Important Islamic Architecture: 3D Gallery

About Islamic Architecture

Islamic architecture is one of the greatest form of Islamic art. There are many different patterns, designs, and features of Islamic architecture. A traditional Islamic house is built around a courtyard, and shows only a wall with no windows to the street outside. This is to protect the family, and the family life from the people outside, and the harsh environment of many lands. Usually people concentrate on the interior design of Islamic architecture. Although, the common Islamic architecture is that the courtyard structure provides a space that is both outside, but within the inside still. Most often, the only part of the exterior that is usually decorated, is the entrance and the dome. Buildings are often highly decorated and color is a key feature. Religious buildings will often use geometry to show a symbolic effect. In the next slide, there is a video that goes in to more detail of specific details, designs, and geometry used in Islamic architecture. Throughout this virtual museum, different buildings and designs used in Islamic architecture helped influence our life's differently. Throughout the museum we explain different ways our life is changed and why the buildings are important.

Video of Islamic Architecture

This is a video that talks about the different patterns, designs, and geometry of Islamic Architecture. It will also show different examples of the patterns and designs on buildings. Some of the buildings that are mentioned, will be in this virtual museum.

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is an important piece of Islamic architecture. The Taj Mahal was built in 1631. It was made by Shah Jahan for his third and favorite wife. His wife had died giving birth to their fourteenth child. The Taj Mahal is the tomb where the emperor Shah Jahan and his wife had been buried. It took over 20 years for the Taj Mahal to be completely finished. The Taj Mahal is one of the most famous pieces of Islamic architecture in the world. The Taj Mahal is known for its remarkable size and graceful form. The Taj Mahal combines elements of Persian, Islam, and Indian design. If you get up close to the Taj Mahal you can see that the building is decorated with Arabic calligraphy and inlays of semiprecious stones. The white marble of the central tomb changes colors with daylight. This is an important piece of architecture since it is one of the most famous pieces of Islamic architecture in the world.

The Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock is the oldest architectural monument of Islam that still retains most of its original form. It is located in Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock was made from 691 to 92. It was constructed on the site of the Jewish Second Temple. The interior of The Dome of the Rock is decorated with marble and metal plaques. Also, The Dome of the Rock has mosaics depicting scrolling vines and flowers, jewels and crowns in green, blue, and gold. This site is very sacred and important to both Judaism and Islam. In Jewish tradition, it is said to be the spot where Abraham had prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac. In Islamic tradition, Muslims believe that it is the spot where Muhammad ascended to heaven. This is a significant piece of architecture since it is the spot where Muhammad ascended to God, which is an important thing in the Islam religion. It is also the oldest architectural monument of Islam that remains some of its original form.

The Alhambra

The Alhambra is located on a hill overlooking the Spanish city of Granda. Most of the Alhambra has been destroyed. Only three parts remain. The three parts that remain are a fortress, a princely residence, and a cluster of pavilions and gardens, known as the Generalife. The courtyards and the rooms of The Alhambra are very detailed and decorated. They are decorated with colored tiles, carved stucco, carved wood, and calligraphy. The Alhambra has most of the remarkable features with geometric stalactite designs. The Alhambra clearly shows some of the specific details and decorations of the geometric Islamic architecture.

The Citadel of Aleppo

The Citadel of Aleppo is an important piece of Islamic Architecture. The Citadel of Aleppo is one of the best remaining parts of Islamic military architecture. The Citadel of Aleppo is located on the top of a hill in the middle of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Archaeologists have found things on the site dating back to the Roman times or earlier but, the Citadel was begun in the 10th century. The Citadel acquired its current form in a massive expansion and reconstruction during the Ayyubid era. The Ayyubid era was from about 1171 to 1260. Inside of the walls of the Citadel there are residences, chambers to store supplies, wells, mosques, and defensive installations. There was everything you needed to hold out against a long siege. The most imposing part of the Citadel was the massive entrance block. It was built around 1213. A steep, stone bridge resting on seven arches leads across the moat to two towering gates. The two gates are the Gates of the Serpents and the Gate of the Lions. If invaders needed to enter, they would have to penetrate both gates and navigate a winding passageway.

Great Mosque of Samarra

The Great Mosque of Samarra is an important example of Iraqi hypostyle. A hypostyle is a large space filled with columns or pillars that support a flat roof or ceiling. These spaces can sometimes be called hypostyle halls. The Great Mosque of Samarra was built by Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil. It was built around the year 850. At the time it was built, it was probably the largest mosque in the world. The mosque was built out of baked brick. The interior was decorated with blue glass. In the year 1258, almost the whole structure of the mosque was destroyed during the Mongol invasion. One of the only things that survived was one of the most intriguing features, the minaret. The minaret was 170 feet tall. The minaret is built in the shape of a cone and is wrapped in a spiraling ramp that leads to the top. The builders had chose a conical shape, which is unclear to us today why they did. Some people say the the mosque resembles an ancient ziggurat.

The Great Mosque of Damascus

The Great Mosque of Damascus was built by Al Walid. The Great Mosque of Damascus was built in the year 1,303. The Great Mosque of Damascus was built over what was originally a Roman Temple. The Dome of the Rock is similar to the interior walls of The Great Mosque of Damascus. The Great Mosque of Damasus have stone mosaics made of fantastic plants, realistic towns, depict crowns, and even empty towns. Mosaics are pictures or patterns produced by arranging together small pieces of hard material, like tile, glass, or stone. The Great Mosque of Damascus is thought to represent Paradise for the faithful Muslims. The Great Mosque of Damascus is important to Muslims, since it is suppose to represent Paradise for Muslims. The Great Mosque of Damascus as well as The Dome of the Rock used the Syrian cut-stone technique of building.

Different Things Islamic Architecture Included

There are many different techniques and things they did when building Islamic architecture. In the last picture, they used the Syrian cutting stone technique when building the Dome of the Rock and the Great Mosque of Damascus. When building the desert palace, Khirbat al-Mafjar ( which is located in present day Jordan ) it had molded stucco decoration, sculptured stone reliefs, and figural fresco paintings. Some buildings included double arches. For example, the Great Mosque of Córdoba. It was famous for its double - tiered arches. Many buildings were very precisely decorated with calligraphy and different designs and patterns. Some buildings had many windows that had stained glass in them. In the Suleymaniye Mosque complex, it has over 100 large windows, in which many are stained glass. In some of the pictures from before, we said there was many mosaics. Mosaics are a picture or a pattern that is arranged together by small colored pieces of hard material, like tile, stone, or glass.

Important Islamic Architecture

In this virtual museum, we hope that you learned about important Islamic pieces of architecture and what was important about them. Like, the Taj Mahal or the Dome of the Rock. We also hoped you learned about the different designs and features of important Islamic architecture. All of these pieces of architecture had influenced us in all different ways. Some of the features of Islamic architecture had influenced how we build and design things now. Different parts of the world now use Islamic architectural features when building and designing different buildings. Also, Islamic architecture helped influence different people and parts around the world on how they see the Islamic culture. It helped people see Islamic culture differently and helped there perspectives change. The websites that we found all this information from was, www.bbc.co.uk, www.britannica.com, and www.factmonster.com.

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Important Islamic Architecture

About Islamic Architecture

Video of Islamic Architecture

Taj Mahal

The Dome of the Rock

The Alhambra

The Citadel of Aleppo

Great Mosque of Samarra

The Great Mosque of Damascus

Different Things Islamic Architecture Included

Important Islamic Architecture

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