islamic pattern

7/21/2019 Islamic Pattern

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Islamic

pattern

Forwarding:

Returning

to

the

back

time

seeing

how

the

universe

had

been

created

and

all

those stars and planets in the universe those are spinning around beside all those

complexity that they have, we still can see human beings are on earth in that critic

situation we simply can observe that every moving thing which it is a human or non‐

human looks like they have a source or a base that they bring their codes or

commands from it, it's like a DNA or a script for the process that they should do or

have.

Essay:

I think

that

if

we

started

search

from

the

smallest

part

(very

private)

or

from

the biggest part (very public), we could see that every unit has its own DNA. So if we

think about it the DNA of architecture may be is a human or the condition that

human are in, and going further for Islamic art and architecture were very affected

by Islamic population and which they were affected too by Islamic religion. And the

whole Islam is return to the holy book (Qoraan) which I consider it as a primary DNA

of Islamic art and architecture, and the climate and traditional condition that

Muslims used to have are secondary DNA.

In the

holy

book

there

is

no

certain

dimension

or

shape

for

a form

or

any

indicating things about what the Muslims should do about the art and architecture,

but it shows some facts and some rule how those humans should behave with each

other and with boundaries and with the nature that God gave to them, which they

are gradually turned to be certain shape and certain form for art and architecture

and Islamic urbanism during the Islamic governing at their times.

But why we can't see what Islam's used to create before now? That was

because the secondary DNA which is the way of living and treating that used to be

found

before

the

domination

of

globalization

and

new

lifestyle

that

it

is

available

now.

For example on the main DNA code:

Those are some sample codes that Islamic people used to take it out from the

holy book and consider it as a rule to rule the city from very public to very private

spaces.

• (No harm and not to be harmed) those urban uses that are not suitable or

make

harm

to

people

or

environment

should

be

removed

to

placed

in



another distance from city or the neighborhoods. And there was certain way

to measure this harm and deal with it.

• (needs come first) so it shows what is the emergent use for the place like

marketing is important and daily so every neighborhood should have it in a

close distance

rather

than

an

administrational

place

as

an

example.

• (Having similarity) having similarity between land uses for example all the

carpenters may be in certain place that every people can go and see all the

product and also they don't harm each other as pollution and infrastructure.

• (Having privacy) that mean not to harm any privacy in any level especially

view that should not be any private plaices of a house for example not to be

seen by any others, but they didn't have sound problem because the planning

was inward looking plan.

• (Independency) this principle is the main base of traditional relations that

each one

wants

to

show

his

aspect

and

approach

in

the

concepts

of

urban

and architecture.

• (Vertical constructing) they were allowed to built vertical building if it's

blocking sun and wind from its neighbor, but without the intention of

harming, this one has been used when they wanted to build a Minatare.

• (Respecting the use of other land use) that used especially for the use of

public spaces and renting building.

• (Streets wide and section) the width should be as much as the sun could not

full fill the street and for the heights any cantilever should be after the height

of 7 arms (3.5) which is the height of a camel with a very height cargo, and

they used that for the width also because it's enough for to camel and to

person to move toward each other without crashing.

• (The authority of using courts) this authority is returning for the owner

himself, that can use this open space as much as he want and at the way he

want.

Why

the

patterns

are

so

complicated

and

look

like

that

its

take

a

long

time

to

be

done?

They used to use a contract between the land lord and the workers that says

these worker need to be have their lunch and dinner during the working time and

this was because there is a text in the holy book says that you have to take a good

care of your visitors so all the workers used to take a good time working on a very

small details so as to being there as long time as it possible so as to have as much as

possible meal from the land owner.



Titus Burckhardt: "Art of Islam Language and Meaning"

World of Islam Festival Trust, 1976

Plate 60. p.86

Basic principals of Islamic faith: From this slide, what can we conjecture about Islamic culture? Core themes in Islamicculture are: monotheism (no other deity except the one God); Mohammad as the lastmessenger of God in the teachings of the Qu'ran; salat (prayer); al-twahid (unity inmultiplicity); mosques; aniconism (no representation of human or animal forms);geometric art which constructs, squares, hexagons, octogons, etc. from the circle.


