Islamic Architecture Humanities 510
Islamic art (architecture): “Refers
not only to the art made for Islamic practices and settings but also to the art made by and for the people who lived or live in the lands where most people were, are Muslim” Muslim” . -Islamic arts 7th century Arabia-15th century lands between Atlantic and Indian oceans, central Asia and Africa. Very broad term encompassing many different styles, mediums, components and influences.
Art
Arabesques: Arabesques: The Distinctive decorative motif on many forms of Islamic art after the tenth century . It is based on such natural forms as stems, leaves or tendrils that are arranged in infinitely repeating geometric patterns.
Art Calligraphy in various forms of
Arabic Script. Geometrical designs using a
limited number of geometric shapes in many different ways.
Arabesque origin and success 1.
2.
Ban of illusions in Islamic art This produced two things: it produced universal forms that omitted specific imagery and thus, included in its audience all of Islam's diverse subjects. it unleashed the passionate Arabic genius for abstraction in symmetrical, meditative geometry. This geometry organized the foundations of their architecture and ornament. Abstract pattern also expressed a basic tenet of Islam: "Instead of ensnaring the mind and leading it into some imaginary world it dissolved mental fixations and detached consciousness from its inward idols." As we shall see in exploring the architecture and patterns of Islam further, this infinite symmetry expressed yet another of Islam's ideals: al-twahid, the doctrine of unity, or multiplicity in unity.
Usage of Byzantine artists and influence. Islam took what was secondary art in Christian and Jewish art and placed it as the central form of art. It distinguished Islam with other religions.
Mosque origin The
first mosque was the courtyard of Muhammad's own house in Medina (ad622)
The
dome of the rock is the first form of Islamic architecture.
Mosque origin
(masjid, place of prostration)
Minaret (manara place of light): A tall tower in, or contiguous to, a mosque with stairs leading up to one or more balconies from which the faithful are called to prayer.The earliest structures specifically built as minarets were the four low square towers at the four corners of the Mosque of Amr in Egypt (A.D. 673).
rb, to fight, perform a certain Mihrab (mhrb, part of a temple, from ḥ rb, ritual in a temple):A niche or decorative panel designating the Quiblah (or direction of prayer towards Mecca). Implemented around 705 ad, influenced by Muhammad's place of worship within his mosque when he oriented the quibla 630 ad.
Minbar (al-minbar): Minbar (al-minbar):Is a pulpit in the mosque where the Imam (leader of prayer) stands to deliver sermon. Is said to have originated in In Muhammad's mosque and used by him.
Domes: First used in 691 in The dome of rock influenced by Constantine's domed style of the holy Sepulchre erected over Christ's burial place in Golgotha. A form showing religious dominance and union with God. had two main symbolic interpretations in Islamic architecture involving the representation of the vault of heaven and a symbol of divine dominance engulfing the emotional and physical being of the faithful. In functional terms, it is used to externally define the Qibla and internally lighten it .
Sahn: An open courtyard within a mosque & with a pool usually in the center. Howz: symmetrical pool used in center of sahn for ablutions
Mosques
Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad, Medina, Saudi Arabia.
The Prophet was buried underneath the floor.
The mosque was decorated with marble and mosaics of gold glass that represented trees and buildings. These decorations covered the walls of the open courtyard, as well as the colonnaded sanctuary against the south wall.
The mosque has been redecorated by the Abbasids, the Mamluks and the Ottomans.
Most recently, the entire mosque was redecorated and enlarged by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The rectangular mosque enclosure has five minarets and a great green dome.
This mosque, with its bipartite division and axis planning, became the prototype for subsequent Islamic religious buildings. The prototype is called an 'Umayyad hypostyle mosque'.
Mosques
The Ka ba,
located in Mecca in the Great Mosque of Mecca. Said to be the holiest place on earth, it is the first of the three great shrines of Islam. All Muslims in Islam pray to the direction of the Ka ba. On the southwest side of the Ka'ba is a semi-circular wall about one and a quarter meters tall, which represents its border (al-hatim ) as built by Abraham. ʼ
ʼ
Entrance to the inside of the Ka'ba is gained through a door 2.13 meters above the ground on the northeastern wall. Inside is a marble floor and walls clad with marble half-way to the roof. Tablets with Quranic inscriptions are inset in the marble. The upper part of the interior walls is covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Quranic verses.
mosques
The Great Mosque of Al Mutawakkil, located in Samarra Iraq.164 feet high.
"Great mosque, Samarra, [was] built...in the caliphate of alMutawakkil...This is the largest mosque in the world. Built entirely of brick within a wall flanked with towers, it has a 55 m. high minaret with a spiral ramp that recalls the ziggurats of Mesopotamia."
