ISLAMIC

ARCHITECTURE

Presented by
QUINSAAT, Rochelle L.
LORES, Florence Irish D.
PEROS, Naomi Jann
QUILANA, Maxine Dianne L.
BS Architecture 2D
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
• The architecture of the Muslim peoples from the 7th century
on, developing in the wake of Muhammadan conquests of
diverse territories from Spain in the west to India in the east
and absorbing elements of art and architecture from each
region;
• Also referred to as Muslim architecture, Muhammadan
architecture, Saracenic architecture.
CHARACTERISTICS
• Development of the mosque as a distinct building type
• Domes and tunnel vaults of brick and stone
• Round and horseshoe arches
• Rich surface decorations incorporating calligraphy
• Floral motifs in a geometric framework because of the ban on
human and animal representations.
GEOGRAPHY
• Can be found primarily in Arab states and Muslim-majority countries
around the world, as well as in European countries with Arab or
Islamic histories, such as Spain and Portugal.
• Flourished principally in the countries of Southern Asia and North
Africa.
• Other important communities were established in isolation outside
the geographical block, in places such as Zanzibar, Madagascar, and
China, while in twentieth century mobility has brought Islam to
outposts throughout the world, the architectural consequences in
apparently unlikely places as far apart as Sydney and south shields.
• The spread of Islam has been frequently associated with military
conquest, racial movements and in some cases with the consequent
displacement of established populations. The most important of
these 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 of the Central
Asia.
GEOGRAPHY
GEOLOGY
• The countries into which Islam first expanded were already rich
in building tradition and the important techniques of
exploitation of natural resources for building works and trade
in building materials had long been established. Brick making
and walling was almost universal in the alluvial plains; marble
was generically available as an article of trade. Building to the
stoné occur in variety. There was a long tradition of ceramic
production, use of gypsum plaster glass manufacture and the
various forms of metalworks for building.
HISTORY
• Muslim chronology dates from A.D. 622, the year of Hegira
(Hijrah), when Mohammed moved from Mecca to Medina. In the
succeeding ten years of his life Mohammed established the
framework of the religion and the beginnings of the military
organization charge with spreading the faith. Immediately after his
death in 632. The concerned efforts of the Arabian tubes carried
then as conquerors into Central Asia and westwards towards the
Atlantic.
• It 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,
tomb, palace, and fort. From these four types, the vocabulary of
Islamic Architecture is derived and used for buildings of less
importance such as public baths, fountains, and domestic
architecture.
SOCIAL
• The Arab groups, which were the spearhead of the advance of
Islam, were essentially tribal, and in consequence the behavior
patterns and cultural attributes of emergent Islamic societies
were based on the traditions of the desert. As Muslim
communities become stabilized over the succeeding centuries,
a clear social pattern emerged in which public life was
reserved for men. Women played a secondary role, almost
inevitably assuming major share of domestic, and sometimes of
the agricultural burden.
• 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.
RELIGIOUS
• Date founded: A.D. 622
• Place founded: Mecca, Saudi Arabia
• Founder: Mohammed (born .570), a trade merchant from
Arabia
• Adherents: 1.3 billion
• Size rank (religion statistics): second largest in the world
• Main location: Middle East and North Africa
• Sacred text: Qur'an (Koran)
• Original language: Arabic
• House of worship: mosque
RELIGIOUS
• Ultimate reality: God (Allah in Arabic); the same God revealed
in the Jewish and Christian Bibles
• Type of theism: strict monotheism
• Purpose of life: Submit to the will of Allah and attain paradise
after death
• How to live: Follow the Qur'an, Hadith and Five Pillars of Islam
• The Five Pillars of Islam: (1) Daily confession of faith (shahada)
(2) Daily ritual prayer (salat) (3) Paying the alms tax (zakat) (4)
Fasting during the month of Ramadan (saum) (5) Pilgrimage to
Mecca (hajj)
• Afterlife: Resurrection of body and soul followed by eternal
paradise or hell
• Symbols: crescent moon and star
DEFINITION OF
TERMS
MUSLIM
Of or pertaining to the law, religion, or civilization of Islam; a believer in Islam.
Also, Moslem.

ISLAM
The religious faith of Muslims, based on the teachings of the prophet
Muhammad, the central themes of which are belief in the one God, Allah, the
existence of Paradise and Hell, and the universal Judgment Day to come.
Also, the civilization built on Islamic faith. Also called Muhammadanism.

MUHAMMAD
Arab prophet and founder of Islam, 570–632 ce. Also, Mohammed.

KORAN
The sacred text of Islam, revered as the revelations made by Allah to
Muhammad through the angel Gabriel and accepted as the foundation of
Islamic law, religion, culture, and politics.

MOSQUE
A Muslim building or place of public worship. Also called masjid, musjid.
TYPES OF ISLAMIC
ARCHITECTURE
MOSQUE
A Muslim building or place of
public worship. Also called
masjid, musjid.

MADRASAH
A Muslim theological school
arranged around a courtyard
and attached to a mosque,
found from the 11th century on
in Egypt, Anatolia, and Persia.
Also, madrasa.

HAMMAM
A structural design for a hot
bathhouse.
CARAVENSERAI
An inn in the Near East for the
overnight accommodation of
caravans, usually having a large
courtyard enclosed by a solid wall
and entered through an imposing
gateway.

