Islamic architecture is a fine blend of many cultures, works and designs. It comprises of an array of secular and religious styles from the foundations of Islam and institution of Muslims. The architecture of the Muslim world, highly diverse but unified by climate, culture, and a love of geometric and arabesque ornament, as well as by the mobility of ideas, artisans, and architects throughout the region.
Islamic architectural style originated or emerged soon after the time of Muhammad, developing from localized adaptations of Egyptian, Byzantine, and Persian/Sassanid models. The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul also influenced Islamic architecture. It also served as the base or model for many Ottoman mosques such as the Shehzade Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, and the Rustem Pasha Mosque.
Minarets are characteristic architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped crowns, usually either free standing or much taller than any surrounding support structure. Minarets provide a visual cue to a Muslim community. Minarets have been described as the “gate from heaven and earth”, and as the Arabic language letter alif (which is a straight vertical line).
Islamic architecture is a fine blend of many cultures, works and designs. It comprises of an array of secular and religious styles from the foundations of Islam and institution of Muslims. The architecture of the Muslim world, highly diverse but unified by climate, culture, and a love of geometric and arabesque ornament, as well as by the mobility of ideas, artisans, and architects throughout the region.
Islamic architectural style originated or emerged soon after the time of Muhammad, developing from localized adaptations of Egyptian, Byzantine, and Persian/Sassanid models. The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul also influenced Islamic architecture. It also served as the base or model for many Ottoman mosques such as the Shehzade Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, and the Rustem Pasha Mosque.
Minarets are characteristic architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped crowns, usually either free standing or much taller than any surrounding support structure. Minarets provide a visual cue to a Muslim community. Minarets have been described as the “gate from heaven and earth”, and as the Arabic language letter alif (which is a straight vertical line). A minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the Imam (leader of prayer) stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation.
Their study shows that the above patterns use the values or methods of quasi-crystalline symmetry, recognized centuries later by modern mathematicians. Hence, it is quite apparent that the Islamic artists were creating patterns with quasi-crystalline symmetry more than 600 years earlier. In current years it has been noticed that the positions of atoms in a metallic alloy have a quasi-crystalline structure.
The Badshahi Masjid, literally the ‘Royal Mosque’, was built in 1674 by Aurangzeb. It is one of Lahore’s best known landmarks, and epitomizes the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.
Islamic private houses are customarily inward-looking courtyard houses. A bent corridor (for privacy) leads from the gated entry from the public lane into a courtyard paved with tiles, often planted with shade trees and with a pool at the centre. The principal or main rooms of the house surround the courtyard.
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