.Two parallel rows of columns divide this hall longitudina lly into thirds, near the center of which the arcades areinterrupted by a broad transverse element similar to anave, with a wooden dome over its central bay. This

REGIONAL VAR I AT I ONS IN MOSQUE DES I GN

Minaret1...IlL

"=

!1IMinaret

P

7.7 Plans of the Great Mosque, Cordoba, 785 and 833-988;and the Great Mosque, Damascus, 706- 15.Both these mosques have columned prayer halls preceded byopen courts or sahns.

Minaret.\--'t -Octagonapavilion

Domed fountain pavilion "e Co urt or sahn JTrip ' r arched gate

,-I....tiY '\I.JlPrayer hall or haram .....Prayer hall or haram :=l

Pa er wall or ibla I MinaretPraye r niche or mhrabDamascus

100mlOO ft

element develops in later designs into the maqsura, aspecial processional area reserved for the retinue of theca liph, thereby justifying its dome as a special architectural accent. The south wall being the prayer wall, or qibla,there are three niches, or mihrabs, set into it to indicatethe direction of Mecca. A raised pulpit, or minbar (notindicated on the plan), from which Qur'anic readings,sermons, or official proclamations and addresses aregiven, is located to the right of the central mihrab.

REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN MOSQUEDESIGNBecause mosques have been built throughout so much ofth e world, it will no t be possible to represent their fulldiversity in thi s short chapter. The discussion that followsconcentrates .on 1) columnar or hypostyle mosquesfavored in Arabia, North Africa, and Spain, 2) iwanmosques popular in Iran and Ce ntral Asia, which consistof a rectangular court flanked by large, often vaultedspaces, or iwans, and 3) large, centrally organized, domedspace mosques found in Turkey.COLUMNED HALL OR HYPOSTYlE MOSQUESThe Gr eat Mosque of al-Mutawakkil at Samarra, Iraq(848/49 -5 2) has both a co lu mned hall and a single, extraordinary minaret. Enormous in size, the mosque consistsof a rectangular burned-brick-wa ll enclosure more than800 feet by more than 500 feet, with attached semi-circular towers . To the north along the enclosure's central, longitudinal axis ri ses the brick minaret (Fig. 7.8 ), its spiral

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7.8 The Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil, Samarra,848/849-52.This prominent minaret in the form of a tall spiral has alineage traceable as far back as the Mesopotamian ziggurats.Note how the long, horizontal outer wall serves as a foil forthe minaret 's rich, strongly vertical silhouette.

form associated by some with the ziggurats of AncientMesopotamia. Inside the mosque's walls, a forest of squarecolumns once surrounded a rectangular sahn, with theqibla adjacent to the deepest accumulation of columnbays, altogether a highly ordered, even profoundcomposition.

The Great Mosque begun in around 785 in Cordoba,Spain (Fig. 7.7), evolved to have a much more complexcolumnar hall form than that at Samarra. In the first construction period, the mosque occupied a nearly squareplan, half comprising the sahn and the other half theharam, which contained ten rows of eleven columns tocreate an eleven-aisled sanctualy. In the haram, superimposed arches connect the columns, the lower arch beinghorseshoe-shaped and the upper one no t quite semicircular (Fig. 7.9). The effect of this work is light and delicate,and although both the tiered arcades of the Damascusmosque and the stacked arches of Roman aqueducts havebeen suggested as the inspiration for the superimposedarches, their treatment here is entirely original. Both archlevels are polychrome, composed of white stone voussoirsset alternately against red brick ones.

Beginning in 833, this mosque was enlarged threetimes. In the first renovation campaign (833-48), theprayer hall was extended to the southwest by the addition

of eight new bays that maintained the alignment andrhythm of the original mosque bu t necessitated reconstruction of the qibla and mihrab .In 951, the sahn wasextended to the n0l1heast and a new minaret erected. Theharam was again expanded to the southwest beginning in962, when another twelve bays were added along with anew qibla and mihrab. The new mihrab was a richly ornamented niche, given prominence on the interior by avi11ual forest of lobed and cusped arches, covered by adome formed by boldly interlacing arches (Figs.7.10-7.11), flanked by smaller domes also composed ofinterlaced arches in the bays to either side. So far as weknow, these exceptional domes are an original inventionhere, and they are the possible inspiration for similardomes built in the Baroque by Guarini (see Fig. 12.25).The final extension of the mosque took place in 987 - 88along the southeastern side, adding another eight aislesrunning the full length of the existing haram, and en larging the sahn as well to create the largest mosque in Spain.In the sixteenth century, after the Moors were expelledfrom Spain, the cathedral of Cordoba (Fig. 7.12 ) wasinserted inside the mosque, disrupting the colonnadedexpanse of the haram but perhaps inadve11ently preservinga good portion of the Islamic fabric through the mosque'sconversion to a place of Christian worship.



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7.9 The Great Mosque inter ior, Cordoba, 833- 988.This view of the prayer hall shows the horseshoe-shapedpo lychrome stacked arches that dominate the interior.Eventua ly 610 columns defined the immense space.

711 The Great Mosque vault above the mihrab bay,Cordoba,833-988.Thisvault also employs interlaced arches in its construction.

REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN MOSQUE DESIGN

7.10 The Great Mosque vau lt above the maqsura,Cordoba, 833- 988.Note the use of lobed arches. polychromy. and theinterlaced-arch structure of the dome.

