Muslim Architecture

Introduction

Obviously, the decoration of a building first passes through the components of its architecture. Materials, braces, brackets, domes are all mediums of scene: it's not for nothing that the Great Mosque of Cordoba has columns of marble blue and white voussoirs of arches in alternating colors sometimes lobed, and moldings in domes! In designing a building, the architect takes into account as much data as purely architectural data relating to the decor.

Discussion

Vault filled with muqarnas, Nasrid palace of Alhambra in Granada. A fairly typical element of the Islamic world shows the importance of architectural elements for decorative: the muqarnas, also called "muqarbas" in countries of Muslim West or simply "stalactite". This is actually small niches associated geometrically and forming a composition in three dimensions. Frequently found in the domes and the transition zones, but also some capitals, in vaults, etc (Blair, Bloom and Ettinghausen). This element has an obscure origin: it is often thought that he was born in eastern Iran to the tenth century, but other hypotheses circulating. Anyway, it is widespread throughout the Islamic world, and the splendid muqarnas vaults of the Alhambra in Granada have nothing to envy from the Timurids. Several materials are used to create them, according to the regions and periods: stucco and earthenware in Iran, stone in Egypt and Syria.

The technique is also ablaq Islamic mainly spread in Syria and Egypt, but also sometimes be found in Anatolia. It involves the embedding of stones of different colors (usually marble) in the wall. The masterpiece of this technique is the Firdaus mihrab of the Madrasa, Aleppo, which dates from the Ayyubid period, but the Mamluks also utilized this technique so expansive (Kane). Islamic architecture is a broad term that groups together artistic styles characteristic of Islamic culture since the time of Muhammad to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures throughout the world.

The Islamic architecture is more than just a show of domes and minarets, palaces of perfumed pleasure and exquisite turquoise tiles, it is a true expression of a rich culture that has unified remote countries as distant as the Spain and lava, Central Asia and Africa sub-desert, over about one thousand years and more. Social and economic structure, political motivation and visual sensitivity of a unified and dominant tradition (Hillenbrand). Fundamental changes in the century to century and from region to region, unit architectural design reflects the power and breadth of Islam. Theology of trade, the war in private pleasure, the mysticism of technology, the range of Islamic culture is expressed in series of building supremely assured. This single study includes not only the central areas of Islam, but outlying areas such as South Africa's Sahara and the Far East, where mosques and madrasas were often built in architectural styles not -Islamic. Architecture is more than a story of form and pattern: it is a product of cultural and environmental factors and an expression of how to live the people for whom it is established. The architecture ...