Islamic Architecture Terms

Qsar

- A "desert castle" - Built fortification, and methods of self-protection and preservation - Buildings that are magnificent in architecture and militaristic - Very basic in shape, just a block shape without many advances structures inside and out

Muqarnas

A form of architectural ornamental vaulting which entails the geometric subdivision of a squinch, cupola, or corbel into a large number of miniature squinches, producing a dazzling, highly intricate cellular structure.

Sadirvan or Sahn

A fountain for the cleansing rituals associated with prayer

Mashrabiya

A projecting window enclosed with carved latticework (screen) on the second story of a building. Mostly used in houses and palaces in urban areas. Promotes circulation of air whilst maintaining privacy.

Minbar

A pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons.

Iwan

A rectangular hall or space that is walled on three sides, with one side entirely open face.

Caravanserai

A roadside in where travelers could rest and recover from a day's journey. Larger versions known as Khans.

Mihrab

A semicircle niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, or the direction of the kabba in Mecca. The wall is called the qibla wall.

Dikka

A tribune raised upon columns in a mosque from which the Koran is recited and where prayers are intoned by the Imam.

Minaret

A vertical feature of a mosque, typically a spire with a conical or onion-shaped crown, either freestanding or embedded. Includes base, shaft, and galley. Used to call to prayer.

Double Ambulatory Space

Ambulatory - means "you can walk around"; Double Ambulatory: there are two ways to walk around

Riwaq

An arcade

Ogival Arch

An arch comprising two shapes, similar to an "S" that bend in opposite directions and meet at a central point.

Hypostyle Plan

An architectural arrangement in which a roof is supported by a repetitive field of columns

Squinch

An architectural construction filling in the upper angles of a square room to form the base of an octagonal or spherical dome

Ablaq

An architectural style involving alternating or fluctuating rows of light and dark stone. Believed to balance proportions of building elements while also contributing to visual interest and differentiation.

Horseshoe Arch

An emblematic arch form which can take rounded, pointed, or lobbed forms.

Maqsurah

An enclosure or box located near the mihrab at the center of the qibla wall, traditionally used to shield worshiping rulers from assasins

Ayyubid Architecture

Architecture characterized by machicolations and concentric planning Militaristic tendencies - walls and defensive fortification Enclosure of Cairo and al-Fustat within one city wall Walls are a big thing Techniques learned from the Crusaders Developed curtain wall (wall that follows natural topographic contours) Develops concept of urbanism as a motif Women take an active role in architectural culture Regent Queen Dayfa Khatun

Arabesque

Artistic decoration consisting surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils, or plain lines. Known to create a filed condition. Believed to originate from the Islamic prohibition of figural imagery.

Moorish Style

Horseshoe arches interlocking arches multifoil or lobed arches oblique, especially using red slender columns stucco work, incredibly detailed, and including color "Polychrome Stucco"

Convivencia (and its ramifications)

In Iberia - you have three religions living peacefully side by side. Conviviality: living together A political concept arises, called "convivencia"; predicates these religions and embedded in local laws. Says "these groups can exist, and they have autonomy". If a Jew commits something against a Jew, he goes to a Jewish court. If a Jew commits something against a Muslim, he goes to a Muslim court. Architectural Ramifications: In some parts of Iberia, the minaret of a mosque cannot be higher than the steeple of a church. Positive ramifications include better coexistence between different groups, enlightened to some degree However, evidence of conflicts between groups remain

Stair Step Crenellation

Roofline outlined in a stepped fashion

Pishtaq

The gateway to the iawn

Blazon

a family-crest like symbol

Machicolation

a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones, or other objects, could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall.

buttress

a projecting support of stone or brick built against a wall, originates in the Gothic period

Revetement

a protective covering that protects the outside of a building

Modular

a repertoire of parts, not so much an organic synthesis, but instead as language, using pre-constructed concepts to build something new

rosette

a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity, appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece.

voussoir

a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer

Madrasa

any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious (of any religion).

stucco

fine plaster used for coating wall surfaces or molding into architectural decorations

ashlar

finely dressed (cut, worked) masonry, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared or the masonry built of such stone. It is the finest stone masonry unit, generally cuboid, mentioned by Vitruvius as opus isodomum, or less frequently trapezoidal.

Moorish Revival

one of the exoticrevival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental.

Axonometric Drawing

part plan, part section

Mamluk Architecture in Cairo

styles carry down not only to dynastic buildings, but down to community mosques serious attempts at urbanism, discussing the relationship of buildings to the surrounding areas characterized by religious zeal of generous patrons Seemingly welcoming culture, Cairo was major trade, scholastic center militaristic architecture not utilized as much

articulated vs. unarticulated

the fact that parts of these structures (the doors) are well decorated, whereas other parts of the building are plain

architrave

the lowest part of the entablature consisting of architrave, frieze and cornice. The word is derived from the Greek and Latin words arche and trabs combined together to mean "main beam". The architrave is different in the different orders.

Corinthian Columns

the most ornate of the orders, characterized by slender fluted columns and elaborate capitals decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls. There are many variations. There are three in the "order".

Spolia

the re-use of earlier building material or decorative sculpture on new monuments

pediment

the triangular upper part of the front of a building in classical style, typically surmounting a portico of columns

pocheé

the walls, columns, and other solids of a building or the like, as indicated on an architectural plan, usually in black; the black portion of an architectural plan representing solids (as walls and columns)