7.12 The Great Mosque from t he minaret, Cordo ba,833-988.Parallel rows of ridge-and-valley roofs cover the prayer hall ,and the foreground trees are grow ing n the sahn. Oneregrets the intrus ion of a ater Christ ian church in thissplend id Islamic bUilding.

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Minaret

7.13 Plan of the Bibi Kanum Mosque , Samarkand, begun1399.Compare this modular mosque plan with the equallyregimented ranks and files of Muslim worshipers in Fg. 7.1and remember that they are called to prayer five tim es daily.This rigorous prayer regime s mirrored in the rigorousplann ing of the mosque.

7.14 b Pan of and sect ion looking southeast throughMasjid-i-sha h, Isfahan, 1611 -ca. 1630.The mosque sits at the top of the pub lic square. Entrance toit is centered in the arcades defining the square. but the axisturns to br ing the mosque into aignment with Mecca .Madrasas . or theolog ical schools, are located beside themosque.

Qu ibla

1oV Sahn

80 ft

N$- - - - SOm

Small domedchamber

-------- 110ft

--------

IWAN MOSQUES

7.14a Plan ofthe Fr iday mosque, Isfahan, 8th- 17thcenturies .Thismosque is nterest ing for itsea rly incorporation ofsubstant ial domes within a mult i-columned prayer hal l. In itsfinal form , the mosque evolved into a our -iwan type, havinga arge central courtyard bisected by cross-axes estab lishedby the iwans.

To the east, in Central Asian lands now part of Iran,Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, mosquedesigns developed initially from multi-columned halls.The Bibi Khanum Mosque at Samarkand, Uzbekistan,begun in 1399 by the militalY and political leader Timur,who founded a dynasty at the end of the fourteenthcentury, presents the essentials of the multi-columnediwan mosque form. Its constituent element , the iwan, is avaulted or domed volume, walled on three sides and openon the other. At Samarkand, the plan (Fig. 7.13) is comparable to that at Samarra, with a sahn inside ranks ofco lumns forming four L-shaped halls, all bounded by arectangular perimeter wall. Here, however, an entty p011al,with stumps of flanking minarets remaining, opens intoone short side of the sahn, and iwans appear at the centerof the other three sides, becoming porch-like extensions ofthe central open space. The iwan facing the entry and terminating its axis is the qibla iwan and is domed andflanked by additional minarets,

SOmo ISO ft

Prayerhall



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7.15 Masjid+S hah, Isfahan, 1611 -ca. 1630.In order to respect the direction of Mecca, the mosque isturned forty-five degrees to the axis of the public square(left side of the photograph) laid out by Shah Abbas.

7.16 Iwan, Masjid-i-S hah, Isfahan, 16 11-ca. 1630.Two-story arcades flank the central arch, whi ch is finishedwith e!aborate tile decoration and a muqarnas vault. In thebackground is the rear of the entrance iwan on the publicsquare.

The earliest mosque about which we have reliablearchaeo logical information is the Friday mosque inIsfahan (Fig. 7.14a), begun in the eighth centUlY, finallyachiev ing a form not unlike that at Samarkand andrew orked repeatedly until the seventeenth century. Theorigina l form seems to have been a rectangular multicolumned hall covered with a wooden roof, with a largesahn at its core. In 1086-87 a domed chamber was introduced at the southwest end of th e ex isting building, probably to serve as a maqsura. I t differed significantly in scalefro m the domes already seen as part of the maqsuras at


Damascus and Cordoba: rather than covering one bay ofthe columnar hall, the southern dome covered twentybays. In 1088, a slightly smaller dome was added in anaxial line to the n011h. It is not clear what function itserved initially, for it was outside the building at the tim eof its construction but was soon incorporated into arcades.

At som e later date, Isfahan's Friday mosque was modifi ed again to include four iwans set in the center of eachside of th e sahn. Their boldly scaled arched openingsprovided builders with an opportunity to exercise theirskills in geometric ornamentation, including the application of glazed tiles in shades of blue, turquoise, white, andye llow, and stalactite-like muqarnas vaults, the ornamental treatment of curved wall surfaces with corbeled concaveelements that has the overall effec t of dissolving the material presence of the wall into facets that seem to hover in

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7.17 Masjid-I-shah, entrance to prayer hall, Isfahan ,1611-ca.1630.This view shows the elaborate blue-glazed tile work andmuqarnas vault. Sometimes compared to a honeycomb,these cellul ar vaults are formed by corbe ling.

space. The mosque is also renowned for its intricate brickwork patterns in the domes.During the reign of Shah Abbas I, the core of Isfahan

was greatly expanded, as a whole new market area wasdeveloped at some distance from the older settlementaround the Friday mosque. Included in the new construction was a congregational mosque, the Masjid-i-Shah(1 61l-ca . 1630), built to des igns of Badi' ai-Zaman Tuniand Ali Akbar a l-Isfahani (Figs . 7. 14b, 7 .1 5-7 .17) .Entrance into it is made through the ce nter of the southern side of th e market, so as to provide a monumentalportal to the public area and match the gateway to thebazaar at the opposite end of th e square, but the mosqueitself is turned forty-five degrees so as to be correctlyaligned with Mecca. The skill with wh ich the des ignersaccommodated th e change in axis is one of the mostadmired aspects of the plan. From the entranceway, one