CASBAH/CITADEL
A fortress in a commanding position
in or near a city, used in the
control of the inhabitants and in
defense during attack or siege

MAUSOLEUM
A tomb or a monument.
PARTS OF MOSQUE
 MINARET(TOWER)
A lofty, slender tower attached
to a mosque, having stairs
leading up to one or more
projecting balconies from which
the muezzin calls the Muslim
people to prayer.

SAHN(COURTYARD)
A fundamental feature of the
mosque. According to their
function, it is were cloistered
and arcaded and the sides were
punctuated with gateways,
prayer chambers or arched
porches (iwans).
QUBBA(DOME)
A cupola or domed structure,
typically a tomb or shrine in
Islamic architecture.

MIHRAB(NICHE)
A niche or decorative panel in a
mosque designating the qibla,
which Muslims should face when
praying.
MASHRABIYA(WINDOW)
A type of projecting oriel
window enclosed with carved
wood latticework located on
the upper floors of a building,
sometimes enhanced with
stained glass.

DIKKA(MESSAGE)
A raised platform or tribune in a
mosque from which the Quran is
recited and where the muezzin
chants or repeats in response
to the imam's prayers.
MINBAR(PULPIT)
A pulpit in a mosque, recalling
the three steps from which
Muhammad addressed his
followers and from which the
imam delivers his sermons.
Also, mimbar.

MUQARNAS(DECORATION)
A system of decoration in
Islamic architecture, formed by
the intricate corbeling of
brackets, squinches, and
inverted pyramids; sometimes
wrought in stone but more often
in plaster. Also called
honeycomb work.
PARTS OF MOSQUE
 MOSQUE
ARCHITECTURAL
FEATURES
POINTED ARCH
The most important form which
was principally two and four-
centered and generally
constructed as a true arch though
corbelled examples were common
in India.

WINDOW OPENINGS
Frequently small and traditionally
closed with wooden shutters, iron
bars, marble grilles or plaster lights
set with clear glass.
WIND-SCOPES
They were added to the
construction techniques in order
to meet the climatic conditions.

DOME
It is widely used throughout the
Islamic world; Persia, Mughal and
Egypt domes tended to be pointed
in contrast to the hemi-spherical
Turkish version.
 ISLAMIC
DECORATIVE
ELEMENTS
WATER
In Islmaic climates, the water from
courtyard pools and fountains cools as it
decorates. It can not only reflect
architecture and multiply the decorative
themes, it can also serve as a means of
emphasizing visual axes.

GEOMETRIC PATTERN
The integration of geometry with such
optical effects as the balancing of
positive and negative areas, a skillful use
of color and tone values.
These patterns exemplify the Islamic
balance in repetition, balance symmetry
and continuous generation of pattern.
ABARESQUE(ISLIMI)
This designs are biomorphic, floral
patterns representing the underlying
order and unity of nature with a great
deal of accuracy, flowers an trees might
be used as the motifs for the decoration
of textiles, objects and buildings.

CALLIGRAPHY
It is closely linked to geometry. The
propositions of the letters are all
governed by mathematics. Inscriptions
are most often used as a frame along and
around main elements of a building like
portals and cornice.
CORBEL
A brick or stone projecting from within a
wall, usually to support a weight.

CHAMFER
A beveled surface, usually formed or cut
at 45° angle to the adjacent principal
faces.
 ISLAMIC
DECORATIVE
CANON
CALLIGRAPHY

GEOMETRIC

ARABESQUE
TYPICAL ELEVATION OF A MOSQUE
 ISLAMIC
STRUCTURE
TAJ MAHAL
• an ivory-white marble mausoleum on
the south bank of the Yamuna river
in the Indian city of Agra.
• commissioned in 1632 by the
Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan
(reigned from 1628 to 1658), to
house the tomb of his favourite
wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
• “the palace of the crown”
• 22 years to build
• 73 meters (240 ft.) high
• Architect: Ustad-Ahmad Lahori
• Location: Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
THE ALHAMBRA

• an ancient palace, fortress and

citadel
• The 8-century-old site was named
for the reddish walls and towers
that surrounded the citadel
• al-qal’a al-hamra in Arabic means
“red fort or castle”
• Architect: Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar
• Location: Granada, Spain
MASJED-E JĀMÉ OF ISFAHAN
• Also known as “universal mosque”
• The Friday mosque of Isfahan
• The mosque is the result of
continual construction,
reconstruction, additions and
renovations on the site from around
771 to the end of the 20th
century.
• One of the largest and most
important monuments of Islamic
architecture in Iran.
• Architects: Niẓām al-Mulk, vizier to
the Seljuq ruler Malik-Shāh
• Location: Isfahan, Iran
QUBBAT AL-SAKHRA
• The Dome of the Rock
• An octagonal structure on an
elevated platform in the middle of
the Temple Mount area in
Jerusalem.
• A holy shrine built on the Temple
Mount as a monument to the
Prophet Muhammad's ascent to
heaven.
• Architects: Raja Ibn Haywa and
Yazid Ibn Salam
• Location: Jerusalem
GREAT MOSQUE OF SAMARRA
• The 9th-century Great Mosque and
its spiral minaret are among the
numerous remarkable architectural
monuments of the site
• The largest mosque in the world
upon completion in the 9th-century
• Architect: Al-Mutawakkil
• Location: Samarra, Iraq
MASJID AL-HARAM
• The Great Mosque of Mecca
• the first house that was built in
Mecca city for humanity to worship
Allah.
• Therefore, Mecca is the holiest city
of Islam, and the goal of the annual
Muslim hajj (pilgrimage).
• Architect: Mimar Sinan
• Location: Mecca, Saudi Arabia
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