Islamic+Architecture

=Islamic Architecture =  By Stephanie Wen

toc Islamic architecture consisted of a wide range of both secular and religious styles, which influenced the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture. Its constructions were composed mostly of mosques, tombs, palaces, and forts. Best known for its unique designs based on geometrical patterns, Islamic achitecture originated from the combination of distinct architectures.

**Persia** The Persian form of architecture was the fundamental base of Islamic construction. It displayed great variety of both structural and aesthetic developments. The renaissance in Persian mosque and dome buildings came during the Safavid Dynasty, when Shah Abbas, in 1598, initiated the reconstruction of Isfahan, Iran's third largest city. The distinctive feature of Persian domes that seperated them from those created in the Christian world or the Ottoman and Mughal empires, was its use of colorful tiles. In most of their mosques, Persian architecture used abundant symbolic geometry, using pure forms such as the circle and square. Plans were also often based on symmetrical layouts featuring rectangular courtyards and halls. The structure of Persian edifices, the beginning of Islamic architecture, encouraged new ideas, which created other architectures.

Turkestan
 Turkestan structures became a pinnacle of Islamic art. Its spectacular edifices erected by Timur, the founder of the Timurid Empire, and his successors, helped to disseminate the influence of further advancement of engineering among the Muslims. Thus, he constructed the 1st Turkestan school of architecture. The Turkistan style largely derived from that of Persia. Axial symmetry was a characteristic of all major Timurid structures. Most Turkestan buildings are described as double domes of various shapes. The outsides of these buildings were perfused with brilliant colors, which were elegantly displayed in various Islamic countries.



Turkey
Since around the mid 14th century, Turkish architects implemented their own style of domes. The foundation of the Turkish architecture was created during the Ottoman Empire, which led to the construction of great mosques such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, completed in 1616. This mosque was found in the largest city of Turkey, Istanbul. The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque incorporated some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia, an Orthodox patriarchal mosque, and was considered to be the last great mosque of Islamic culture. The Ottomans managed to master the technique of building vast inner spaces confined by seemingly weightless yet massive domes, which can be found in many of today's mosques.

Fatimid Dynasty
 In architecture, the Fatimids were inspired by the art of previous empires, but also developed new techniques and materials of their own. Their first congregational mosque was the al-Ahar mosque, known as "the splendid ," founded along with the city, Cairo, which together became the spiritual center of the Fatimids. The Fatimid architecture played a critical role in the Muslims' religious and political matters. The unique buidlings of the Fatimids featured their philosophy and symbolism regarding their beliefs, which bought their architecture vividly to life. 

Mughal Dynasty
Another distinctive sub-style is the architecture of the Mughal Empire found in Asia, Europe and Africa. In the late 16th century the Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great, constructed the most distinctive example of Mughal architecture, the Diwan-iKhas, meaning "hall of private audience," named for its unique color and structure. The Mughal Empire spread throughout Asia, Europe and Africa, including China, West Africa, and Somali. Chinese mosques were very different from the rest of Islamic architectures. They possessed an unique structure which usually consisted of many roofs one on top of the other. They were also admired for their use of elegant calligraphy throughout and within its structures. In West Africa, Islamic immigrants played a vital role on the construction of its buildings. Muslims built many gigantic palaces for the kings of Africa, and were well-known for it. One king was said to have owned several mansions, one of which was a two hundred feet long, a hundred feet wide, contained seventeen rooms, was four stories high, and had a luxurious staircase. Because of the many compliments given to the Muslim architects, they became very popular throughout West Africa, and also spread throughout the continent. In the early medieval history of Somalia, a well-known East African country, Muslim travelers brought Islamic architectural influences from Arabia and Persia to Somalia, which stimulated a shift from drystone and other related materials in construction to coral stone, sun-dried bricks, and the widespread use of limestone. Islamic architecture evidently changed the fundamental techniques of architecture in Somalia.Being the largest Empire in history, the Mughal Empire continued to spread Islamic architecture.

Documentary
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Primary

 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">YouTube - Tour of Ancient Islamic Architecture. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 30 Apr. 2008. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0wnRotdTpE&feature=player_embedded>. This documentary is a summary of ancient Islamic architecture in general. It gives a good outline for ]subtopics by demonstrating interesting images as well as analyzing Islamic history.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Secondary

 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Moran, Michael. "The Pope and Islam." Council on Foreign Relations. 18 Sept. 2006. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.cfr.org/publication/11464/pope_and_islam.html>. This article is based on the Islam religion. It tells the pros and cons of the prophet Muhammah, and the Islamic pope. This is used to relate Islamic society, including its religion, to Islamic architecture.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">"Islamic Architecture." Islamic Architecture. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.islamic-architecture.info/>. This is a detailed website on Islamic architecture explaining different types of societies with different Islam related types of architectures. It is a main source of information that tells every aspect of Islamic architectures as well as in depth events.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Siddiqui, Elisabeth. "Islamic Art, Music, And Architecture Around The World." University of Georgia. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.uga.edu/islam/IslArt.html#Architecture>. This source is a website giving the outline of Islamic architecture. It backs up the main source, "Islamic Architecture," in case of missing information.