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The Architecture Magazine for Students

Islamic ArchitectureUnderstanding its form and function

Feb 2011 // Issue 01

From the Editor

Editor Sannah Khan

Art Direction Sannah Khan

Photography Sannah Khan Google Images

Dear Readers, Here at Arch Magazine, our goal is to educate the general population on the ins and outs of Architecture. What makes architecture beautiful? Why are the forms the way they are? How does this change?

As students ourselves, we’ve realized that there is a need for an architectural information source directed at students, teaching us what we want to know, showing us everything what we want to see, and allowing us to appreciate what we want to appreciate.

In this issue, the focus is on Islamic Architecture. Outside of North America, there are an astounding amount of Muslim countires that pride themselves on their architecture. Their mosques are extravagantly flourished and created with ex-treme care. This is where we tell you the why’s and how.

Enjoy.

Sannah KhanEditor

arch magazine • september 2011

Behind the Veil //Understanding the form and function of Islamic Architecture

The Ideal of Islamic Architecture //An Interview with expert architect Takeo Kamiya

Behind the Veil //Understanding the form and function of Islamic Architecture

The Ideal of Islamic Architecture //An Interview with expert architect Takeo Kamiya

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september 2011 • arch magazine


Understanding the form and function of Islamic Architecture.

Don’t be fooled by the outward appearance of Islamic structures. They may look simple and plain from the outside, but on the inside, there is a world of symbolism and art with lavishment and decoration.


Dome Chamber

Transitioning Middle Section


After the overtake of the Roman Byzantine Empire by the Turkish Ottoman Empire in

330 ad, muslims adopted a Byzantinian style to their architecture. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is one of the most important buildings in Islamic architec-ture, marked by a strong Byzantine influence—mosaic against a gold background, and a central plan that recalls that of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—but already bearing purely Islamic elements. Distinguishing motifs of Islamic architecture have always been plenty, such as ordered repetition, radiating structures, and rhythmic, metric patterns. In this respect, fractal geometry has been a key utility, especially for mosques and palaces. Other significant features employed as motifs include columns, piers and arches, organized and interwoven with alternating sequences of niches and colonnettes.

Islamic architecture is made up of three aesthetics: a sense of hierarchy; a readiness to exploit symbolism; a love of lavish decoration whose functions go beyond mere display; and perhaps a leaning towards the abun-dant use of colour. Hierarchy There are two distinct ways of a sense of hierarchy amongst Islamic buildings. The first is a dome chamber, which can be seen in many mosques. The typical arrangement of the different elements of a mosque: the arrangement of the square bottom, the transitioning middle section and dome at the top creates a level of hierarchy that implies the top most element being the most important. There is no real significance to why this is done; it is primarily done to divide the building up according to its function. The dome is used as a symbol of power, and is a signifier for the mosque, whereas the square bottom is the area for people to be.

The other type of hierarchy is more complex. It is found in most Friday mosques and in palaces – in buildings that have a more pronounced royal character. To explain this clearly, we have to compare the significance of a dome chamber compared to a gable that is clearly an important element in a mosque. In every mosque, there is an arch or a gable, called the mihrab, at the wall that is facing in the direction of the qibla – the direction of Mecca in which all muslims pray towards. It is usually lavished with decoration to emphasize its importance, and is a necessary signifier to let people know the direc-tion as soon as they walk in the mosque. The gable could be explained a practical means of casually declaring the qibla, the location of which would have not been known to the regular muslim. But the significance is not so clear in a dome.

Then what is its purpose? It can be used to mark a specific occurrence in history. Throughout the Middle Ages, important mosques were used as a setting for key official ceremonies. The Great Mosque of Damascus witnessed a triumph of Roman proportions when al-Walid I and his court assembled there in 714 ad to celebrate the conqueror of North Africa, Musa ibn Nusair. Some eight hundred years later, the setting where this event took place was where the dome was located. In this case, the dome is a device for assuming the mosque as a royal monument and let-ting people know this from afar.

An inside look in the Hassan ii Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. This section in the mosque is where many of the Kings of the Middle East hold meetings.

Square Bottom


The use of repetition is dominant in Islamic architecture. In the Hassan II Mosque of Casablanca, Morocco, these beautiful gates of arches surround the courtyard. While these gates are on the lowest part of the scale of hierarchy, it still is a fascinating use of repetition.


Symbolism and Decoration Symbolism, as an element to the Islamic aesthetic is very dominant in Islamic mosques, however, it is not so on the same scale as Christians churches. There is no mus-lim equivalent to the symbolism that occurs in Christian sculptures, steps that led to the cathedral etc. These sym-bols in churches were organized within a rigid framework where almost every feature had an other-worldly as well as a practical significance. Islamic reli-gious architecture was denied nearly all these means of expression. It rejected sculpture and other figure decoration. One reason for this is that Islam rejects representa-tional of the human figure, so all of Islamic art is purely abstract. There is no representational symbol or narrative that can be read; it expresses notions of the divine, not through devotional images but through the totality of its form, and it is this totality of form that unites and characterizes all the visual arts of Islam. On the religious basis that God has forbidden people to create life from nothing, as only He is capable of doing so.