can see the iwan constructed in front of the qibla, but thecirculation path leads first laterally to either side of theinitial iwan, then toward th e sahn , thereby accomp lishingthe axial shift with finesse. Apart from the transitional elements at the entrance, symmetty governs the entire design.A still pool at the center of the sahn re fl ects the blue-background glazed tilework coverin g the four iwans and thegreat dome of the haram. Among the decorative elementsportrayed in the tiles are peacocks, reflecting the builders'wi llingness in this case to depict animals in art rather thanconfining ornament to recursive geometric elements andca lligraphy. The domed prayer ha ll is augmented by roomson either side, also covered by a succession of sma lldomes, that served as a winter mosque, and it is furthercomplemented by LwO religious schools (madrasas), thuscontinuing an estab lished tradition of incorporating educa tion with worship. (The study of law and religion areinseparable aspects of Islam ic higher education .)

Islam came to India in successive waves of militalYinvasions in the eleventh through thi11eenth centuries,cha llenging the established religions of Hinduism andBuddhism with its fundamentally different religious perspective. India's cave- like temp les with interiors used onlyby priests and covered inside and out with intricatelywrought sculpted figures were totally alien to the Islamicidea of the mosque with accessible open coUl1yards, spaciou s prayer ha ll s, and scrupulous avoidance of thehuman figure in representationa l art. Hindu and Buddhisttemples were replaced with mosques initia lly based onmulti-columned hall designs. Beginning with the ascendancy of the Mughal Dynasty (mid-s ixteenth to eighteenthcenturies), however, one sees a distinctly Ind o-Islamicstyle come into being, spurred on in large measure by th earriva l of foreign craftsmen from Ce ntral Asia. Some of

Mausoleum ofSalimChishti

7.18 Plan of the Friday mosque, Fate hpur Sikri, ca. 1568-71.The monumental gate is on the southern side of themosq ue, preceded by a wide stairway. while the haram is setto the west.

150ft



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7.20 Friday mosque gateway, Fatehpur Sk ri, ca. 1568-71.As Akbar's city was set on a plateau above the su rroundingte rrain, amonumental flight of steps is required to gainentrance to the mosque from the southern side. It serves asaplinth for an impressive arched gateway.

REGIONAL VARIAT I ONS IN MOSQUE DESIGN

7.19 Friday mo sque interior, Fatehpur Skri , ca. 1568-7 1.Thisview shows the distinctive detail developed by Akbar'sarchitects as they fused Islamic forms (the pointed arch , forexample) with elements from Hindu and Buddhist traditionsalready well es tabli shed in India.

these individuals were descendants of Indian craftsmentaken captive by the Mongol conqueror Timur in 1398.Their return in the sixteenth centlllY brought skilledbuilders familiar with the Islamic architecture of Persia toIndia, and the resulting works done for the Mughal rulersare some of the most magnificent to be found in theIslamic world .

Jalil ai-Din AJ


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Snans irst major mosque, thisbUilding s notable for itsclea rly articulated geometry of squares. One squarecomprises th e sahn, wh ile the second def ines th e domedharam. Minarets are incorporated into the cornerswhere th esquares join.

MULTIDOMED MOSQUESIn As iatic Turkey, or Anatolia, the spread of Islam came atthe expense of the Byzant ine Empi re, which was graduallyreduced in size un til the fall of Constantinople in 1453brought an end to a civilization over 1000 years o ld. Thevictors were th e O ttoman Turks, led by Sultan Mehm et II,who thus completed th e Islamic co nquest of th e Balkans.Hagia Sophia, th e most impressive church in th e easternMediterranean, was co nverted into th e city's congregational mosque; minarets were eventually added. Ottomanarchitects, who already had experience in building domedstru ctures set on cubi ca l masses, received new inspirationfrom the city's great Byzantine churches, whi ch now stoodbefore them as models, and in succeeding centuries theyco nstructed a number of mo squ es that in structure andarchi tectural detail rank with the bes t religious buildingsth at Byzantium produced.

Among these one must count the works of Koca Sinan(ca. 1490- 1588 ), a distinguished engineer and architectwho has been comp ared with his Italian contemporaryMi chelangelo. Born to a peasant family of non-Muslimbackground, Sinan was recruited fo r governmental serviceas a yo uth and trained in the co rps of Janissa ries, eliteinfant lY units of the Ottoman army composed of nonMuslims abducted as child ren and fo rced to co nvert to

10m110 ft

7.22 Longitudinal sect ion and plan of Shezade Mosque ,Isanbul, 1545 - 48.These draw ings show how Snan took Hag ia So phia's hemeof the central dome with flanking semidomes and expandedit into acompletely centralized design. The square plan ofthe sahn matches the square enclosed space of the haram.



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Islam. After participating in militalY campaigns in Austria,Greece, and Mesopotamia, he served as court architect inConstantinople for fifty years, during which time hedes igned and supervised constmction of a large number ofprojects, including waterworks, bridges, fortifications, andbuildings. Sinan's career coincided with the reigns of generous sultans, and he was undoubtedly fortunate to havethe vas t Ottoman building corps of ski lled workmen at hiscommand. Without both liberal patrons to finance themand capable assistants to cany them out, major projectscould not have been realized, no matter how brilliantlydesigned.