Plate 41. p.70



The roots of Islamic-Arabic art:

Graeco-Roman monuments and decorative forms laid a foundation for themonumental arts of Islam.

H. W. Janson: "History of Art"

319 Vitale, Ravenna, 526-47 A.D. p.225

Islamic artists also drew upon the symbols and patterns from their early Arabic andnomadic cultures.

Arabic leatherwork motif.

From Titus Burckhardt: "Art of Islam Language and Meaning"

Plate 10. p.17


Plate 5. p.16, Detail from Mshatta (Early Islamic mansion)



Islamic belief in Aniconism and the doctrine of unity (al-twahid) demanded a richvocabulary of abstract, geometric forms that translated into the architecture ofmosques.

Artists reiterated these forms in complex decoration that covered the surface of everywork of art from large buildings, to rugs, paintings and small sacred objects.

From: "Al-Andalus The Art of Islamic Spain"

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1992 53. Writing Desk, p.268



Arabic calligraphy also provided a basis for decorative forms. Sacred Qu'ranic writingevloved into abstract pattern, enhancing Islamic ornamentation with both visual andspirtual symbolism.


Plate 149. p.158



History, geography and the expansion of Islam

Blair and Bloom: "The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800"

Yale University Press, 1994

Map of The Islamic World 1250-1500 AD



Saudi Arabia, a nation populated largely by nomads, gave birth to Islam during theseventh century AD. The Prophet Mohammad was born in Mecca. He claimed to havereceived the word of God and attracted a small following. In 622 Mohammad and agroup of merchants fled from severe persecution to Medina and founded the firstIslamic state. Ten years later, Mohammad returned to Mecca and triumphantlyoverturned the pagan idols surrounding the sacred shrine of the Ka'ba. Then heforgave his enemies, and securely established his birthplace in Mecca as the spiritual

center of Islam. In a very short time (only a hundred years) Arab Muslim armiesconquered so much territory that that their land stretched from the Western borders ofIndia, across Persia and Northern Africa, to Spain and Southern France. Mosqueswere erected for prayer in order to "strengthen political and social ties and bind thefaithful." Islam remained in the West for 800 years until 1492 when Ferdinand andIsabella drove the Moors from Granada." [note 1]

How did the Muslim Empire establish itself so rapidly?

The rapid success and durability of the Islamic Empire rests in part on the swift

development of a monumental Islamic art. The Muslims took over large urbanizedsocieties and a rich legacy of intact artistic traditions. The first conquests, Byzantiumand Persia, vyed for territory in Saudi Arabia, but instead, were defeated by the Arabsand formed the core of their Empire. Alexander the Great conquered these regions800 years earlier. Subjugation to Greece unified them under the artistic traditions ofClassical Greece. The Roman Empire created yet another cultural layer. Thiscollective inheritance did much to unify the early Islamic kingdom. [note 2]

The development of Islamic art: Graeco-Roman

The Arab armies needed to enact authority over their more sophisticated subjects, but

brought few dynamic traditions of their own. After the first few years of power, they perceived the need to establish a monumental artistic style that could expand their



faith and compete with other great religions and institutions. Their success in thisenterprise was aided by two factors: Art & Architect. [note 2]

Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar: "The Art and Architecture of Islam

650-1250"

Yale University Press, 1994 13. Damascus Great Mosque, 706.

