Islamic Architecture
Masjid
A district or neighborhood mosque.
Ablutions Fountain
A fountain to purify. Located in the sahn. Must wash up in the fountain before entering the Haram.
Idgab
A large, unroofed open space with a long prayer wall on one side in a Muslim town.
Dikka
A platform placed in the prayer hall where the prayer administrator would give prayers.
Minbar
A raised pulpit(platform) with steps leading up to it, from which Qur'anic readings, sermons, or official proclamations and addresses are given by the imam(priest).
Maqsura
A special processional area reserved for the retinue of the caliph.
Iwan
A vaulted or domed volume, walled on 3 sides and open on the other. Covered spaces but open to the sun on one side.
Mosaic: "Visions of Paradise" at the Great Mosque at Damascus
Aniconic mosaic. Heaven and paradise in the desert is an oasis. Used images of architecture.
Sahn
Arcaded court in a mosque. A courtyard.
The Great Mosque 785 Cordoba Spain
Congregational, hypostyle mosque with a nearly square plan, half was the sahn and the other half was the haram, which had 10 rows of 11 columns to form a 11-aisled sanctuary. Arches connect the columns. Two arch levels, and are polychrome - composed of white stone voussoirs set alternately red brick ones. Abd al Raham III patron of the mosque. Has a rectangular minaret. Horseshoe arches and columns used as ornament. The floor was covered in a clay tile. Interior has a forest of columns. The mihrab has a dome and clestitory windows. Arches made of brick and stone. Hypostyle hall made of spolia. Building on ancient traditions of the Middle East, Egypt, and Persia. The colonades has a double tier system of arches. New arches has scalloping in the arches and the arches are interlaced.
Haram
Covered prayer hall in a mosque. Where the mass prayer takes place.
Friday Mosque in Isfahan Iran 8th Century
Earliest iwan mosque. Original form was a rectangular multi-columned hall covered with a wooden roof, with a large sahn at its core. The southern dome covered 20 bays. Later 4 iwans were added, one in the center of each side of the sahn. Had glazed titles in shades of blue, turquoise, white, and yellow, and stalactite-like muqarnas vaults. Entire building, including the dome, is covered in tile.
Madrasa of Sultan, Cairo, Egypt, c. 1356 CE
Founded by Sultan Hassan. It was a religious and a mosque. Has 4 iwans.
Influences of the design of the mosque
House of the prophet at Medina, Christian churches, and audience halls of Persia.
The Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil at Samarra Iraq (848/49-52)
Hypostyle Mosque with a columned hall and a single minaret. Has a rectangular burned-brick-wall enclosure with attached semicircular towers. Has a series of square columns inside.
Muqarnas
Islamic vault treatment that fragments the surface into many concave segments. May be built in masonry or suspended as elements from an overhead structure.
Bibi Khanum Mosque, Samarkand, Uzbekistan 1399
Iwan Mosque issued by Timur. Made up of iwans, and has a sahn inside ranks of columns forming 4 L-shaped halls, all bounded by a rectangular perimeter wall.
Grand Mosque at Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 7th century
Mosque that holds the Ka'ba. All Muslims must travel here at least once in their life. Center of Islam culture.
Multi-Domed Mosques
Mosque type popular in Turkey. Large, centrally organized mosque with domed spaces.
Gesso
Plaster used with ornament. Can carve in it when it is wet, and is rock hard when dries.
Qibla Wall
Prayer wall in the mosque that faces Mecca. Back wall of a mosque.
Mosque
Primary place of worship for Islam.
The Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain, 13th-14th century CE
Royal citadel and fortress-palace. Build by the Nasrid Dynasty. The Moorish palace was later added on by Charles V, after the Spanish took Spain from the Moors. Palace chambers were grouped around rectangular courts. The patios had pools and fountains and were arcaded galleries.
Aniconic
Symbolic or suggestive. This style was used in Islamic ornamentation and design. Design with no living figures.
Mosaic Titlework
Take a large tile and paint it and cover it a glaze and bake it and then break it apart into tesserae.
Bazaar
covered market in Islamic cities.
Column
عمود
The Great Mosque at Damascus (706-15)
Congregational mosque. Umayyad built rectangular minarets. Was a site of a Greek temple and then a Roman temple. Used the foundation walls to create a hypostyle hall. Oldest extant mosque. Constructed under al-Walid I. Had four minarets that had elevated platforms at the corners of the site from which summon the faithful to prayer. Over half of the inner space is the sahn containing a domed fountain pavilion for ritual ablutions and an octagonal pavilion originally used for the public treasury. Has a haram.