Sinan's first major architectural commission in Constantinople was the Shezade mosque complex (1545 - 48),commissioned by Sultan Sii leyman in memory of his son,who had died as a yo ung man. Constmcted on the site ofJustinian's Church of the Holy Apostles, the mosque iscomposed of two joined squares (Figs. 7.21-7.23). Onesqua re contains the sahn, which has a central fountainand is surrounded by domed bays behind arcades. Thesecond square is the enclosed haram, where th e centraldo me is complemented by four semidomes set at thesides, with smaller domes and semidomes filling theremaining spaces. The elegantly symmetrical geometly ofthe plan is matched by the balanced volumes of the inte-rior space and the exterior massing, punctuated by pairedminarets at the corners where the two squares adjoin.


7.23 Shezade Mosque interior, Istanbu l, 1545-48.This view shows the piers supporting the great dome andthe flanking semidomes.

Sinan has handled the great piers and necessary buttressing so as to minimize the apparent bulk of the masomy.As a result, window open ings are larger and the volumetric massing on the exterior presents a harmonious composition of successive layering of domes and semidomes.Associated with the mosque are the tomb of ShezadeMehmet, a madrasa, a hospice for the infirm, a school,and a caravanserai (accommodation and markets forforeign merchants who sold at wholesa le prices),reminders that even in a well-established city, mosquesprovided space for both civic and sacred functions. It wasOttoman practice to provide separate buildings dedicatedto different particular needs.

A similar quality marks Sinan's celebrated mosque ofSiileyman th e Magnificent (1550- 57 ), within a vastcomplex, or Kiilliye, containing the mosque and cemetelYat the center, with four madrasas, a primary school, amedical school, a caravanserai, a hospital, a communitykitchen to feed the poor, a hospice, public baths, and evena house for Sinan (Figs. 7.24-7.25 ). It was sited on thesloping side of a hill fronting on the Golden Horn (harborof Constantinople), and Sinan located the complex so asto exploit the dramatic possibilities of the terrain, whichrequired that the layout be asymm etrical. Marked by fourslender minarets, the mosque dominates the ensembl e ofbuildings. Its pl an is familiar: an arcaded sahfl, a domedharam, and a walled cemetery set on a linear axis. The

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7.24 Mosque of Su leyman the Magn if icent, Istanbul,1550-57.Constructed as the centerpiece of a arger complex ofschools, shops, and commun ity faciliti es, the mass of thismosque isbalanced by the slender vertical accents of itsfour minarets.

Hosp ital

Medicalschool --- -+ -FtI'-l - b J J l l ~

Madrasa - --+l-KMadrasa ---+I1--!--I-Primary school - . - l : ~ 3 E f i ~

725 Ste plan of the Ku lliye of Su leyman the Magnificent,Isanbul, 1550-57.The siteplan provides concrete evidence of the Islamicintegration of church and state, with comb ined facilities forworship, education, medical care. and social se rvices.

100mlOO ft

Hostel

~ ! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t ~ r Mausoleumof>Oleyman

Madrasa

Madrasa

Public baths

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE


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7.26 Selimiye Mosque, Edirne, 1568-75.Genera lly held to be Sinan 's masterpiece, this mosque isessentia lly asingle dome supported on eight great piers andbraced by external buttresses. The minarets are exceptionallytall and provided with internal spiraling staircases ofcons iderable geometric complexity.

haram is a variant of that at Hagia Sophia, having a centraldome flanked by two semi domes, but here the aisles, alsodomed, are so configured as to allow the entire building toex ist within a square. Spatia lly, the interior functions as asingle vo lume, with aisles and nave available for prayer.(There is no second-level gallelY as at Hagia Sophia.) Thewho le presents a more consistent articulation, both insideand out, than was achieved in the Byzantine building. Butll"essing elements, arches, vaults, and domes work togetherstructurally and visually to create a satisfying architecturalcomposition. The octagonal mausoleum of Siileyman (d.1566 ), placed in the center of the cemetery behind theqib la wa ll , has a plan inspired by the Dome of the Rock,although this is not evident from the exterior treatment.

Sinan's final major work was the Selimiye Mosque inEdirne, built in 1568-75 for Selim n, successor to Siileyman (Figs. 7.26-7.27 ). The complex contains the usualmadrasas and commercial buildings (whose revenueshelped to offset the running costs of the mosque and itsrelated educational and charitab le faci lities), but it is the

REG IONA L VAR I AT IONS I N MOSQUE DESIGN

SOm- - - - - - - - ISO ftl

A

SOm- ISO ft7.27 Pan of and sect ion through the Sel im iye Mosquecomplex, Edirne, 1568-75.Sinan attempted here to equal the dome of Hagia Sophiaand exceed its integration of interior space.

domed haram that commands particular attention. Sinanboasted that here he had built a dome both wider andtaller than Hagia Sophia, which is no t quite the case, bu this method of conceiving the space transcends that of theByzantine original. There are no semidomes. The dome isset directly on eight piers, six freestanding and twoengaged in the qibla wa ll. Arches connecting these pierssupport the dome, which rises above ranks of windowspi erced in the exterior wall. Buttressing necessary to bracethe dome's lateral thrust is placed wit hin the wa lls andseen more clearly on the exterior. As daring as is the dome,one must also malvel at the four slender minarets thatmark the corners of the haram. Of exceptional height (232feet), th ey are grooved to accentuate their verticality. Insidetwo of the minarets are separate sta ircases leading to eachof th e three balconies, a comp lex exerci se in spiralinggeometlY and a structural challenge that Sinan bo astedproudly that he had met successfully.

