History of Architecture
Islamic Art and Architecture

Byzantine: Hagia Sophia

Islamic Tradition
Islam is the religion that centers around the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, c. 570-
632 AD
Begins in Arabia but spreads all the way from
Spain to India and Indonesia.
Typical of Islamic architecture in general: freely borrowing and adapting to local traditions. At the same time that key features emerge.

Kaaba

• A pre-Islamic site
• Muhammad taught that
Abraham and Ishmael built it
• Contains a black stone
(a meteorite) that the
Angel Gabriel gave to
Abraham
• Muslims walk around the kaaba seven times

The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, 690
AD
Part of an effort to make Jerusalem, not Mecca, the primary pilgrimage site

The Site: platform of the Temple of
Solomon

Probably built by Byzantine architects from
Constantinople.
What type of plan is this?

Rock: from which Muhammad ascended to God

Plan

Nine Square Grid, Eight Pointed Star

Mosaic

The Mosque
• A Prayer Hall: “Place of Prostration”

A mosque needs:
• A Qibla Wall
• A Mihrab
• Minaret(s)

Mosque at Kairouan, Tunisia

The Great Mosque of Cordoba, Spain,
800 AD

Horseshoe Arches

Mihrab

• Djenne Mosque, Mali, Africa

Palaces
• The Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 1000 AD

• Court of Myrtles

Hall of Two Sisters

Muqarnas

Type of corbel but decorative, not structural
Based upon radial symmetry

Court of Lions

• Taj Mahal, 1600
India

Taj Mahal

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Arabesques: on surface, on onion dome