TAJ MAHAL INDIA

Origin and inspiration

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was
grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess, died during the birth of
their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court
chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for
Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and
garden were finished five years later.

Tomb

The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. This large, white marble
structure stands on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an
arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic
elements are Persian in origin.

Exterior decoration

The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the
surface area changes the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were
created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays, or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition
against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into
either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.

SELIMEYE MOSQUE TURKEY

This grand mosque stands at the center of a klliye (complex of a hospital, school, library and/or
baths around a mosque) which comprises a medrese (Islamic academy teaches both Islamic
and scientific lessons), a dar-l hadis (Al-Hadith school), a timekeeper's room and an arasta
(row of shops). In this mosque Sinan employed an octagonal supporting system that is created
through eight pillars incised in a square shell of walls. The four semi domes at the corners of the
square behind the arches that spring from the pillars, are intermediary sections between the
huge encompassing dome (31.25m diameter with spherical profile) and the walls.

Exterior

Like all other Ottoman mosques in the earlier periods, the Selimiye Mosque had a multitude of
little domes and half domes. However, the limit in building Selimiye was to viewing the mosque
as a single unit from inside or outside rather than separate masses. Sinan believed that building
a single dome would be the only resolution to achieve this. Hence, he ambitiously decided to
replace the busy confused domes in the center with an enormous one. The author of Other
Colors, Orhan Pamuk mentioned that he saw a connection between the wish of the central
dome and the centralizing political and economic changes made by the empire, but the idea
was later objected by another book written by Sinans friend, Sai, claiming that Sinan had taken
his inspiration from Istanbuls Hagia Sophia


HAGIA SOPHIA TURKEY

Hagia Sophia is a great architectural beauty and an important monument both for Byzantine
and for Ottoman Empires. Once a church, later a mosque, and now a museum at the Turkish
Republic, Hagia Sophia has always been the precious of its time.
The mystical city Istanbul hosted many civilizations since centuries, of which Byzantium and
Ottoman Empires were both the most famous ones. The city today carries the characteristics
of these two different cultures and surely Hagia Sophia is a perfect synthesis where one can
observe both Ottoman and Byzantium effects under one great dome.

There are 4 seraphim mosaics ( God's protector angels with 6 wings) on the 4 pendentives that
carry the dome. The 4 seraphims' faces were covered with 6-7 layers of plaster for almost 160
years during the sovereignty of Ottomans. The last person who saw the faces of the Seraphims
was the Swiss architect Gaspare Fossati while he was holding the restoration at Hagia Sophia
in 1840s. With a 10 day hard work, experts managed to take off the 7 layers of plasters and
reveal the face of one of the seraphims
The 16 years old scaffold that was standing on the southeast quarter of the dome for
reconstruction purposes has been unstitched to be set up to northeast quarter.
The certain age of the mosaics is unclear however they are known to be older than 700 years.




IMAM MOSQUE ISFAHAN IRAN

Architecture and design
The Safavids founded the Shah Mosque as a channel through which they could express
themselves with their numerous architectural techniques. The four-iwan format, finalized by
the Seljuq dynasty, and inherited by the Safavids, firmly established the courtyard facade of
such mosques, with the towering gateways at every side, as more important than the actual
building itself.
[9]
During Seljuq rule, as Islamic mysticism was on the rise and Persians were
looking for a new type of architectural design that emphasized an Iranian identity, the four-iwan
arrangement took form. The Persians already had a rich architectural legacy, and the distinct
shape of the iwan was actually taken from earlier, Sassanid palace-designs,
[9]
such as
The Palace of Ardashir. Thus, Islamic architecture witnessed the emergence of a new brand
that differed from the hypostyle design of the early, Arab mosques, such as the Umayyad
Mosque. The four-iwan format typically took the form of a square shaped, central courtyard with
large entrances at each side, giving the impression of being gateways to the spiritual world.
The distinct feature of any mosque is the minaret, and the Masjed-e Shah has four. Still, in
Persian mosques, tall minarets were considered unsuitable for the call to prayer, and they would
add an aedicule, known in Persian as a goldast (bouquet) for this particular purpose, which in
the Masjed-e Shah stands on top of the west iwan.

DOME OF THE ROCK

The Dome of the Rock is located at the visual center of a platform known as the Temple Mount.
It is believed, or assumed by tradition, to have been constructed on the site of the Second
Jewish Temple, which was destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
It enshrines the rock from which uammad is said to have ascended to heaven
Sometimes erroneously called the Mosque of Umar, from a tradition that it was built by Caliph
Umar I, the Dome of the Rock was actually built by Caliph Abd al-Malik between 687 and 691.
The first domed shrine to be built, the Dome of the Rock is a masterpiece of Islamic
architecture.
The octagonal plan and the rotunda dome of wood are of Byzantine design. The Persian tiles on
the exterior and the marble slabs that decorate the interior were added by Suleiman I in 1561.
According to later Islamic tradition, the Rock (al-Sakhra) in the midst of the building was the spot
from which Mohammed ascended to heaven after his miraculous night journey from Mecca to
Jerusalem on the winged steed al-Buraq.
A tradition states that by building the dome, Abd al-Malik was attempting to transfer the Islamic
hajj to Jerusalem from Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The 60-foot-diameter, timber-framed double
dome, covered internally with colored and gilded stucco and originally roofed with lead covered
in gold, rises 35 meters over the holy rock.




SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 3




























STUDENT:
OGAD ANGELO L.

INSTRUCTOR:
ARCH.MARIO CALUB.