Islamic Architecture Note Cards

1. Islamic Architecture Note Cards The Art and Architecture of Islam Islamic Architecture History

2. Subtopic mosque 1P 128 • Great Mosque at cordova • 190 by 140 metre rectangle • A third is a court yard planted with orange trees • On one side is a long hall with 17 naves and 16 arcades going south west and north east

3. Subtopic Mosque 1 P 128-129 • The naves are 32 bays deep and seven metres wide • The sixth nave is different, eight metres wide and in the middle of the hall is a gothic cathedral • It was built in 4 different time periods

4. Subtopic Mosque 1P 129 • First part built in 784-6 • Consisted of nine or eleven twelve-bay naves • The central one is wider than the others. • Abd al-RahmanII 833-52 made first additions, widening hall by two naves, and lengthening it by eight bays

5. Subtopic Mosque 1P 129 • Second expansion most remarkable • Al-hakam II 961-76 lengthened mosque by 12 bays • Added three domes in front of the mihrab • Al-mansur 987 third addition, eight nave widening to the north east, gave it traditional ratio to width from length

6. Subtopic Mosque 1P/Q 129-132 • The importance of the ninth and tenth century additions made by various princes • Major innovations transformed it into one of the great monuments of medieval architecture • Alternation of colors in the stone and brickwork of the arches(First innovation)

7. Subtopic Mosque 1P/Q 132 • Second innovations involves the arches, the domes, and the mihrab of al-Hakam’s additions. • Slightly returned semicircular arches of the first building become polylobed. • Architects broke the single arch in to small parts(P)

8. Subtopic Mosque 1P/Q 132 • They created a complex pattern of intercrossing arches used both as supports in the construction and as decorative designs on the walls and gates. • Third innovation concerns the four domes the main dome in front of the mihrab is carried on 8 large ribs resting on small colonnettes fitted between the sides of the octagons. A staggered shape is formed from 24 mosaic covered centripetal ribs.

9. Subtopic Mosque 1 P/Q 134 • The other three domes provide variations of the same theme. • Most interesting is in the villaviciosa chapel where the ribs transform a rectangle into a square. • This made the decorative value increase greatly.

10. Subtopic Mosque 1P 134 • The pure forms of the classical dome have developed into infinitely complicated combinations of lines and shapes of which almost all derive more or less directly from specific units of construction.

11. Subtopic 2P 1 • In 630C.E. Muhammad conquered the city of Mecca. The Ka'ba was rebuilt and re-dedicated to Islam, the reconstruction being carried in 632C.E. • This sanctuary was one of the first major works of Islamic architecture. The walls were covered with paintings of Jesus, prophets, Mary, Abraham, angels and trees. Later doctrines originating from the Hadith, forbade the use of such icons in architecture, mostly those of humans and animals.

12. Subtopic 2P 1 • A recognizable Islamic architectural style developed soon after Muhammad's death. An early example may be identified as early as 691 AD with the completion of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. It featured interior vaulted spaces, a circular dome, and the use of stlylishrepeating decorative patterns.

13. Subtopic 2P 1 • The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul also influenced Islamic architecture. When it was taken from Byzantium, they converted the building into a mosque and incorporated Byzantine architectural elements into their own work. The Hagia Sophia also served as model for many of the Islamic mosques such as the Shehzadeh Mosque, and the Suleiman Mosque.

14. Subtopic 2P 1 • Islamic architecture has always been in radiating structures, and rhythmic, metric patterns. geometry has been a key utility, especially for mosques and palaces. Significant features employed as motifs include columns, piers and arches, organized and interwoven with alternating sequences of niches.

15. Subtopic 2P 1 • The most numerous and largest of mosques exist in Turkey, which are influence by Byzantine, Persian and Syrian-Arab designs. Turkish architects implemented their own style of domes.

16. Subtopic 2P 1 • The Ottomans achieved the highest level architecture in the Islamic lands. They mastered the technique of building inner spaces confined by massive domes, and achieving perfect harmony between inner and outer spaces. Islamic religious architecture which until then consisted of simple buildings with extensive decorations, was transformed by the Ottomans through a dynamic architectural advancement of vaults, domes, and columns.