TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHIPPILNES QUEZON CITY
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE III
AR 333A
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
SUBMITTED BY: BANIGOOS, CLARICE SIGRID ANN A. AR31FC2
TO BE SUBMITTED TO: ARCH. MARIETTA ESTONANTO
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture. The principal Islamic architectural types are: the Mosque, the Tomb, the Palace and the Fort. From these four types, the vocabulary of Islamic a rchitecture is derived and used for buildings of less i mportance such as public baths, fountains and domestic architecture
Geographical The Moslem faith was successful in the countries of Southern Asia and North Africa. There are also important communities that were established in isolation such as Zanzibar, Madagascar and China, while in the twentieth century mobility has brought Islam throughout the world with architectural consequences in unlikely pla ces as far as Sydney and South shields. As the Islam starts to spread i t is associated with military co nquest, racial movements but the most important movements were the Arab expansion northwards and westwards out of the Arabian peninsula, and the drive of the Turkish and Mongol groups South, South-east, and South-west out of Central Asia. B asically speaking its architecture has been associated with religious complexes.
Geological
The Islamic architectural styles, architects and regions has 872 Islamic buildings and monuments.
Brick making and pise walling was almost universal in the stone bearing the a rt of selecting and working stones were strong, marble was commonly used as an article of trade.
There was also a long tradition of ceramic production, use of gypsum plasters glass manufa cture and various forms of metalwork needed for the building.
Climatic
Most of its territory tends fertile with the virtue of irrigation rather than direct rainfall.
The Moslem world lies within the form of “continental” clim ate with extreme temperature and modest
rainfall.
They experience excessive sunshine during day and coldness at night.
There windows are minimized and the rain water disposal are being neglected. The structures having heavy walls and high rooms a re commonly used by everyone but unprotected areas are still common.
Historical
The Moslem started from A.D. 622 when Mohammed moved from Mecca to Medina.
During the ten years of his life he had established the framework of the religion and the beginnings of the military organization. After his death in 632, the Arabian tribe became conquerors into Central Asia and westwards towards Atlantic. The Islam spread slowly to Africa and Indian Ocean, whi le there were groups of Truks and Mongols that were converted.
The cultural tie of the Islam with its Arabian heartland celebrates annually the great pilgrimage to Mecca for it is considered a sacred duty to be performed at least once in his life.
There are few buildings dating from the era o f Prophet Muhammad, but one example is the Juatha mosque in Saudi Arabia. The Rashidun Caliphate (632 –661) was the first state to use Islamic Architecture.
Section of the Umayyad-era Mshatta Facade, now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, from a palace near Amman
The Umayyad Caliphate (661 –750) combined elements of Byzantine architecture and Sassanid architecture, but Umayyad architecture introduced new combinations of these western and eastern styles. The horseshoe arch appears for the first time in Umayyad architecture, later to evolve to its most advanced form in al-Andalus.
The Umayyads introduced a transept that divided the prayer room along its shorter axis. They also added the mihrab to mosque design. The mosque in Medina built by al-Walid I had the first mihrab, a niche on the qibla wall, which seems to have represented the place where the Prophet stood when leading prayer. This almost immediately became a standard feature of all mosques.
[
The Abbasid architecture of the Abbasid Caliphate (750 –1513) was strongly influenced by Sassanid architecture, and later by Central Asian styles. The earliest was the mosque that al-Mansur built in Baghdad.
The Great Mosque of Samarra built by al-Mutawakkil was 256 by 139 metres (840 by 456 ft). The prayer hall of the Abu Dulaf mosque at Samarra had arcades on rectangular brick piers running at right angles to the qibla wall. A mosque at Balkh in what is now Afghanistan was about 20 by 20 metres (66 by 66 ft) square, with three rows of three square bays, supporting nine vaulted domes.
Construction of the Great Mosque at Córdoba (now a cathedral known as the Mezquita) beginning in 785 CE marks the beginning of Moorish architecture in the Iberian peninsula and North Africa (see Moors). The mosque is noted for its striking interior arches. Moorish architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress of Granada, with its open and breezy interior spaces adorned in red, blue, and gold.
Moorish ceiling in Alhambra
Moorish architecture has its roots deeply established in the Arab tradition of architecture and design established during the era of the first Caliphate of the Umayyads in the Levant circa 660AD with its capital Damascus having very well preserved examples of fine Arab Islamic design and geometrics, including the carmen, which is the typical Damascene house, opening on the inside with a fountain as the house's centre piece.
Fatimid architecture in Egypt followed Tulunid techniques and used similar materials, but also developed those of their own. In Cairo, their first congregational mosque was al-Azhar mosque ("the splendid")
founded along with the city (969 –973), which, together with its a djacent institution of higher learning (alAzhar University), became the spiritual center for Ismaili Shia.
