The Alhambra: A Medieval Royal Palacein an Era of Regional Power Centers

I. Design and plan of the medieval court-centered palace

The Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 13th-14th century

Nasrid dynasty: 1238-1492

End of Umayyad caliphate in Spain in 1031 left smaller dynasties to fill the power vacuum.

I.

Umayyad dynasty, 711-1031 Spain 1031-1238

public receptioninvited guests

Yusuf Icelebratory palace for

Muhammed V (self-fashioned Solomon)

1333-54

1369-91

1238-99

Comares Palace Riyad PalaceI.

The Alhambra

I. non-axial communication between complexes

The Alhambra

I. A. What typologies does the location and plan of the Alhambra draw on 1. for the position of the Alhambra vs. the city of Grenada?

The Mexuar

I. B. Establishing the idea of order 1. How is the idea of order established by ornament in the council chamber (Mexuar) of the palace?

geometric tile base

muqarnas bracket

stucco panels

I. B. 2. What is the nature of the basic structural element established in the Mexuar?

column

domed center

II. The Comares Palace, 1333-54: the Sultan’s domain A. The Court of the Myrtles: courtyard designII. A. 1. What role does water perform here as an architectural element?

36.6 m (120') x 23.5 m (77')Comares Palace: Court of the Myrtles (north side)

II. B. Throne room suite in the Comares Palace

Comares Palace: Court of the Myrtles 1. Basic Mediterranean compositional unit: portico, long hall, square hall

Court of the Myrtles: Portico

Ends or resolves in niches

II. B. 3. How are the axes resolved in the long units?II. B. 2. What basic structural element returns in the north and south portico?

exaggerated impost block

slender column design casts structural role into doubt

Comares Palace: Long hall (“Sala de la Barca”)

II. B. 4. What is the basic elevation treatment in the Long Hall?

niche at ends of long hallvaulted ceiling of long hall

Comares Palace: square hallThrone Room (“Hall of the Ambassadors”)

II. B. 5. What is the basic elevation in the Throne Room?

Alhambra: Figure/ground ambiguity

Greco-Roman Classicism: Figure/ground clarity

II. B. 5.

Comares Palace: Square hallThrone Room (“Hall of the Ambassadors”)

II. B. 5.

“He has chosen me as the throne of his rule; may his eminence be helped by the Lord of light, of the divine throne and see.”

Square hall, the Throne Room (“Hall of the Ambassadors”)

II. B. 6. Political symbolism: how does the sultan in the throne room appear in his full power both in this life and in the life to come?

Riyad Palace: Court of the Lions

III. Riyad Palace, 1361-91: A second, triumphal sultan’s residence A. The Court of the Lions: courtyard design in the 14th century

28.5 m (93') x 15.5 m (50')

Muhammed V’s victory in Algeciras (paradise garden courtyard)

III. A. 1. Water: What is the architectural role and the symbolism of water here?

III. A. 1.

Court of the LionsRiyad Palace

III. A. 2. How is power expressed as holding the most delicate forces in balance: a. in the portico elevation?

Riyad Palace: Court of the Lions

no end to the monument’s directions

IV. A. 2. b. in the columns of the Court of the Lion?

Riyad Palace: Court of the LionsComares Palace: Court of the Myrtles

The east corridor of the Court of the Lions

III. A. 3. How is monumentality expressed in modest size spaces (e.g., in the east corridor)?

Riyad Palace: north hall (“Hall of Two Sisters”)

III. B. North Hall and South Hall in the Riyad Palace

portico

domedsquare hall

long hall

1. How is the basic compositional unit present and reversed?

Hall of Two Sisters

mirador alcove

Riyad Palace: South hall (“Hall of the Abencerrajes”)

III. B. 1.

III. B. 2. What is the symbolism of the muqarnas vaults?

Riyad Palace:north hall Riyad Palace: south hall

Comares Palace:throne room

Nero’s Domus Aureamaqsura in the Great Mosque at Cordoba

III. B. 3. What message is conveyed by the use of fragile stucco in the Riyad Palace?

Riyad Palace

Redundant inscriptions: “Benediction” “There is no victorious one but God” “Power is to God” Etc. etc.

God is the only permanent existence

Quiz Question:

Where were Arab architects of the later Middle Ages looking for alternative sources of architectural authority (ancient or contemporary) other than classical antiquity?

Name at least one example in the Madrasa of Sultan Hasan and one in the Alhambra.