• 1) they didn't impose their religion, but allowed conversion to take placegradually, trusting in the persuasive power of their message (such enlightenedattitudes enabled Islam to translate and preserve much of Classical culture forthe Western world); [note 3]

•

2) they adopted the artistic traditions of their subjects, interpreting them infresh and vigorous ways. For example, the first great mosques were modeledon the Byzantine basilica and central plan, and crafted by Byzantine buildersand artisans. [note 4] Classical decoration, provided the inspiration from"abstract and linear or decorative modes that co-existed with representationsof man and nature." [note 5]

Islamic art was "born almost over night, about a century after the Prophet's death,[and] ...displayed a completely convincing unity of form that would maintain itselfover the centuries Islamic Art." [note 6]

Titus Burckhardt: "Art of Islam Language and Meaning"Plate 141 and 142. p.150



The development of Islamic art: Arabic influences

While Arab-Nomadic culture lacked a grand imperial art, their aesthetic tastescontributed essential elements to Islamic art. Nomads treasured the minor arts oftextiles and weapons, and lavished them with geometrical decoration. Life under thestars, in the infinitude of the desert, endowed them with a love of surfaces filled withradient, boundless patterns, and lush visions of paradise and vines. Along witharchitecture, decoration is a core element in Islamic art. [note 7]

Blair and Bloom: "The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800"

Yale University Press, 1994 p. 233



Influence of Islam

Along with the merging of Graeco Roman and Arabic elements, the faith of Islamitself contributed essential principles to the new art: Arabic language (which we'll

deal with later in this lecture) and Aniconism emanate both the content and form ofIslamic expression. Aniconism defines figurative art as a challenge to theomnipotence of God. "The artist who fashions a representation of a living thing is acompetitor of God and therefore destined to eternal damnation." [note 8], In Islamicart the ban against illusion served two functions:

• 1) it produced universal forms that omitted specific imagery and thus, includedin its audience all of Islam's diverse subjects. [note 9]

• 2) it unleashed the passionate Arabic genius for abstraction in symmetrical,meditative geometry. This geometry organized the foundations of theirarchitecture and ornament. Abstract pattern also expressed a basic tenet of

Islam: "Instead of ensnaring the mind and leading it into some imaginaryworld it dissolve[d] mental fixations and detache[d] consciousness from its



inward idols." [note 10] As we shall see in exploring the architecture and patterns of Islam further, this infinite symmetry expressed yet another ofIslam's ideals: al-twahid, the doctrine of unity, or multiplicity in unity. [note11]

From: "Al-Andalus The Art of Islamic Spain"The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1992

p.364

Geometry and worship in early Islamic Architecture: The Ka'ba

We can recognize this geometric expression and its spiritual genesis in the Ka'ba. Thisis a small 10'x12'x15' building, with a flat roof resting on 6 wooden pillars. It wasconstructed in Mecca centuries before the birth of Islam, and has been ravaged andrebuilt more than once. Part of the Ka'ba's significance stems from its history. It is

believed that the Prophet, Abraham, father of Ishmael, and apostle of "pure anduniversal monotheism" was its first architect. Muslims, consequently, perceive it asthe first and holiest sanctuary to the one God in Arabia. [note 12] The Ka'ba also

marks the site of the Prophet's triumpant return from Medina. In addition to itsreligious record, the cube of the Ka'ba concretely represents God's centrality in



Moslem life. [note 13] The cube connotes the "idea of the center" in the geometry ofspace, and the crystalline shape of earthly existence. Muslims face the direction of theKa'ba when performing salat (prayer), symbolizing their vast, unified community ofworship. [note 14]


650-1250",1987 1. Mecca, Ka`ba

Geometry and worship in early Islamic Architecture: Dome of the Rock


Plate 3. p.10



The Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem, built 60 years after the Prophet's death in 632,"shelters" the ancient rock from Mohammad divine ascendance into heaven. [note 15]It uses the style of the Byzantine sanctuary with a central dome and octagonal base,

but keeps the geometry of the architecture more strictly symmetrical than othermonumental buildings of the same time. [note 16]


Figure 1, 2, 3. p.11 (Floor plans of three early Christian Churches).



