ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
Mosque
● Also masjid or musjid.
● Place of public worship
● Four levels of prayer:
- The individual (masjid)
- The congregation (jami)
- The total population of the town (idgah)
- The entire Muslim world
Masjid - general term for mosque
- A mosque used for daily prayer by individuals or
small groups; has a mihrab but no minbar
(pulpit).
Jami - used for the main weekly service
- Usually larger than a masjid and provided with a
minbar.
Idgah - “place of (community) prayer”
- A great open praying area with nothing but a
qibla wall and a mihrab.
Madrasa - a teaching mosque.
PARTS OF A MOSQUE
Minaret - tower attached to the mosque.
- Where the muezzin calls the Muslim people to
prayer.
Iwan - also ivan or liwan.
- Large vaulted portal opening onto the central
courtyard of a mosque.
Minbar - also mimbar.
- Pulpit from which the imam delivers the
sermons.
Qibla - also qiblah.
- Wall in a mosque in which the mihrab (niche or
decorative panel) is set, oriented to Mecca.
Sahn - atrium
Fawwara - or meda, fountain for washing before
prayers.
Liwanat - colonnade.
Dikka - reading desk
Maqsura - screen, protective barrier of the mimbar.
DECORATIONS:
● Domes
● Pointed or ogee arches
● Walls covered in stone carvings, inlays, and
mosaics.
● Ornaments are based on flora, geometric
shapes, and Arabic script.
DOME OF THE ROCK (Jerusalem)
● Influenced by Byzantine architecture.
● Used as a shrine for pilgrims; at its center is the
sacred rock from which Muhammad is said to
have ascended to heaven.
● Octagonal in plan.
KA’BA
● Also Ka’aba or Ka’abah.
● “House of God”
● Small cubical stone building in the courtyard of
the Great Mosque at Mecca.
● Contains a sacred black stone.
● The point toward which they turn in praying.
MOORISH ARCHITECTURE
● Building of large mosques and elaborate
fortress-palaces.
● Structural systems and decorations adapted
from classical antiquity and combined with
Islamic architecture.
MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE
● Or indo-islamic
● Blended traditions from India and Islam.
(Mughal Period, golden age of Islamic
architecture in northern India.)
Diwan-i-Kas - hall of private audience, divided by
overhanging mouldings called chajja.
Taj Mahal - “crown palace”
- Built by Shah Jahan as a tomb for his wife,
Mumtaz Mahal.
- Placed on a chahar bagh, a platform at the end
of a walled garden divided by canals.
- The marble facade is decorated with floral
motifs and a type of inlay called pietra dura.
CHINESE ARCHITECTURE
● Palaces and temples are the chief
building type.
● Diverse architecture caused by
differences in geographic and climatic
conditions.
● System of wood frame construction.
Yang-shao (a model of Jiangzhai, a Yangshao
village)
- Neolithic culture in China centered around the
yellow river.
- Characterized by pit dwellings and fine pottery
painted in geometric designs.
Shang Dynasty (the site of Yin, the capital of
Shang Dynasty)
- Also the Yin dynasty.
- Introduction of writing, civilization and a
mastery of bronze casting.
Qin Dynasty
- Emergence of a centralized government
- First imperial dynasty
- The construction of much of the Great Wall of
China.
RELIGIOUS STRUCTURES:
Mingtang - bright hall
- A ritual structure that serves as the symbolic
center of imperial power.
- Designated as the intersection of heaven
(circle) and earth (square), oriented around the
four cardinal directions.
Ta - a chinese pagoda
- Pagoda, Buddhist temple, square or polygonal
in plan, with roofs projecting from each storey;
erected as a memorial or to hold relics (derived
from the Indian stupa).
Temple of Heaven
- Circular mound altar, ritual platform.
- Imperial vault of heaven
- Hall prayer for good harvests
- Abstinence palace
Pailou - monumental gateway to a palace. Tomb, or
sacred place.
Zhonglou - bell tower or pavilion at the right side of a
city gate, palace entrance, or forecourt of a temple.
Gulou - left side counterpart of zhonglou.
Forbidden City
- A palace complex including temples, reception
halls, residences, and service buildings.
- Palace of Heavenly Purity, the residence of the
son of heaven and the conceptual center of the
empire.
- Hall of Supreme Harmony, emperor’s throne
room; also where he met daily with his officials.
ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS
- Buildings are dispersed around the courtyard.
- Entire grouping is organized around a central
pathway or axis.
- Largest and most important building at the
northernmost.
- Surrounding structures and courtyards increase
in size as they get closer to the main building.
Great Wall of China
- Fortified wall to protect China against nomads
from the north.
- Also served as a means of communication.
Yin Yang
- Yin: feminine, dark, and negative; Yang:
masculine, bright, and positive.
Feng Shui
- “Wind water”
- Arranging architectural elements so that they
are in harmony with nature.
- Goal: to promote the optimal flow of positive
energy (chi’i) within the building.
- Most buildings face south or southeast to take
advantage of prevailing winds and sunshine.
Jian
- The basic measure in construction.
- Standard unit of space marked by adjacent
frame supports.
Dougong
- Interlocking bracket system used in traditional
Chinese construction to support roof beams.
- Has both structural and decorative purposes.
Colors
Connotations of colors:
- Green, wood.
- Yellow, earth; spaces reserved for emperors.
- Blue and black, water.
- White and gray, metal.
- Red, fire; hope and satisfaction.