Qibla

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7.28 Tomb of Ismail th e Samanid, Bukhara, ca. 900 .In places where cons tant, bright sunlight is he norm ,architects of various cultures have used cast shadows togreat advan tage. Here smooth wall-surfaces havedisappeared in favor of advancing and reced ing masonryunits that create a rich patterning of light and dark.

TOMBSIt is common for a mosque to include th e tomb of afounder or holy man. Freestanding monumental tombs,usua lly with domes, also became popular by the tenthce ntUly. The Tomb of Ismail the Samanid in Bukhara,Uz bekistan, dates from ca. 900 or even earlier. A cub e-likemass with inset cy lin drical corners houses a single domedchamber supp0l1ed by four squinch arches and ringed byan upper- level ambulatOlY (Figs . 7 .28-7.29 ). Most distinctive is its highly textured brickwork laid in forcefu lgeometric patterns that contrast solids and voids .

Returning to Samarkand, location of the previouslydiscussed Bibi Khanum Mosque, we find th e Gur-i-Amir,built as th e resting place of Timur 's grandson, who died inbattle. It consists of a Greek-cross-plan interior space, withits four arms crowned by muqarna vaults inside an octagonal mass that is surmounted by a tall cy lindrical drum onsquinch arches and ta ll , bulbous dome (Fi g. 7.30) . Theinterior ornamentation is lav ish , including hexagona lalabaster panels, jasper, and even painted, molded paper.

With the construction in Delhi of the tomb ofHumayun, father of Ja lil ai-Din Akbar, the idea of thedomed-chamber tomb arrived in India. The most famollsof these domed tombs is the Ta j Mahal in Agra (1631-47)(Figs. 7.31-7.32 ). Its builder was Jahangir's son, ShahJahan, who ruled from 16 28 to 1658 and is reme mb ered asa prolific Mughal patron of building. Aided by a well tra ined group of architects attached to his court, Shah Jahanpromoted a style that included an emphasis on bilateral

7.29 Section and plan of theTomb of Ismail th e Samanid,Bukhara, ca. 900.Note how the reentrant, ornotched-out, corners are filledwith circular co lumns hatdecorate the joining of the tomb 'sfaces. The arched openings ineach f a ~ a d e are splayed so thatthe arches become wider as theyadvance outward. The samedevice was frequently used in themedieval churches of Europe.

7.30 Gur-i-Amir, Samarkand , early 15th century.

_ 10m30n

The bulbous dome, a dome that grows wider above its drumbefore curving inward, is adistinctive Muslim device and onecompa rable in profile to the Muslim horseshoe arches seenin Fig. 7.9.



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7.31 Taj Mahal, Agra, 1631-47.This tomb is one of the world 's most famous bUildings. Itsseren ity derives in part from its sheer elegance and itsplacement in a totallydesigned landscape of plants. water,and paving.

symmetly, the use of cusped arches, and white marble orstucco faci ng instead of red sandstone for exterior finishes.

Because of its great size, elegant massing, refinement ofdeta il and ornamentation, and general countenance ofseren ity, the Taj Mahal is unquestionably one of Islam'sand indeed the world's most ce lebrated buildings. It wasbuilt as a tomb for Shah Jahan's beloved wife, MumtazMahal, by a trio of architects: Ahmad Lahawri, along with'Abd ai-Karim Ma'mur Khan and Makramat Khan, all threeassisted by craftsmen from Persia, Central Asia, and India.The site adjoins the Jumna River to the nOlth, and thetomb is placed next to it, rather than being in the center ofthe layout as was Humayun's. Entrance is made from thesouth, through a main gateway set on axis with the tomb.In between the two lies a square garden, with canals dividing the square into quadrants defining the central andcross-axes. Flowering trees, cypresses, and blooming plantsorigina lly grew in the garden areas as symbols of rebirthand immorta li ty. The tomb itself is symmetrical, crownedwith a large bulbous dome raised on a drum and graced bysma ller octagonal pavilions with domical roofs set at theco rners. Highly polished and inlaid marble adorns theexterior, so that the building appears to glisten in the sun.The who le structure is raised on a square platform, thecorners of which are marked by minarets. Flanking thetomb are symmetrically placed red sandstone buildings, tothe west a mosque and to the east a guest house, whoseco lor contrasts deliberately with the shimmering whitemarble. Against a verdant foreground of plant material,accentuated by reflecting water channels, the Taj Mahalseems ethereal, its propOltion and detail so finely wroughtas to capture the beautiful memOlY of the woman whoseuntimely death prompted its construction.

TO MBS

Minaret

Mosque

Minaret

Servants'quarters

River jumnarJ "..."G.......,.. . , t . . ~ .........,.Tomb ",: : ; -mrn; - ; S ~ r n ~ [IJK4...... . ..- : ~

o

100m- 600f,7.32 Site plan of the Taj Mahal, Agra, 1631-47.In this orthogonal scheme, the tomb (top) is set in a largerlandscape of square courts divided into quadrants bywatercourses, creating a nested hierarchy of axes and crossaxes that allude to the garden of paradise.

