Prepared by the researcher : Hadef Elsalem – Tourathouna research and restoration company, Baba Hacen, Algiers, Algeria
Democratic Arab Center
Journal of Urban and Territorial Planning : Fifteenth Issue – March 2023
A Periodical International Journal published by the “Democratic Arab Center” Germany – Berlin
:To download the pdf version of the research papers, please visit the following link
Abstract
The Mouqarnas are specific architectural elements of Islamic architecture, which have sparked multiple researches; however, these researches have still not resulted in covering this subject in a definitive and clear manner. Our study aims to highlight the importance of geometry in the definition and establishment of a typological classification of these elements. an overview will be provided about the various researches already carried out on this subject, in their multiple disciplines; historical, archaeological, architectural or even mathematical. A geometric definition of the different types of Mouqarnas will be set up, and to classify them in a more precise typology based on this geometric definition as the main factor, and on the materials and constructive technique in the second place. And as a concretization to our research, the case of Andalusian and Maghrebian mouqarnas will be studied, and this will be applied on the example of a dome in Mouqarnas in Algeria, it is the Mihrab of the Zianid Saidi Abi al Hassan mosque in Tlemcen 13th century AD. And an Andalusian marquee from the Palace of the lions in Alhambra, in order to bring out the geometry that allowed the design and to trace these two elements in Mouqarnas.
- Introduction
In her doctoral thesis on Muqarnas, the German researcher Sylvia Harms defined Mouqarnas, as being three-dimensional ornamental elements, in fact, the function of a Muqarnas It is to guarantee a smooth transition between straight walls and more curved parts.[1]
The Mouqarnas, which probably arose before the 11th century, cover most of the Islamic countries, and have developed to give several forms over time and from one region to another.
Understanding these elements will not only help to better understand our architectural heritage, but among other things, it will help to reconnect them in our contemporary architecture.
In this study (which he carried out in an academic framework at the University of Blida1 – Algeria 2017-2018), problems will be answered and to prove:
- The role of mathematical geometry in the design of Muqarnas.
- The role of geometry in the identification and classification of the different types of Muqarnas (the characteristics of Muqarnas in the Maghreb and Andalusia)
- Demonstration of the geometric origin of the birth of the Muqarnas.
- See the possibilities of reinterpretation of these Muqarnas in contemporary architecture.
- Methodology
The methodology followed in our research work will be done by crossing different disciplines; historical, archaeological, architectural, as well as mathematical. This is mainly an analytical methodology.
We will use geometric concepts (translation, rotation, displacement etc.) to demonstrate the design in 2D and 3D.
We will then have them verified by computer simulation (AUTOCAD).
- State of the Art; Origin and Typology of Muqarnasa
Through our research in various studies around the Muqarnas, it found that they are divided into two parts:
- The First Part: Origins and Historical Evolution
The analytical and descriptive studies carried out by archaeologists and specialists in the history of Islamic art, aim to understand the origin and evolution of the Muqarnas. The part which tries to know the typology is based on the apparent form and from that obtains a large number of types without classifying them in a hierarchical manner, from that, this typology will not be extended in this article, While the studies that deal with the origin of Muqarnas have been summarize in three hypotheses by Dr Yasser ATABBAA [2]:
The first hypothesis considers that the Muqarnas originated in Iran, in its most primary form, in the 10th century AD / IVth century Hijra as (the Samanid Sanctuary of Prince Ismail Bukhara Uzbekistan), then the Djoumoua Mosque in Isfahan (or the Ata Arab Shrine in Tim Uzbekistan (Figure 1)[3]), of- prince Ismail in Bukhara –Uzbekistan- Mausoleum.
Figure 1. Samani Samanid Mausoleum- Prince Ismail in Bukhara -Uzbekistan- (301/914-331/943).
This hypothesis is illustrated by the Spanish researcher from the University of Cordoba, Alicia Carlo[4] who presented a table[5] showing the first most important vaulted domes according to the date of completion.
Figure 2. Table of mouqarnas appeared by region and date.
While the second opinion considers that the Muqarnas come from the Greater Maghreb and more precisely from the citadel of Beni Hammad, in the east of Algeria. This hypothesis was put forward by the French researcher Lucien Golvin[6], who found fragments of pieces of Mouqarnas in the capital of Al Qalaa Hammadite and who supposes that the sovereign Al Mansour would have been at the source of these embellishments of the Qalaa between end of XI and beginning of XIIème centuries. Another piece was found, it was forgotten by the excavations of Pale in the first half of the 11th century (Figure 3)[7]. This hypothesis highlights the importance of the Muqarnas of Al Qalaa but does not find many followers.
Figure 3. Pieces of Mouqarnas, qasr al Salam the Qal’at Bani Hammad late 11th century.
A third hypothesis to which Dr. Yasser ATABBAA adheres, is that which presumes that the Muqarnas were created in Abbasid Iraq, from where they spread both in East and West, His opinion is reinforced by the presence of Muqarnas in Iran and the Maghreb in the 10th century AD simultaneously, as well as by the presence of several other examples, such as the dome of the Kairouan mosque in the 9th century, and the presence of the Muqarnas in Abbasid and Fatimid Egypt, of which there is always uncertainty as to their dating between the 10th and 12th centuries, or that of the hammam Abu al Sououd, and the minaret of Badr Eldjamali.