One place that symbolism is mostly displayed in Islamic architecture is in the mihrab. While its sole purpose might have been to point out the direction of the qibla, it has popularly been believed to be as significant as a shrine to the gates to paradise. For this reason, there are usually inscriptions overhead the arch. Inscriptions

are usually placed and executed as to embellish. Their effectiveness is an mixture of handsome lettering, texture and colour; added to this, their disposition in bands may serve to articulate a larger decorative scheme.

Above the mihrab, they might contain quotations from the Surah of Light. On minarets, they usually have inscriptions of the shahada. Peacocks or composite birds, the so-called ‘bird of paradise’, may occupy the spandrels of a portal arch in a mosque, simultaneously repelling evil and welcoming the faithful. Dragons, serpents, Sagittarius, or lions bringing down bills – all these with the astrological content – are found in similar locations, as are depictions of isolated lions, a punning reference to the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Ali (known as haidar, lion).

The use of an oculus at the apex of a dome has similar connotations of great antiquity and prestige, stretching even further back than the Pantheon. Floral decoration is used – predominately when its green- with fertility to of the blue tilework of Islam with notions of good luck or of heaven itself. There is no real significance to colour in Islamic architecture. It is mostly based on the culture of the place that the building is in.

The culture of the area in which the architecture is built plays a huge part in the structure and design of the building. Many mosques hold the imprint of the Middle Eastern climate. The sanctuary was covered and thus gave shade. The courtyard was vast, open and unclut-tered, perhaps an intentional evocation of the wide

Internal dome decoration often exploits solar or stellar motifs and thus continues the association between a vault and the dome of heaven.

This mihrab, found in Isfahan, Iran, features a number of stylistic elements—such as calligraphy and geometric design—common to Islamic decorative art.


expanses of the desert. In its midst would be the ablu-tions pool or fountain, for all the world like the water-ing hole at an oasis. In the Great Mosque of Damascus, the idea of an oasis is suggested more strongly by the overwhelming green tonality of the mosaics, in whose repertoire trees and streams figure largely. Subsequently, it became standard practice for arabesque or other or-ganic ornament to be used in mosques.

There was often no attempt to conceal the links of such decoration with notions of growth, abundance and fertility. Cool restful tonalities, in which various shades of blue played a major part, were preferred. In pursuit of that same coolness – the necessary and much desired antidote to the harsh desert climate of much of the Middle East – as much as possible was done by means of shutters, grilles and bead curtains to mitigate the glare of such strong sunlight as penetrated into a build-ing. Bare feet were soothed by floors, which were tiled, stone-flagged, carpeted or laid with mating. The absence of furniture helped currents of air to circulate more freely. Windows were few. All this combined to create that dim, religious atmosphere which rested both body and soul. Open and roofed spaces are therefore able to complement each other to perfection.

The shape and tall volume produced by a qubba also tends to improve the acoustics of the prayer, a character-istic which is held by some to one of the most important aspects of prayer design.

Externally the qubba is a significant form in an urban landscape. Not only is the form a strong contrast to the generally rectangular constructions around it, but the form permits colour and decoration to give greater emphasis to its form. Gold and tilework tend typify the finishing materials of domes, making the qubba and the building it sits on stand out dramatically from the sur-rounding buildings.

Characteristics of the architecture combine to have the psychological effect of lifting the eyes if not the spirit, and might be thought similar to the effect as-cribed to Gothic churches by the use of the arch.

The arches in the dome of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul show the use of the cool colours and tall ceilings to improve the acoustics in the room.


Q. Why does Islamic architecture have a plain appearance?

A. In a word, it doesn’t attach importance to the exterior view. Primarily, the ésprit of Islam is simplicity and fortitude without ostentation, it is even possible to say practicality only. That’s the teaching of Muhammad. although decorations increased as time went by, lavish adornment is actually not suitable for Islam. Instead of outer plainness of facade, interior space of the worship room or courtyard is elegantly ordered, that is the spirit of Islam.

Q. Are there fixed forms or definite patterns for mosque designs?

A. There are roughly four representative types, from both historical and geographical order.

Firstly ‘Arabic type’: its origin goes back to the age of Muhammad. Also referred to as the ‘Hypostyle type’ because of the rows of columns with a flat roof. Since it is the most principal, the largest in number of mosques are of this type.