Minaret

Guest house

Minaret

Main gate

Servants'quarters

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HOUSES AND URBAN PATTERNS

Across the broad geographic area that comprises theIslam ic world, th ere is obviously considerable diversity inclimate, traditional house form s, and construction materials, making it imposs ible to propose a single definition foran Islamic ho use. From the Qur'an and related texts comprising traditions and laws, however, there developedcerlain principles governing both private and pub lic lifethat also regulated aspects of house forms and city planning. Is lam recognizes the fundamental right of privacy forth e family within its own house, hence in many placeshouses present plain exterior wa lls to the street. In hot,arid climates, residences tend to be designed aroundcourtyards that preserve privacy and also modify themicroclimate advantageously (Figure 7.33 ). Doorways ofho uses on opposite sides of the street must be located sothat one cannot look from one dwelling in to the oth erwhen both doors are open, and ground-level windows areset so high that those passing by cannot look in. Windowsabove the ground floor may be larger, but they may no t beplaced so as to overlook courtyards or rooftop areas ofother houses and thus invade the pr ivacy of those occupying them. These upper-floo r wind ows may pro ject beyondthe plane of the wa ll , and th ey are frequ ently providedwith elaborately carved screens to restrict the view fromthe outside. Within th e fam ily, women and children aresegregated from men and visitors, so the family living area(haram: note th at the same word describes a mosque'sprayer hall; in bot h cases th ey are spaces "set apart" ) is separated from reception facilities provided for male guests,and from the entrance to the house one cannot see directlyinto living areas. Privacy and seclusion are often achievedby the use of separate doors and carved screens or grill es,which admit light and air while also allowing thosebehind to loo k out without being seen.

Islam has a lengthy urban tradition, and aspects of theProphet's teachings were applied to the problems inherentin es tablishing rights when living in larger communities.Pre-modern Islam ic society made no distinction betweenth e sacred and secul ar realm s. In many traditional settlements located from North Afri ca to the Middle Eas t, theessential features of an urban area were a Friday mosquelarge enough to serve the community and surroundingsettlements, a governor who exercised control over th e territOlY, and a bazaa r or market with covered stalls for thecity and surrounding countlyside. The Friday mosque andth e bazaar were inseparable. Market sta lls were grouped bytrade or type of merchandise, with tho se of higheststatus (perfume, boo ks) located closest to the mosqueentrance, and those associated with noise or noxiousodors (coppersmith s, leatherworkers) farthest away. Interspersed with the public areas might be fountains, cafes,caravanserais, pub I c baths, and madrasas. Thi s wholepublic area was the domain of men, and its plan tended tobe irregular, built up over time. The city's neighborhoods

Screenscoveringprojectingwindowsoverlookingstreet

In terna l screensto protectfamily privacy

Interior courtyard

Roof terrace forsleeping in summer

Earth-sheltered room

Grand avenue

Governmentbuildings

-

7.33 Axonometric section th rougtrad itional house , Baghdad.This house incorporates manycharacterist ics of Islamic urban dwin hot , dry climates. Under the COufloor is an earth-shel tered room thprovides cooling air during the dayScreened rooftop areas are used fosleeping in hot weather. Gril led wiat upper levels can be opened forcircu lation while preserving privac7.34 Plan of the Maidan-i-Shah (square) and related deve lopmentsIsfahan, 1590-16 02.Shah Abbas had an ambitious newcenter laid out around the MaidanShah , a twenty -acre urban square.Masjid -i-Shah (Shah'sMosque) wasat the south end to draw the faithfrom the older Friday mosque.

100mISOO II

Masjid-i-Shah or Shah 'smosque isee pages 160-

CHAPTER" ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE


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7.35 Vew of the bazaar at Isfahan.The bazaar iscomposed of a street linking merchants' stallsand small shops, interspersed with baths , workshops, andtheolog ical schools. Vaults over the street provide relieffrom the intense sun, while skylights admit necessaryday light and fresh air.

or res idential quarters began as homogeneous groupingsof families affi liated by a common trade or re ligious andethnic connections. At one time, many quarters had agate or door that could be used to close off the areawhen desired. Within the neighborhood, families shareda mosque, fountains, public baths, communal ovens, andshops. The distinctive organization of residential qualtershelps to explain why the street plans of traditional Islamiccities such as Tunis or Isfahan have few through roads, onwhich are found th e major pub lic p laces and markets; ali mited number of secondalY streets; and hundreds of culde-sacs, along which most houses stand. The street patternresembles a maze with many dead ends, far more than inthe gr id layouts more common in Europe.

The Iranian city of Isfahan provides perhaps the mosthandsome example of th e application of Islamic principles of city planning, although one must admit from thestart that its royal qual1er and new section as laid out byShah Abbas I (1587- 1629) are no t typical of the growthby accretion associated with traditional Islamic urbanism(Fig . 7.34). In the older part of town, around the Fridaymosque, one finds the traditional network of streets andcu l-de-sacs. The historic trade route extending southtoward the Ziyanda River grew into a linear covered bazaar(Fig. 7.35) of small shops that meandered past entrancesto other facilities that lay behind the merchants' stalls: carava nserais, madrasas, mosques, baths, fountains, and craftworkshops. Shah Abbas, determined to bring greater glOtyto his capital city, undertook redevelopment of the public

HOUSES AND URBAN PATTERNS

square established just outside th e traditional area anddefined it as a formal rectangular square, th e Maidan-iShah, lined with shops and punctuated by major monuments: two mosques, the Ali Kapu gate (the imperialporch, which served as a viewing stand), and th e entranceto the Qaysariya, the shah's bazaar. The center of the openspace was normally available for small vendors to sell theirwares in, bu t it could also be cleared and used for militaryor athletic events, the two-stolY arcades around the edgesproviding a good base for observation.