Still, the dome is a meeting place between Byzantine and nascent Islamic art. Theinterior of the dome is decorated with mosaics that display vine arabesquesembellished with jewels and diadems of Byzantine style, yet there is no representationof animate beings. AA[note 16]


650-1250",1987 p. 30



The drum of the dome housing the rock is held up by four pillars and 12 columns,allowing for circumnambulation. The bases of these pillars form the intersecting

points of a star-shaped polygon and create two squares traced in the center circle.These rectangular areas display proportions between the sides of a square and itsdiagonal, a relationship that corresponds to the irrational number of the square root oftwo. This system of proportion creates an "organic", harmony in the building. Itexpresses the mathematical fusion of a circle and square, because the "celestial"sphere or circle joins with the "earthly crystal of the lower octagon, [note 17]


Figure 6, p.13

This kind of geometric theme in architecture gracefully translates into smaller scaleornamentation on later Islamic buildings of the 10th -14th centuries, and echoes thetheme of unity in multiplicity. Arabic embellishment is "qualitiative - not purely

quantitative... [and its geometry] has a contemplative aspect. It is the art of combiningthe multiple and the diverse with unity." [note 17]




Plate 11, p.29

Islamic Decorative art: influences from Arabic language and writing

Another important influence on Islamic art is the writing of Arabic language. TheQu'ran is viewed as the true and final revelation of God through the Prophet. Thus,daily Muslim life vibrates with it's sacred formulae, and the arrival of literacydesignates a huge shift in Arabic culture. [note 18] As a key element in Islamic art,writing in particular, influenced decoration and pattern. The sacred word of the Qu'ranevolved into both the content and form of Islamic patterns, issuing arabesques andcomplex, repeating crystalline forms. "Writing not only became an integral part of thedecoration of a building,... but also indicated its purpose. Calligraphy spread to worksother than the Qu'ran and was considered the greatest art." [note 19]


Plate 27, p.54



Arabic calligraphy occurs in two styles: Kufic and Cursive scripts

• Kufic script: plain brick-like rectangles with calligraphic patterns of Arabicscript. [note 20]These are often seen on architectural surfaces.


Plate 26, p.53



• Cursive script: a fluid undulating script related to decorative vegetation andgeometric interlacing.


Plate 25, p.53



Cursive script can flow back and forth between the three types of Islamic patterns:arabesque, geometric interlacing, and complex polygons.

• Arabesques are linear, and usually employ vine and plant motifs. An ancient,multicultural form, it lends itself easily to an undulating abstract line, as well

as signifying nature, the tree of life, or paradise.


Plate 32, p.60

During the same period, Christian monks of Lindesfarne in the British Isles, brieflydeveloped a similar decorative art of curving, interwoven lines. However, theyemployed animal rather than plant motifs. This style disappeared from the North withthe arrival of Latin Christian cultures and more illusionistic modes. [note 21]


Figure 32, p.59



• Geometric interlacing and complex polygons: Interlaced designs weave likea trellis and form geometric, repeating shapes.


Figure 35, p.60

Interlacing and arabesque can be seen as part of a continuum. The curvilineararabesque and crystalline interlacement appear closely related or further apart,depending on the artist's intention. While the Arabesque is dirivative of the decorative

borders in Classical architecture, interlacement may have stemmed from Roman pavement designs.

Titus Burckhardt: "Art of Islam Language and Meaning"Plate 36, p.61

Respectively, "the two represent the poles of all artistic expression in Islam: the senseof rhythm and the spirit of geometry." [note 22]

•

Polygons: The employment of complex regular polygons is the largest class of pattern



related to the geometry of interlacement. [note 23] It builds from a regularfigure inscribed in a circle. This cell is then translated and the innate

proportions and internal symmetries of the original figure repeat infinitelyacross the plane. The circle continues to guide the design, but is "felt ratherthan seen." Islamic designs are perhaps the most mathematically sophisticated

patterns we know of, and reflect the spiritual life of Islam. "Interlacementrepresents the most.. direct expression of the idea of Divine Unity underlyingthe inexhaustible variety of the world." [note 24]


Plate 45, p.67

Figure 37, Plate 35, p.62

Plate 37 and 38, p.64



Note the construction of the last design based on the division of the circle.

Conclusion: The striking achievement of Islamic art mirrors the consolidation of theirdiverse conquests. Islamic artists envisioned al-twahid, unity in multiplicity -- theDivine Unity of Islam.

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