Bab al-Futuh gate built by the Fatimid vazir Badr al-Jamali
The Mosque of al-Hakim (r. 996 –1013), an important example of Fatimid architecture and architectural decoration, played a critical role in Fatimid ceremonial and procession, which emphasized the religious and political role of the Fatimid caliph. Besides elaborate funerary monuments, other surviving Fatimid structures include the Aqmar Mosque (1125) as well as the monumental gates for Cairo's city walls commissioned by the powerful Fatimid emir and vizier Badr al-Jamali (r. 1073 –1094).
The reign of the Mamluks (1250 –1517 AD) in Egypt marked a breathtaking flowering of Islamic art which is most visible in old Cairo. Religious zeal made them generous patrons of architecture and art and became one of the wealthiest cities in the Near East and the center of artistic and intellectual activity. This made Cairo, in the words of Ibn Khaldun, "the center of the universe and the garden of the world", with majestic domes, courtyards, and soaring minarets spread across the city.
Social
The Arab groups based their behavior patterns and cultural attributes on the traditions of the desert. The public life was reserved for men over the succeeding centuries, while women played the secondary role.
Only among the romadic groups did the Moslem world accept any degree of equality between the sexes in public life; for the rest, the women’s place was in the private part of the household - the harem. In
public she was protected by anonymity of the veil. Men performed the significant public duties and controlled all public affairs, and this social structure had direct architectural consequences in the layout of domestic and public buildings.
Islamic state makes it availabl e for different religions or separate communities such as people of the book – Jews and Christians whose beliefs are based on revelations and teachings contributory to Islam. Such
peoples were entitled to a protected status, in which they retained freedom of worship and interval self government.
Influences
Inspired by Islam with addition of localized adaptations of the former Sassanid and Byzantine models. The Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhrah) in Jerusalem (691) is one of the most important buildings in all of Islamic architecture.
The desert palaces in Jordan and Syria (for example, Mshatta, Qasr Amra, and Khirbat al-Mafjar) served the caliphs as living quarters, reception halls, and baths, and were decorated to promote a n image of royal luxury. The Germanic Visigoths in Spain also contributed to I slamic architecture. They invented the inward curving horseshoe arch in Spain and used them as o ne of their main architectural features.
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem
Dome of the mihrab (9th century) in the Great Mosque of Kairouan also known as the Mosque of Uqba, inKairouan, Tunisia
After the Moorish invasion of Spain in 711 AD the form was taken by the Umayya ds who accentuated the curvature of the horseshoe.
the "Arab plan", with court and hypostyle prayer hall, truly became a functional ty pe with the construction of the Umayyad Mosque, or the Great Mosque of Damascus (completed in 715 by caliph AlWalid I) in place of the basilica of St. John the Baptist, the most sacred site in the city. This building served as a point of reference for builders (and for art historians) for the birth of the Arab plan, as Byzantine Christian.
The Abbasid dynasty (750 A.D.- 1258) witnessed the movement of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, and then from Baghdad to Samarra. The Great Mosque of Samarra, once the largest in the world, was built for the new capital. Other major mosques built in the Abbasid Dynasty include the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Abu Dalafin Iraq, the great mosque in Tunis. Abbasid architecture in Iraq as exemplified in the Fortress of Al-Ukhaidir (c.775-6).
The Great Mosque of Kairouan (in Tunisia), considered as the ancestor of all the mosques in the western Islamic world. Founded in 670 AD, it dates in its present form largely from the Aghlabid period (9th century). The Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq, completed in 847 AD, combined the hypostyle architecture of rows of columns supporting a flat base above which a huge spiraling minaret was constructed.
The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul also influenced Islamic architecture. When the Ottomans captured the city from the Byzantines, they converted the basilica to a mosque (now a museum) and incorporated Byzantine architectural elements into their own work (e.g .domes). The Hagia Sophia also served as a model for many Ottoman mosques such as the Shehzade Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque.
The role of domes in Islamic architecture has been considerable. Its usage spans centuries, first appearing in 691 with the construction of the Dome of the Rock, and recurring even up until the 17th century with the Taj Mahal. As late as the 19th century, Islamic domes had been incorporated into Western architecture.
Architectural Character
Islamic architecture is fundamentally centered upon God .
The mosque and inward-looking building whose prime purpose is contemplation and pray er.
Mosque can be used as a school, transactions, may be made there and storage for treasures.
Fluted columns were not employed but tapering circular shafts with entasis.
Moslem architecture is also characterized by friezes and crestige with the mouldings abrstract and geometric motifs were basic constituents of Islamic ornament.
Motifs were derived from calligraphy floral abstraction and geometric interlacement.
