Jordan University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Architecture and Design Department of Architecture

Islamic Architecture

Islamic Architecture

Dr. Raed Al Tal

Jordan University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Architecture and DesignDepartment of ArchitectureIslamic ArchitectureDr. Raed Al Tal

The Rise of the Ayyubidsand the Decline of the Abbasids

-Citadel of Cairo-Citadel of Damascus-Citadel of Aleppo

• 3amara 7arbiyye• Segregation and exclusion• Citadels are the most important• Destructive power• Two centers of force: Cairo and SyriaCairo and Syria• Power force over military rank and social

level• Strict military heirarchy

Citadels!!!

The entry of the Seljuks into Jerusalem in 1079 triggered a spate of fighting throughout the Mediterranean.

The reaction of European Christians was to launch the Crusades in 1095.

The first Crusade ended in 1099 with the recovery of Jerusalem from the Muslims and the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem which lasted until the fall of Acre in 1291 to the Mamluk troops of al-Ashraf Khalil.

Before the end of the Fatimid dynasty in Cairo, the Crusaders had occupied part of Egypt as a result of the quarrels which erupted at that time over the suc cession to the caliphate.

For a time the Franks even threatened Cairo. It was at this point that Saladin (Salah al-Din, 1171-1193) appeared on the scene.

He united that territory with Syria in order to form a powerful kingdom to defeat the Franks in the Holy Land. Thanks to Saladin, the Islamic troops were able to defeat the Crusaders at Hattin and enter Jerusalem in 1187.

Military Nature of Ruling Class:

Strict military hierarchy, which represented the only path to political power.

Fortress mentality initially caused by the linguistic and ethnic differences and ultimately embedded in a system that stressed exclusion and segregation as means of control.

New Trends in Architecture

The ups and downs of the eleventh and twelfth centuries had two main causes.

One was the-mix of populations caused by the arrival of Turks from central Asia, with customs which they had inherited from Persia. Diverse identity

The other was the Sunni renewal, brought about by these new converts who were strenuously opposed to the Alids.

Citadels influence from Crusades and Byzantine

CitadelsInfluence of preexisting examples or contemporary Byzantine and Crusaders citadels

Adaptation by necessity, and almost independent evolution The Crusaders Citadels: The Krak des Chevaliers, Syria (12-13th c.)

Krac des Chevaliers

• Location on sharp cliff to eliminate military movement – natural defensive

• Self defensible structure

• Surrounded by moat filled with water

• Glacise = inclined smooth stone

• Multi layered

• Many portals

Krac des Chevaliers

The Development of Military Architecture

Badr al-Gamali had, in 1087, provided Cairo with a strong, defensive stone wall

This means it became a military city

the invasion of the Seljuks and then the Crusaders caused intense architectural activity in the area of defensive constructions designed to resist sieges.

The Citadel of Cairo: Between Cairo and Fustat

Built by Salah al-Din, it became the seat of the sultanate under the later Ayyubids and the Mamluks,

and remained the center of government well into the 19th century. It was reorganized and enlarged several times in the 13th-14th century.

begun by Saladin in 1176, to the south of Cairo at the foot of the Muqattam Hills.

the fortress stood outside the centers of Fustat and Cairo, on a steeply sloping site dominating the residential areas.

It was divided into two parts , each having its own walls:

the castle, where the garrison was stationed;

and the palace, where the sultan lived.

Maydan was near the castleIn the western part, a second adjacent wall probably enclosed the palace, of which only a few vestiges remain. A huge open area, measuring 600 by 100 meters - called maydan in Persian - was the site for official parades and exercises of the sultan's troops, and for games of polo.

Muhamad ali basha mosque was added with :

Ottoman style

Pencil minaret

Hierarchy of domes

The Citadel of Damascus

In 1206 a wall was built around the old city of Damascus by Saladin's brother.

This was a rectangular enclosure with an east-west orientation, like the temenos on which the Great Mosque of the Umayyads had been built nearby.

The walls to the north run adjacent to the Barada River, which acts as a moat.

The enclosure, around 240 meters long, is punctuated by twelve rectangular towers

• Rectangular going east west

• Built in old Damascus

• Edge of natural element – Barada river

• Length 240 m.

• Rusticated rough stone

• Bulky

• Solid structure

The citadel of Aleppo

The same techniques were used to build the citadel of Aleppo as that of Damascus - but they were taken to a much higher level.

Built on a rise of ground in the shape of a abridged cone, worked by man to form a very steep, paved glacis,

On hilly mountain that is man made

Dominating city scape

2 portals

Moat

Portal one: narrow bridgePortal two: main part in castle

It was constructed by the Ayyubid Zahir al-Ghazi, son of Saladin, at the end of the twelfth century (and completed in 1209).

Later, in 1258, the citadel of Aleppo was destroyed by the Mongols, and then rebuilt in 1292.

Destroyed once again, this time by Tamerlane (Timur i Leng),

it was restored in the sixteenth century by the Ottomans.

The Palace of al-Malik al-‘Aziz (ca. 1230) took its location in the same site .

The Citadel is located on a partly man-made hill, about 50 meters above the city.

To cross the wide surrounding ditch and climb the steep glacis, the architects devised an inclined bridge, supported by seven tall, narrow arches.

Entrance of the Citadel of Aleppo

1. Barbican2. Inclined bridge3. Principal citadel with machicolation4. Projecting casemate

The Plan of the palace of al-Malik al-Aziz

Madrasa al-Firdaus in Aleppo.

It was built in 1235-36

It is the largest and best known of the Ayyubid madrasas in Aleppo

Its patron was Dayfa Khatun, the wife of the Ayyubid governor of Aleppo, al-Zahir Ghazi.

She was one of the most prominent architectural patrons in Syrian history; she established large endowments for the maintenance and operation of her charitable foundations.

Due to its location outside the city walls, the madrasa was developed as a freestanding structure

The madrasa

The madrasa made use of two forms typical of Persian architecture: the Iwan - a large covered area with a mainly open facade - usually constructed at the edge of a courtyard; and stalactite decorations, or muqarnas, covering vaults and cupolas.

Detail of a capital decorated with rows of honeycomb-shaped carvings forming stalactites (muqarnas) in the courtyard of the Madrasa al-Firdaus in Aleppo. Beehive decoration became widespread in the thirteenth century Islamic world.

Muqarnas decoration( stalactite )( stalactite )

• Rows of honeycomb-shaped carvings.

• Squinches and pendentives developed to become the muqarnas.

• Beehive decoration became widespread in the thirteenth century Islamic world.

The main entrance is typical of Ayyubid architecture, with its elongated and narrow proportions and three-tiered muqarnas vault

Iwan The madrasa has a large iwan, or classroom, is across the courtyard from the prayer hall.

Its walls are carved with three niches used for book storage. This iwan is backed by a larger iwan that faces north.

Though this iwan currently faces a wall due to the dense urban growth around al-Firdaws, it is believed to have been originally open to a walled garden and a large poo

MosqueThe southern chamber of the madrasa is used as a mosque

The structure has two domes on the corner bays.

All the domes were built alike, except for the mihrab dome, which has an elaborate muqarnas base and twelve small openings.

The mihrab is made of veined white marble, red porphyry and green diorite. Its niche is composed of granite columns with muqarnas capitals

In front of the Iwan, with its slight ly pointed vault leading to the ablutions fountain, the porticoes of the Madrasa al-Firdaus surround a paved courtyard decorated with geometric motifs.

Irrigation systems