From the birth of Islam as a religion until the present Islamic architecture has included both sacred and secular elements. Islamic conquests in the seventh and eighth centuries, which included victories over the Romans and Persians among many other peoples, had a significant impact on Islamic architecture. As the religion extended to Southeast Asia, Indian and Chinese architectural styles also had an impact on the Far East (Nasser, 2012).
The fort, palaces, mosques, and tombs are among the most prominent architectural creations. From these four, various sorts of structures, including fountains and public baths, derive their architecture. Unlike most historical architectures, the Islam architecture has been persistent to the current centuries and was primarily influenced by two ancient historical traditions; The Eastern conquered nation and Asian traditions (Nasser, 2012).
Transformation and assimilation of Islam architectural traditions were as a result of intercultural exchange of technologies, ideas, architects, masons, artists and even materials. The Rise of the Islam was a continuous process of transformation that leads to the development of Islam architecture with the following features.
Paradise Gardens
The idea of water and gardens has all along been a very important feature in the Islam architecture and is compared to the paradise. The first historical encounter with paradise ideology is when a Persian prince is visited by a Spartan general. In this story, Prince Cyrus the Younger proceeds to show the general his garden. The classical design of the garden is four equal irrigated spaces with paths that divide the garden into four equal rectangles (Nasser, 2012).
Courtyards
Courtyards are present in almost every Islamic architecture and are characterized by spaces open to the sky, and surrounded on all sides by structures and buildings, and more frequently a semi open region with a shade (Nasser, 2012). The courtyards are used to perform ablutions for a gathering.
Hypo-style Hall
This is an open hall that is supported by vertical columns and characterized by a reception room perpendicular to the main hall. The design was developed from the Persian halls of assembly in the Achaemenid period. This form of building was originally adopted from basilicas built in the Roman style (Nasser, 2012). This is the main feature in the design of hypo-style mosques like the ancient Tarikhaneh Mosque built in Iran.
Vaulting
Vaulting in Islamic architectures is developed from two distinct styles, while the Umayyad architecture was majorly influenced by the Syrian architecture, the Eastern Islam architecture was majorly influenced by Sasanian designs (Nasser, 2012). In their vaulted structures, the buildings portray a combination of Persian and Roman architectural designs. Diaphragm arches with ceilings lintel-led from stone or wood or even barrel vaults which were popular since the classical period. These were mainly used as house covers.
Domes
After Constatinople was conquered by the Ottomans, they did find quite a number of churches. The largest of these churches was the Hagia Sophia. The spherical shell and the brick work of the dome were made simultaneous as supporting system with no wood work. The Sileymaniye Mosque is characterized by four pillars, two flanking walls and two semi-domes while the Rustem Pasha Mosque had four diagonally built semi domes and eight pillars (Nasser, 2012).
Muqarnas
The Idea of Muqarnas originated from Northeastern part of Iran in the tenth century. The Muqarnas is created by the geometric sub division of a vault to miniature substructures that are superimposed (Nasser, 2012). They are made of different materials ranging from wood, stone, brick or stucco. They are commonly used in the decoration of a dome and similar structures.
Ornaments
A common feature of the Islam architecture is how it improvises the use of complicated but elaborate geometric patterns, floral and calligraphic designs which are used to decorate buildings. A good example is the calligraphic inscription on the Dome of the Rock that also has Quran quotations (Nasser, 2012).
Reference
Nasser, R. (2012). Islamic Architecture as a Field of History Enquiry. Journal of Art Historiography, vol. 12, (7), 8-104.