This simple and flat building with hypostyle halls surrounding a courtyard was the first mosque and became the prototype of Arabian type mosques. Since this type requires neither much labour nor money, mosques of the Arabic type were built numerously in Andalusia too. The Mezquita in Cor-doba is classified as the Arabian type.

The next type is the ‘Persian type’ in historical order. Persia came under the control of Islam in the 9th century. However, the control from Baghdad became weak in the 12th century, traditional styles from before the advent of Islam revived in architecture too. Its typical element is ‘Iwan’ that is a half exterior space behind a large opening of a pointed arch bordered by a square frame. Its ceiling forms as a barrel vault or half dome and is embellished in various ways. That is a tradition of king’s audience halls of ancient Persian palace architecture before Islam. Four iwans face each other around the courtyard, so it is called the ‘Four Iwans type’ too.

The Ideal of

An Interview with Takeo KamiyaConducted by: Yasuko Iguma

Islamic Architecture


Q. Speaking of the image of general Islamic architecture, I recall a vast dome struc-ture instead of a flat roof building.

A. That is the ‘Turkish type,’ the third type of mosque emerging after the 15th century. Turkey is the coldest region in the Islamic world and has a lot of rainfall too. Even snow falls in the plateau of Anatolia. That’s why Turks covered courtyards with roofs to avoid inclement weather, or left the courtyard untouched and shifted the main space into an inner worship room by covering it by a large domed roof.

This ottoman dome had an evident model: the great dome of Saint Sophia soaring in Constantinople (current Istanbul). Since Ottoman Turkey conquered Constantinople in 1453 and made it their capital, Ottoman architects made it their largest objective to surpass physically and aestheti-cally, setting it as the model of their mosques.

The last ‘Indian type’ is a little bit different from the other three. That is to say Ara-bian and Persian type mosques that were brought to India in the 13th century altered by adopting the character of Indian traditional architecture such as Hindu or Jaina temples, in other words, plastic buildings inversely putting importance on the exterior view. Cloisters encircle a courtyard like the Arabian type, nevertheless the massive worship hall roofed by the Persian type domes stands imposingly on the Makka side, as if it were an independent building in a square.

I call such a self-display building making prominently its form ‘Sculptural architec-ture.’ On the other hand, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish type mosques are inward-look-ing, that is, introverted buildings focusing on enveloping interior spaces or courtyards. The Turkish type mosque, in particular, shapes up as an enormous space covered by a thin stone membrane. I call it ‘Membranous architecture’ or ‘Enclosing architecture.’

In the desert area of the Middle East the outside of mosques are dreadful with strong sun and sandstorm and so on. In order to shut out the outer threat of nature, one must assume a denial attitude against the outside, enclosing human teritory to keep the inside comfortable by erecting a protective membrane with a veil or a wall.

Islamic Architecture


Q. Does it embody the stoic teachings of Islam?

A. I think so. But there is also a rather distinctly different way of decoration in Islamic architecture. It is ‘Muqarnas,’ such as the ceiling of the ‘two sisters’ hall’ in the Alhambra. Muqarnas is a three dimensional decoration likened often to stalactites and beehives, completely different from usual plain Islamic orna-ment. It was developed after the 10th century in the Middle East, and mainly used to embellish a spatial ceiling of dome structure like a web. The more time passed, the more complicated it became.

Actually, it was a structural form in origin. Let’s take the Iwans in the Friday Mosque in Isfahan for exam-ple. They were made of piled bricks, and the surface was composed of small repeating portions of arches and curved facets demarcated by them. It keeps a balance of stresses on each other up to the limit where bricks don’t fall down.

Also in Iran, but in the 17th century, the iwans of the Royal Mosque (currently the Imam’s Mosque) were composed of suspended gypsum panels or wooden pieces finished by faience tiles from a true half dome of piled bricks. Thus it became simply a superficial decora-tion of a pretended structure, which went in more and more intricate passage.

Q. They don’t seem like plastering finish but look as if they are white marble.

A. It is the exploration of Paradise, which is depicted in the “Koran” repeatedly. Life in the desert is tough and harsh. Unlike that, the ideal world that should ex-ist celestially is ‘Paradise,’ like Eden where Adam and Eve resided. It is full of green and flowers blooming, fruits eaten as much as people like, and beautiful girls everywhere. To realize an earthly paradise that is con-trastive to an actual tough world, that is the ultimate aspiration for Islamic architecture. So, that bestows great importance on gardens.

The origin of courtyards was in Persia before the advent of Islam. In order to reside in a desert, it was necessary to encircle a courtyard-type living space by walls and supply water, sometimes through under-ground conduits made at huge expense and labor from the foot of the mountains.

The most rational way of irrigating gardens was to build waterways in a four-quartered shape. In the age air-conditioners had not yet been produced, the waterways provided a method of air-cooling as well. If there was a surplus, they planted trees and flowers in their gardens.

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