Muqarnas
- For the magazine, see Muqarnas.
Muqarnas (Arabic: مقرنص Persian: مقرنس) is a type of corbel employed as a decorative device in traditional Islamic and Persian architecture. The related mocárabe refers only to projecting elements that resemble stalactites, alveole.[1][2]
An architectural ornamentation reminiscent of stalactites, muqarnas developed around the middle of the 10th century in northeastern Iran and almost simultaneously — but seemingly independently — in central North Africa; they take the form of small pointed niches, stacked in tiers which project beyond lower tiers, commonly constructed of brick, stone, stucco, or wood, clad with painted tiles, wood, or plaster, and are typically applied to domes, pendentives, cornices, squinches and the undersides of arches and vaults.[1]
The earliest example of muqarnas are found near Samarra, Iraq, at the Sharaf al-Dawla Mausoleum, also known as Imam Dur Mausoleum, tomb of an Uqaylid Dynasty ruler.[3]
Examples can be found in the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, the Abbasid Palace in Baghdad, and the mausoleum of Sultan Qaitbay, Cairo, Egypt.[1] Large rectangular roofs with muqarnas-style decoration adorn the 12th century Cappella Palatina in Palermo, Sicily, and other important buildings in Norman Sicily.
Muqarnas display radial symmetry based upon N-gonal symmetry.[citation needed] The number of unique tiles possible is derived from N = N/2 - 1. Larger N values result in thinner muquarnas tiles. There are an unlimited number of muqarnas tile sets given the wide variety of tile profile design possibilities. Computer graphics today allow the design of novel muqarnas compositions not found in the historical record.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Curl, James Stevens (2006) (Paperback). A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860678-8.
- ^ VirtualAni website. "Armenian architecture glossary". http://www.virtualani.org/glossary/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- ^ ArchNet. "Imam Dur Mausoleum". http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=7601. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
[edit] External links
- Muqarnas : A Three-dimensional Decoration of Islam Architecture.
- Abstract, Nexus 2004, Muqarnas, Construction and Reconstruction
- Modern muqarnas forms, Animated GIF version
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Muqarnas |
