Islamic Arches
Islamic architecture is characterized by arches which are employed in all types of buildings from houses to mosques. One of the most common uses is in arcades where arches span a series of columns or piers to form a gallery open on one side. Arcades are used to line mosque courtyards although they are also used in courtyard houses. An example in Dundee is situated at the Salvation Army building next to The Overgate parking block.
The earliest forms of arches employed in Islamic architecture were the semi-circular round arches which were characteristics adopted by the Roman and Byzantine architecture. This leads to structures of a mass scale being built at a time when the British where confined in there small spaces. The large uninterrupted space was essential as in prayer men are to stand shoulder to shoulder in rows without any gaps. As large communities of men are in regular 5 times prayer a day the right mosque was needed (although not essential as before they prayed anywhere with just a prayer mat/palm leaves each).
Fairly soon after the Islamic conquests a new type of pointed arch began to develop. Round arches are formed from a continuous curve which has its centre at a point directly below the apex and level with the springing of the arch on either side. This is now known as the old shouldered arch. Pointed arches are made by forming each side of the arch from a different centre point, the greater the distance between the two points the sharper the point. This meant the buildings could be made even larger and the new window frames had a solid structure to withstand the circumference force of the large domes.
In the Dome of the Rock (The third most holy site of Islam based in Palestine) built in 691 have arches supporting the dome that are slightly pointed whilst in the cisterns at Ramla built in 759 there is a pronounced point. The arches at Ramla are formed by a separation of the points by a distance of one-fifth the span of the arch; this ratio became standard in many early Islamic buildings.
Another arch form developed during the early Islamic period is the horseshoe arch. Horseshoe arches are those where the arch starts to curve inwards above the level of the capital or impost. Horseshoe arches were developed in Syria in pre-Islamic times and have been recorded as early as the fourth century CE in the Baptistery of Mar Ya'qub at Nisibin. The earliest Islamic monument with horseshoe arches is the Great Mosque of Damascus where the arches of the sanctuary were of slightly horseshoe form. However, the area where horseshoe arches developed their characteristic form was in Spain and North Africa where they can be seen in the Great Mosque of Cordoba. In Tunisia the horseshoe arches of the Great Mosque of Qairawan and the mosque of Muhammad ibn Khairun have a slightly pointed form. This shows that although they all followed the same style the arabs were more innovative in the way they tweaked the style for it to become personalised. This again was echoed in the British Gothic era and replicated (to a degree).
Probably the most advanced arch form developed in the early Islamic period is the four-centre arch. This is a pointed arch form composed of four curved sections each with its own centre producing an arch with steep curves lower down and flattened point at the apex. The earliest occurrence or the four-centred arch is at Samarra at the Qubbat al-Sulaiybiyya. Another arch form which makes its first appearance at Samarra is the cusped arch which is used in the external decoration of the Qasr al-Ashiq. This arch form later became one of the favourite decorative arch forms used throughout the Islamic world from Spain to India. This is now known as the shouldered arch. This is the most commonly used style in mosque nowadays becoming an instantly recognisable symbol of islmaic architecture. The geometric decorative designs filled these architectural windows along with Arabic calligraphy and green coloured glass windows. (Green because it is said to be ALLAH’s favourite colour as there are many references to it for example men and women will wear clothes of green in heaven.)
Arches were not used in India before Islamic times where trabeate construction was the main method of roofing an area. However, arches were regarded as essential by the first Muslim rulers who built arched screens in front of trabeate structures such as the Quwwat al-Islam Mosque in Delhi. Even the screens of the earliest Indian mosques were not composed of true arches but were corbelled structures made to look like arches. So this is purely and souley Islamic architecture at it’s best!
Pictures from:
http://www.astro.uvic.ca/~jwillis/photos/Syria/tn/IMG_1804.med.JPG
http://www.thai-eu-cultures.com/Espana/7-Plaza.jpg
http://www.youngartists.com/Ibun%20Tulan
http://www3.estart.com/stores/media/aqsa.gif
The earliest forms of arches employed in Islamic architecture were the semi-circular round arches which were characteristics adopted by the Roman and Byzantine architecture. This leads to structures of a mass scale being built at a time when the British where confined in there small spaces. The large uninterrupted space was essential as in prayer men are to stand shoulder to shoulder in rows without any gaps. As large communities of men are in regular 5 times prayer a day the right mosque was needed (although not essential as before they prayed anywhere with just a prayer mat/palm leaves each).
Fairly soon after the Islamic conquests a new type of pointed arch began to develop. Round arches are formed from a continuous curve which has its centre at a point directly below the apex and level with the springing of the arch on either side. This is now known as the old shouldered arch. Pointed arches are made by forming each side of the arch from a different centre point, the greater the distance between the two points the sharper the point. This meant the buildings could be made even larger and the new window frames had a solid structure to withstand the circumference force of the large domes.
In the Dome of the Rock (The third most holy site of Islam based in Palestine) built in 691 have arches supporting the dome that are slightly pointed whilst in the cisterns at Ramla built in 759 there is a pronounced point. The arches at Ramla are formed by a separation of the points by a distance of one-fifth the span of the arch; this ratio became standard in many early Islamic buildings.
Another arch form developed during the early Islamic period is the horseshoe arch. Horseshoe arches are those where the arch starts to curve inwards above the level of the capital or impost. Horseshoe arches were developed in Syria in pre-Islamic times and have been recorded as early as the fourth century CE in the Baptistery of Mar Ya'qub at Nisibin. The earliest Islamic monument with horseshoe arches is the Great Mosque of Damascus where the arches of the sanctuary were of slightly horseshoe form. However, the area where horseshoe arches developed their characteristic form was in Spain and North Africa where they can be seen in the Great Mosque of Cordoba. In Tunisia the horseshoe arches of the Great Mosque of Qairawan and the mosque of Muhammad ibn Khairun have a slightly pointed form. This shows that although they all followed the same style the arabs were more innovative in the way they tweaked the style for it to become personalised. This again was echoed in the British Gothic era and replicated (to a degree).
Probably the most advanced arch form developed in the early Islamic period is the four-centre arch. This is a pointed arch form composed of four curved sections each with its own centre producing an arch with steep curves lower down and flattened point at the apex. The earliest occurrence or the four-centred arch is at Samarra at the Qubbat al-Sulaiybiyya. Another arch form which makes its first appearance at Samarra is the cusped arch which is used in the external decoration of the Qasr al-Ashiq. This arch form later became one of the favourite decorative arch forms used throughout the Islamic world from Spain to India. This is now known as the shouldered arch. This is the most commonly used style in mosque nowadays becoming an instantly recognisable symbol of islmaic architecture. The geometric decorative designs filled these architectural windows along with Arabic calligraphy and green coloured glass windows. (Green because it is said to be ALLAH’s favourite colour as there are many references to it for example men and women will wear clothes of green in heaven.)
Arches were not used in India before Islamic times where trabeate construction was the main method of roofing an area. However, arches were regarded as essential by the first Muslim rulers who built arched screens in front of trabeate structures such as the Quwwat al-Islam Mosque in Delhi. Even the screens of the earliest Indian mosques were not composed of true arches but were corbelled structures made to look like arches. So this is purely and souley Islamic architecture at it’s best!
Pictures from:
http://www.astro.uvic.ca/~jwillis/photos/Syria/tn/IMG_1804.med.JPG
http://www.thai-eu-cultures.com/Espana/7-Plaza.jpg
http://www.youngartists.com/Ibun%20Tulan
http://www3.estart.com/stores/media/aqsa.gif
posted by DonLobania at 5:40 pm
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