Dome of the Rock (687-91) in Jerusalem Israel
Located on Mount Moriah sacred to the Jews and Muslims. Site where Abraham had offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice to the lord and the location of Solomon's temple. Also the place where Mohammed ascended in his night journey to paradise. The shrine was built around the rock. Commemorative mosque built to honor the holy site. Builders were from Syria (previous Byzantine empire). Has a centralized plan. Has marble veneer and mosaic titles on the exterior. The dome was covered in gold leaf and built with wood ribs. Wood boards were then put on the ribs. The boards were covered with lead and then gold leaf. Has 2 ambulatory aisles. Built around a rock outcropping. Arches has alternating black and white marble voussiors.
Muezzin
Man who who would climb up on the minaret of a masque to call all men to prayer.
Ka'ba Mecca
Means cube. Cloth draped cubical shrine. Stone structure covered in a cloth. Houses a sacred stone, before Muhammad, the Qibla - meteorite. When Muhammad was 10 a major earthquake happened, damaged the Ka'ba. Muhammad chose where the stone was placed.
Qibla
Meteorite/stone that was seen spiritual to the Islams. Housed in the Ka'ba.
House of the Prophet at Medina (ca. 622)
Mohammad's home and the first place to worship in Islam. Was a square enclosure with small chambers set in the southeast corner for his living quarters. The rest of the space was a partially open central court.
Iwan Mosques
Mosques popular in Iran and Central Asia. Consists of a rectangular court flanked by large, often vaulted spaces, or iwans.
Muhammad
Most important Islamic prophet. Lived near Mecca.
Mihrab
Niches made in the walls that indicated the direction of Mecca.
The 5 pillars of Islam
One shall worship only one god called Allah and Muhammad was his messenger. One must pray facing Mecca, 5 times a day. One must give charity to the poor. One must fast every day during the month of Ramadan. One must make a pilgrimage called the Haj, to Mecca at least once in one's life time.
Caliphs
Religious and civil ruler in a Muslim country.
Madrasas
Religious schools for Islam.
Four design strategies for ornamentation of mosques
Repetition of an architectural element like an arch, geometric manipulations like rotated and interlocking polygons, organic growth in the form of plantlike foliation, and calligraphy.
Cuerda seca
Took twine and used it to outline the design on the tile and then put twine in between the colors and then put silica on it and bake it. The twine kept the paint from mixing. Could have large painted tiles versus small ones.
Minaret
Tower on a mosque. Place for the muezzin to climb up on the top on Friday to call all men to the mosque. Visual marker in the landscape.
Columned Hall/Hypostyle Mosques
Type of Mosque popular in Arabia, North Africa, and Spain. Has a columned hall, and a minaret. Ex. Great Mosque of Cordoba.
Umayyad Palace, Mshatta, Jordan, c. 740-750 CE
Umayyad palace built by Caliph al-Walid II. The palace was abandoned before it was ever completed. Has a buttressed, square enclosure.
Congregational/Friday mosque
Where the principal or weekly service for Islam is held.
Hypostyle: A flat roofed building or structure supported by columns
بناء أو هيكل مع سقف مسطح تدعمها أعمدة
Stucco: Decorative plasterwork used in architectur. Stucco is primarily an invention of the Iranian world where it was used in the absence of suitable stone for carving.
جِبس
Squinch: Small arch in the corner of a building that converts a square space to an octagonal area which may then be covered with a dome.
حِنية
Sabil, Sebil: Turkish term for a drinking fountain. Also used to refer to a small kiosk with attendant who dispenses water, or sherbet, from behind a grille.
سبيل
Banco Architecture: Mud or earth based architecture used in Mali
طين
Post and Lintel: a simple form of construction where a horizontal member (the lintel—or header) is supported by two vertical posts at either end.
عمود و ساكف
Qubba: Direction of Mecca which determines the direction of prayer. The qibla is the prime factor in the orientation of mosques and is usually marked by a mihrab (or more in India).
قبة
Qibla: Direction of Mecca which determines the direction of prayer. Definition The qibla is the prime factor in the orientation of mosques and is usually marked by a mihrab (or more in India).
قِبلة
Minaret: the place of calling to prayer of the Muezzin, usually a tower
مئذنة ، برج - منار و منارة
Mihrab: The niche in the Qibla wall that marks the direction of prayer facing toward Mecca
محراب
Mashrabiyya: elaborately carved wood or stucco windows found in Islamic windows and sides of buildings.
مشربية
Maqsura: System of projecting niches used for zones of transition and for architectural decoration.
مقصورة
Minbar: A pulpit or elevated platform with a stair from which the Imam may lead a service in the mosque
منبر