Architectural Features
Arcading (timber and masonry)
Pointed arch
True dome
Columns (like ceaeco-roman models, squinches)
Stalactite corbelling and pendentives
Styles Azerbaijani architecture
The Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century also helped Islamic architecture to flourish in Azerbaijan. The country became home of Nakchivan and Shirvan-Absheron architecture schools. An example of the first direction in the Azerbaijani Islamic architecture is the mausoleum of Yusuf, built in 116 2.
The Shirvan-Absheron school unlike Nakchivan style used stones instead of the bricks in the construction. At the same characteristics of this trend were the a symmetry and stone carving, which in cludes famous landmarks like Palace of the Shirvanshahs.
The Bibi-Heybat Mosque in Baku, Azerbaijan
Turkistan (Timurid) architecture
Registan is the ensemble of three madrasas, in Samarkand, m odern day Uzbekistan
Timurid architecture is the pi nnacle of Islamic art in Central Asia. Spe ctacular and stately edifices erected by Timur and his successors in Samarkand and Herat helped to disse minate the influence of the Ilkhanid school of art in India, thus giving rise to the celebrated M ughal school of architecture. Timurid architecture started with the sanctuary of Ahmed Yasawi in present-day Kazakhstan and culminated in Timur's mausoleum Gur-e Amir in Samarkand.
The style is largely derived from Persian architecture. Axial symmetry is a characteristic of all major Timurid structures, notably the Shah-e Zendah in Samarkand and the mosque of Gowhar Shadin Mashhad.
Double domes of various shapes abound, a nd the outsides are perfused with brilliant colors.
Ottoman architecture
Selimiye Mosque, built by Sinan in 1575. Edirne, Turkey
The standard plan of Ottom an architecture was inspired in part by the example of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople/Istanbul, Ilkhanidworks like Oljeitu Tomb an d earlier Seljuk and Anatolian Beylik monumental buildings and t heir own original innovations. The most fa mous of Ottoman architects was (and remains) Mimar Sinan, who lived for approximately one hundred years a nd designed several hundreds of buildings, of which two of the most important are Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul and Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. Apprentices of Sinan later built the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul and the Taj Mahal in India.
The most numerous and largest of mosques exist in [Turkey], which obtained influence from Byzantine, Persian and Syrian-Arabdesigns. For almost 500 years Byzantine architecture such as the church of Hagia Sophia served a s models for many of the Ottoman mosques such as the Shehzade Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque.
The Ottomans mastered the technique of building vast inner spaces confined by seemingly weightless yet massive domes, and achieving perfect harmony between inner and o uter spaces, as well as light and shadow.
Islamic religious architecture which until then consisted of simple buildings with extensive decorations, was transformed by the Ottomans through a dynamic architectural vocabulary of vaults, domes, semidomes and columns. The mosque was transformed from being a cramped and dark chamber with arabesque-covered walls into a sanctuary of esthetic and technical balance, refined elegance and a hint of heavenly transcendence.
Indo-Islamic architecture
Another distinctive sub-style is Indo-Islamic architecture in South Asia, it is a fusion of Arab, Central Asian and Persian elements with the local Hindu architecture.
The most famous examples of Mughal architecture are the series of imperial mausolea, which started with the pivotal Tomb of Humayun, but is best known for the Taj Mahal, completed in 1648 by emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to their 14th child. 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 red sandstone to complement the Mecca-facing mosque place to the west of the main structure. A famous example of the charbagh style of Mughal garden is the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, where the domeless Tomb of Jahangiris also located. The Red Fort in Delhi and Agra Fort are huge castle-like fortified palaces, and the abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri, 26 miles (42 km) west of Agra, was built for Akbar in the late 16th century.
Great Mosque of Aurungzeb and the adjo ining Ghats
Charminar at Old City in Hyderabad
Sino-Islamic architecture
Hui people who have also migrated to the south such as this Darunaman Mo sque, locating in Chiang Rai province, Thailand shows a great mixture between Chinese and I sl amic architecture.
The first Chinese mosque was established in the 7th century during the T ang Dynasty in Xi'an. The Great Mosque of Xi'an, whose current buildings date from the Ming Dynasty, d oes not replicate many of the features often associated with traditional mosques. Instead, it f ollows 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.
Most mosques have certain aspects in common with each other however as with other regions Chinese Islamic architecture reflects the local architecture in its style. China is renowned for its beautiful mosques, which resemble temples.
However in western China the mosques resemble those of the Arab World, with tall, slender minarets, curvy arches and dome shaped roofs. In northwest China where the Chinese Hui have built their mosques, there is a combination of eastern and western styles.
The mosques have flared Buddhist style roofs set in walled courtyards entered through archways with miniature domes and minarets.
Indonesian-Malay architecture
The Minangkabau Royal Palace inSumatra, Indonesia.