The Shah's contributions to thi s grand urb an schemeincluded construction of a complex of governmentalbuildings on the western side of the square behind the AliKapu gate. Directly opposite the gate was the imposingent rance to the small Sheikh Lutfullah Mosque (1602)that has a bent-axis ent,y around two sides of the squareharam to bring the faithful into the mosque on the ax isaligned with Mecca. The Masjid-i-Shah, or Shah's mo sque(see pages 160-62), occupies the shOtt southern end ofthe square, set opposite the grand entrance to the shah'sbazaar on the northern side. Th is formally conceived spacecomes as a surprise after the more organic city core, bu t itslayout is not out of character, for it displays a t a large sca lewhat many of the old er buildings, including the Fridaymosque, had become over a longer period of time: spaceswith biaxial symm etry and uniform perimeter articulation,whether in arcades or colonnades. Shah Abbas's ambitionwas to link the Maidan-i-Shah, by means of a grand newavenue lined with palaces of nobles, to the river and a newbridge, making accessible gardens and th e commercia llyimportant Armenian settlement b eyond, bu t n.ot all of hisprogram came to fruition.

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THE PALACE AND THE GARDENSome of the formal con cepts that characterized the planning of Isfahan are also seen in the f0l1ress-palace of theAlhambra, a royal citadel erected above the city ofGran ada (Fig. 7.36 ). Built in the thirteenth and fo urteenthcenturies, th e Alhambra was the work of the NasridDynasty, which governed the dwindling Islamic territoriesof southern Spain until expulsion in 1492 by Ferdinandand Isabella, the monarchs who also financed Co lumbus'sexpedition to th e Indies in the same year. Some parts ofthe Alhambra are now ruined, and th e center of its site ona ridge overlooking th e city is crowded by th e late r palaceof Charles V. The red-brick exterior wall bristles withtowers capp ed by crenellated battlements. It or iginallyenclosed an entire palace city, including co mm ondwelling houses, craft workshops, the royal mint, severalmo sques, publ ic baths, and a militalY garrison, in addition to seven palace buildings . Archaeological work on th esurviving buildings is ongoing as historians tty to un derstand the site's construction history.

Of the surviving palace chambers, th e two mo stimpressive are group ed aroun d rectangular co urts: oneknown as the Patio of Arrayanes or Myrtle Trees, whichprovided access to th e Hall of th e Ambassadors; and theother ca lled the Patio of Leones or Lions, so named for thefountain at its center. The Patio of Myrtle Trees has acentral rectangular pool fed by gently overflowing fountain basins at opposite ends (Fig. 7.37). Arcaded galleri esare set ac ross the shOt1 sides, and rows of myrtles parall elto the pool on the long sides are reflected in its smooth

7.36 Plan of the Alhambra, Granada, 13th-14th centuries.This plan shows what were or iginally two separate palaces.In the center are the Pat io of Myr tle Trees and theassociated Hall of the Ambassadors, constructed on thefoundations of a military tower. To the righ t is he Patio

Comares Towerwith Hall of theAmbassadors

Sala de l - -1I::f -Mexuar(originalThroneRoom)

N

surface. At the north end is the Comares Tower, which contained the square-plan Hall of th e Ambassadors, thirty-sixfeet on a sid e, with a soaring sixty-foot height (Fi g. 7.38 ).This was th e throne room of the sultan, and its do medceiling, composed of over 8000 wooden sections, capturesthe effect of thousands of stars in the seven levels of heavenas described by Islamic theology.

The Patio of Lions (Fig . 7.39 ) includes arcades res tingon slender co lumns, and is divided into four parts bysha llow watercourses emanating from th e lion fountain atth e center. As with th e Tom b of Hum ayun and the Ta jMahal, this layout is thought to symbolize the Qur'anicvision of paradise-a ga rd en below which four rivers flowwith water, wine, honey, and milk-and the coLlltyard wasoriginally p lanted. Square pavilions on the shOt1 sidesproj ect into th e CO Lll1 and have clustered columns supporting intricately ca rved arcades . There has been co nsiderablescholarly di scussion about th e dates and origins of thefountain's twelve lions, which as figurative representat ionsof animals would seem to have no place in Islam ic a11. Thebasin is clearly Islamic, as attested by its fourteenth-ce ntlllYinscription, but it do es not match th e animals in style. Ithas been specu lated that the lions originated in a Jewishpalace formerly on the hilltop, where they may have replicated the an imals supporting the great bronze basin thatwas found in the courtyard of th e Templ e of So lomon.Op ening off the long sides of their court are two chambers,each of which is a jewel of ornamental vau lting. To thesouth, the Hall of the Abencerrajes is covered with a splendid muqarnas vault in the shape of an eight-pointed sta r.The n0l1hern room, th e Sa la de las Dos Hermanas (Hall of

lSm

Hall of theTwo Sisters

of Lions. .1'.o,J / - - - - - - - - 7S ftCH ili 'T R 7 ISL AMIC ARCHITECTURE


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737 Patio of Myrtle Trees, Ahambra, Granada, 13th- 14thcenturies.hs view shows the reflecting poo l and the Comares Tower in

he background. The delicacy and grace of late Islam icrchitecture n Spa in isevident in the arcade.