Ablution facilities As ritual purification precedes all prayers, mosques often have ablution fountains or other facilities for washing in their entryways or courtyards. However, worshippers worshippers at much smaller mosques often have to use restrooms to perform their ablutions. In traditional traditional mosques, this function is often elaborated into a freestanding building in the center of a courtyard.This courtyard.This desire for cleanliness extends to the prayer halls where shoes are disallowed to be worn anywhere other than the cloakroom. Thus, foyers with shelves to put shoes and racks to hold coats are commonplace among mosques.
Mosques
Mosque of Sultan Ahmed, Istanbul, Turkey. Built in late classical Ottomon style. Yaama Mosque, Tahoua, Niger, Africa. "Initially, the mosque was a simple, severe hypostyle hall with the column spacing determined by the spatial demands of kneeling worshippers
Bazaars
The great bazaars in the Middle East are places where people trade spices, jewelry, j ewelry, cloth, carpets, and even exchange philosophies. In Islamic cities, besides being the place where business occur, bazaars are the center of the metropolitan organizational setting, where mosques and religious schools are located. In a Bazaar the sellers of the same items are located in the same area of the bazaar. These sellers work together to enforce ethical trading practices and they work together as members of a community, not competitors. Bargaining is a common practice in Islamic Bazaars and it can be a long-lasting event. Some famous bazaars are the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Tehran Grand Bazaar in Iran, the Bazaar of Isfahan, and the Old Bazaar in Cairo.
Arasta Bazaar, Istanbul
Bazaars
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul was built in 1464 and today it has more than three thousand shops.
It contains 61 streets, ten wells, two mosques, restaurants, cafes and even a police station. Currently there are about 25,000 people working in the bazaar.
One can also find antiques such as old pages of calligraphies in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul.
Bazaars
The Bazaar of Isfahan, Iran, is composed of two parts: the old and the new section. The Bazaar has secular Islamic architecture of more than five hundred years. It contains shops, the Shah mosque and the old Friday mosque, caravanserais, peripheral markets, colleges, bathhouses and shrines. The Bazaar of Isfahan is connected to the rest of the city, including residential areas by routes. These routes contain peripheral markets with similar products contained in the bazaar.
The grand bazaar
Bazaar at Isfahan
Gardens
Islamic gardens represent a heaven on earth, a paradise, as describe in the Holy Quran. In Arabic the name for a heavenly garden is jannah, of which the highest level of garden is firdaws, most commonly used in the phrase jannaat alfirdaws – gardens of paradise.
The influences of the Islamic Garden can be seen around the world, but a famous ones include the Alhambra, Taj Mahal and the General life gardens.
Gardens: Basic Features
Quadripartite layout: layout: garden is divided by four water courses which are said to represent the rivers to be found in paradise. The four rivers tend to be brought together at a central fountain or pool, a feature and focus of the garden. Water: because Islam was established and grew in a part of the world which has a hot, harsh climate and where water brings life to the desert and those who live in it. These concepts, both conceptually and physically, are central to the use of water in the garden.
Walls
and gates: Paradise, however large or small it may be, is surrounded by gated walls, mainly to protect the garden from the desert, establishes ownership, and keeps activities within the garden private.
Gardens: Basic Features Vegetation
and shade: references and allusions to the features of the gardens that await the faithful. But it is not just shade that it promised. Coolness,lush greenery, fruit and beauty are also features of the garden. Pavilions: Within the garden the Holy Quran promises that there will be pavilions from which the faithful will be able to enjoy the garden. These pavilions are specified as being elevated and constructed over running water the pavilions are great places to over see the garden and enjoy its beauty as a whole.
Houses
From Daily life in the Islamic World Housing included: Tents, mud huts, reed huts, single-story residences, multi-storied tenements, and elaborate palaces.Tents: Made from hair, wool, and leather of the nomadic herds and flocks, whether sheep, goats, or camels.Settled Oases: Made from mud or reeds because wood and stone were rarely available in sufficient quantities to be practicable. Homes: Tended to be huts built of mud bricks in Muhammad hometown of 7th century Mecca, whereas in other oases, reed huts were more common. In Yemen, many residents lived in villages and towns made up of multistory tenement buildings.Major Cities like Damascus, Baghdad, and Cairo used wood, stone, and brick were preferred materials because they were more readily available and far more durable than tents and mud or reed huts. Typical structures: central courtyard or common area around which salons, bedrooms, and kitchens were constructed. Ventilation: Mashrabiyya- a wooden grill or grate used to cover windows or balconies. Grills or lattice work usually made of turned wood that was joined together with carved blocks or spheres of wood to create intricate patterns.Malqafpatterns.Malqaf- Wind catcher, functioned as a kind of reverse chimney/swamp cooler in that it was composed of a shaft that rose above the building roof.
Houses
What is Islamic housing:it is an urban architecture that developed over the centuries as part of an urban fabric; it emphasizes interior spaces; it places importance on pattern and color; it has a defined separation of spaces and a defined sequence of spaces; and it has the ability to assimilate other architectures into its own.
Egyptian houses.