The predominantly-Muslim re gions of South East Asia have been slo w to adopt Middle Eastern architectural styles for Islami c sites. For centuries, most Javanese mo sques lacked a dome. Instead, they had a multi-tiered roof (of Javanese or even Chinese influence) comparable with the multi-level pagodas of neighbouring Bali.
The architecture of Javanese mosques had a clear influence on the design of other mosques in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and thePhilippines. The minaret of the Menara Kudus Mosque, in Central Java, demonstrated further pre-Islamic influence on local Islamic architecture.
From the 1940s onwards, Indonesian mosques developed a more standard, international style, with a dome and minaret.
Sahelian-Islamic architecture
In West Africa, Islamic merchants played a vital role in the Western Sahel region since the Kingdom of Ghana. At Kumbi Saleh, locals lived in domed-shaped dwellings in the king's section of the city, surrounded by a great enclosure.
Traders lived in stone houses in a section which possessed 12 beautiful mosques (as described by albakri), one centered on Friday prayer. The king is said to have owned several mansions, one of which was sixty-six feet long, forty-two f eet wide, contained seven rooms, was two stories high, and had a staircase; with the walls and chambers filled with sculpture and painting.
Sahelian architecture initially grew from the two cities of Djenné and Timbuktu. The Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu, constructed from mud on timber, was similar in style to the Great Mosque of Djenné.
Somali-Islamic architecture
Almnara Tower Somalia
The 13th century Fakr ad-Din Mosquein Mog adishu
The peaceful introduction of Islam in the early medieval era of Somalia's history brought Islamic architectural influences from Arabia and Persia, which stimulated a shift from dry stone and other related materials in construction to coral stone, sundried bricks, and the widespread use of limestone in Somali architecture.
Many of the new architectural designs such a s mosques were built on the ruins of older structures, a practice that would continue over and over again throughout the following centuries. Concordant with the ancient presence of Islam in the Horn of Africa region, mosques in Somalia are some of the oldest on the entire continent.
One architectural feature that made Somali mosques distinct from other mosques in Africa were minarets.
For centuries, Arba Rukun (1269), the Friday mosque of Merca (1609) and Fakr ad-Din (1269) were, in fact, the only mosques in East Africa to have minarets. Fakr ad-Din, which dates back to the Mogadishan Golden Age, was built withmarble and coral stone and included a compact rectangular plan with a domed mihrab axis. The 13th century Al Gami University consisted of a rectangular base with a large cylindrical tower architecturally unique in the Islamic world.
Shrines to honor Somali patriarchs and matriarchs evolved from ancient Somali burial customs. In Southern Somalia the preferred medieval shrine architecture was the Pillar tomb style while the North predominantly built structures consisting of domes and square plans.
Interpretation
The Sebilj is a pseudo-Ottoman style wooden fountain in the centre of Baščaršijasquare in Sarajevo, Bosnia
Common interpretations of I slamic architecture include the following: The concept of God or Allah's infinite power is evoked by d esigns with repeating themes which sugg est infinity. Human and animal forms are rarely depicted in decorative art as God's work is considere d to be matchless. Foliage is a frequent motif but typically stylized or simplified for the same reason.
Arabic Calligraphy is used to enhance the interior of a building by providing quotations from the Qur'an. Islamic architecture has been called the "architecture of the veil" because the beauty lies in the inner spaces (courtyards and rooms) which are not visible from the outside (street view). Furthermore, the use of grandiose forms such as large domes, towering minarets, and large courtyards are intended to convey power.
Examples pictures: A.
The Arab Peninsula, Syria and Mesopotamia 1. Kubbet-es-sakhara (the Dome of the Rock Jerusalem, 688-692)
Inside the Kubbet-es-sakhara
the Kubbet-es-sakhara
2. The Great Mosque of Damascus
B.
Egypt, North Africa to Tunisia 1.
The Dar Al-Imara ad Mosque of Ibn Tulun, Cairo (876-879)
2.
The Madrassah and Tomb of sultan Hasan Cairo (1356-1363)
C.
D.
Spain and Western North Africa 1.
The Great Mosque, Kairouan, Tunisia (c. 725)
2.
The Great Mosque of Cordoba (785)
3.
The Al-hambra, Granada (1338-13390)
Persia (Iran) and Turkestan 1.
The Tomb of Ismail, the Samanid and Bukhara (c. 432)
E.
2.
Ince Minare Medrese, konya (1258)
3.
The GUR-i-mir, Samarkand is tamelaine’s family Mausoleum
Turkey 1.
The Chinli Kisok, Istanbul (1472)
2.
The Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul (1551)
F.
G.
The Indian Sub-continent 1.
Tomb of Itutmish (1235)
2.
Tomb of Humayun, Delhi (1565)
Islamic vernacular Architecture 1.
Bee hive village, near Allepo, northern Syria
2.
Shibam, In the Hadramalit, Southern Arabia