THE PALACE AND THE GARDEN

7.38 Ce iling and upper wa ll, Hallof the Ambassado rs, Alhambra,Granada, 13th- 14th centuries.Thousands of smal wooden piecesare suspended from the roof timbersto transform thisceil ing into theseven layers of heaven surrounding asmall dome at the cfnterrepresenting the heavenly throne .Pierced grilles filter sun light.

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174

739 Patio of Lions. Ahambra, Granada, nth- 14thcenturies.This view shows he central fountain and th e waterchannelsdividing the court into four quadran ts. In thebackground s the roof of th e Hall of the Two Sisters.

7.40 Hall of theTwo Ssters, Alhambra, Granada,13th - 14th centuries.The Musim fasc ination with patterning akes on three-dimens ional form in muqarna vaults ike thi s one. Whilemuch more elaborate than the results produced byciviliza tions such as the Mycenaeans (see Figs. 2.8 and2.9 ). the vault in the Hall of theTwo Sisters still relieson the elementary structural device of corbel ing.

CH APTER 7 ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE


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the Two Sisters), has an octagonal drum supporting whatappears to be a star-shaped muqarnas vault that is actua llysuspended from wooden trusses (Fig. 7.40) .

In contrast to its simple exteriors, th e Alhambra's interiors are enriched by a profusion of decorative detail thatcovers all surfaces, conveying splendor, ineffable lightness,and the ethereal quality of a dream world. Marbles,colored ceramic tiles, and calved and gi lded wood or stuccoscreens create changing patterns of shadow as light reflectson water and polished surfaces, or flickers th rough piercedwalls and ceilings. Pattern and texture abound in bothgeometric arabesques and stylized plant forms embellished with flowing Arabic inscriptions; arches are lob edand cusped; windows have elaborate grilles; and ceilingsfeature sta lactites of calved wood or plaster. Behind th eornament, the underlying rubble masoll1Y construction isnot of the highest quality- it was the effect of magnifi cence that was desired rather than its actual substance.Even without its interior furnishings and original courtyard plantings, however, the Alhambra's sumptuous character ca n sti ll be appreciated today.

By 1492, when the Moors were expel led from Spain,many aspects of Islamic architecture had long since foundth eir way into buildings in western Europe. During themedieval period, interactions among learned men fromIslam ic, Hebraic, and Chri stian traditions had generallybeen am icable, undermined primarily by intolerance fornon-Christian religions on the part of the Catholic Church.Elements that became impOltant features in Western archi tecture, among th em polychromy, the pointed arch, anddomes with interlacing ribs, originated in mosque designs,and the gracious elegance of palaces in tegrating landscapeand architecture, such as the Alh ambra, were unmatchedin nOlthern Europe.

CONCLUSIONS ABOUT ARCHITECTURALIDEASWhile th e basic forms of Islamic architecture, includingthose of th e mosque-the building type emphasized in thischapter-can seem bewilderingly unfamiliar to Westerneyes, they are actually remarkably limited but extremelyve rsati le. As evidence of this condition, consider the abambars, or urban cisterns, found in Iran. Their function is, ofcourse, simply to store water in a coo l, fresh condition, andthey must be easily and regularly cleaned. At th e heart of

the abambar is the storage res elvoir, which is covered witha dome, a quintessential element of Iranian mosques. Theventilation device for this reselvoir is a minaret-like windcatcher that directs air down to the storage level. Entry intothe reservoir is made by way of a stair that descends to aniwan-like porch, sometimes including muqarna vaults.Altogether, the abambar can be interpreted as a domediwan mosque disassembled and its constituent partsreassembled as a utilitarian structure. This repetitive use ofcertain architectural, as we ll as ornamental, forms has, infact, been a principal theme in this chapter.

When initially faced with the production of religiousstructures, Islamic designers assimilated and reinterpretedthe buildings left around th em by the ancient Romans,Sassanians, and others. They derived their conception ofthe mosque from the form of Mohammed's own house inMedina . Based upon his teachings, they quickly established the sahn (court) , haram (prayer hall), qibla (prayerwall), and mihrab (prayer niche) as essenti al elements.After an initial period of experimentation and dependingon the location, they settled on several, regional, mosquedesign variations. The columnar or hypostyle mosque,most popular in Arabia and across NOlth Africa, includesnumerous ranks and files of columns surround ing a COLllt,with a prayer hall at on e end. The iwan mosque, preferredin Iran and falther east, includes a court, possibly with surrounding columns, expanded on three sides by vaulted ordomical porches, with one of th ese porches lying oppositethe entty. The domed, centra l-plan mosques of Turkeybeg in with a court surrounded by domed bays and conclude with a domed worship space surrounded by moredomed bays. Large Islamic tombs also frequently havecentral plans, sometimes expanded by porch-like arms.

Gardens for enjoyment as we ll as th e evocation of paradise were sometimes integrated with funerary architecture and with palaces, which is exemplified nowherebetter than at th e Alhambra, where landscaped courts withwater features reflect highly ornamented wa ll surfaces.Islamic ornamentation is generally prolific, over not onlyex terior walls but in terior on es as well and even acrossce ilings, where it is in tegrated wit h exposed structural elements. Ranging from puzzle- like fie lds of geometricfigures to plant-inspired arabesques to organic or angularca lligraphy, this abstracted ornamentation reached a levelof invention and sophistication arguably un excelled byany des igners and craftsmen at any other time and in anyother place.

islamic architecture 2

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