The latest discoveries, according to Yasser ATABBAA, show that there are also drawings which always reinforce this hypothesis, and calls into question the first two hypotheses.
- The Second Part
Typology and geometrical classification:
Different geometrical studies have taken place around the Muqarnas (Figure 4)[8], from Kashi’s book on the Muqarnas[9], in the 15th century to the book by Owen Jones [10] who drew the Muqarnas of the Alhambra Palace in Granada in the 18th century, including the Muqarnas of the dome of the two sisters of the Al ambra.
Figure 4. Design of Muqarnas pieces.
The tentatives of some orientalists to understand and draw the Muqarnas in the 19th century AD, such as Bourgoin[11], who designed many models, or Ecochard or others[12].
At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, architects and mathematicians tried to understand the decoding of the Muqarnas (Figure 5)[13], ainsi que le dessin en Modélisation.
Figure 5. Parts of the block.
Figure 6. Modelisation j p castera, ariclet, The Mouqarnas dome of the Hall of the Two Sisters in the Alhambra of Granada.
Such as Mamoun Sakkal[14](Figure 5), or John M. Castra[15], who tried to simulate the dome of the two sisters of the Alhambra (Figure 6)[16], and the Japanese Shiro Takahashi[17], who tried to study and classify the Muqarnas according to geometric bases – through his studies – and to show us drawings and images of the Muqarnas of the Islamic world from the early stages of the 10th and 11th centuries to the 19th century and in the different Islamic regions of India, Central and Eastern Asia, to the countries of the Maghreb and Andalusia (Figure 7)[18].
Figure 7. The three styles of Mouqarnas proposed by shiro takahashi.
As a conclusion to this part, it noted that the studies have still not led to a clear and definitive definition of the Mouqarnas, nor to an exact classification of them, the theme still presents ambiguity and requires further exploration.
- State of the Object; Design and Typology of Mouqarnas on Geometrical Bases
- Geometric Bases of Mouqarnas Genesis of the Mouqarnas on a Mathematical Geometrical Basis
Our observations, analyses and studies of the different types of Muqarnas have allowed us to establish a geometrical definition of the conception of Muqarnas as well as its typology, that will be explained over this part, in fact this definition has also allowed us to have an idea about the genesis of Muqarnas, that it is a pure geometrical creation and not a natural development through time. Our definition of the Muqarnas is based on two principles:
- First Principle
The basis of the geometrical drawing of the plane of all Muqarnas is the result of the crossing of polygons (Figure 8)[19], which gives shapes in triangles, squares, or others which are in fact, the pieces of Muqarnas.
Figure 8. Sketch of polygon rotation as a principle for drawing domes in Mouqarnas.
- Second Principle
It concerns the vertical construction of the Muqarnas (Figure 9)[20], and the definition of their vertical profiles, of which the pendant and the horn are basic primordial pieces that are repeated in most Muqarnas.
Figure 9. Eléments constitutifs de la coupole du mihrab à Cordoue en rouge trompe et en bleu pendentif.
This interpretation has allowed us, for example, when studying the domes of the mosque of Cordoba, especially that of AL HAKAM II, in the 10th century AD, to notice that these domes in plan and elevation meet all the criteria of the domes in Muqarnas in their primitive and simple form, something that has never been mentioned before.
This interpretation has also allowed us to establish a typological classification of the Muqarnas across the regions and throughout Islamic history, under two families:
- Typology According to the Geometrical Base
- The First Family
Which is characterised by a plan layout formed by pieces with constant, repetitive units, and as an example can be given: the Muqarnas of the portal of the Bimarestan Ennouri, in Damascus (Figure 10)[21], it can be seen on the plan of the dome that the layout is composed of constant units covering the whole surface.
Figure 10. View of the dome of the main entrance of the Al Nurri Biman in Damascus.
Figure 11. Plan and detail of the dome of the entrance to the Bîmâristân Al Nourri in Damascus showing the unitary module of the composition.
- The Second Family
In this case the plan layout formed by pieces with variable units, which change with an eccentric rhythm from the centre to the periphery, an example is given below: the dome of the portal of Al jaqmaqya in Damascus (Figure 12)[22], it turns out that the base of the trace of this second family as it’s explaned in the 12th illustration. (Figure 13)[23].
Figure 12. View of the dome of the main entrance of the Madrasa Al Jaqmaqya in Damascus.
Figure 13. Plan and detail of the dome of the main entrance of the Madrasa Al Jaqmaqya in Damascus showing the principle of variable units that constitute the composition.
On the basis of this typological classification of two families on the basis of plan drawings, an attempt has been made to define the different types and variants of Muqarnas on the basis of their differences in profile (Figure 14)[24], always using geometry, and also on other differences in the second place, whether in building materials and techniques, or in ornamentation, some examples are given which clarify this classification logic.
Figure 14. Diagram showing the three types of left-hand profiles.
- Examples of the Proposed Typology
1st family:
- Andalusian and Maghrebian muqarnas: round arch profile (Figure 15)[25]
1st and second family:
- Mouqarnas in Shame (Syrian): breeze-bow profile (Figure 16)[26] and (Figure 17)[27]
- Mouqarnas in Cairo in both families: triangular profile (Figure 18)[28]
- Mouqarnas in Turkey in both families: triangular profile (Figure 19)[29]
- Mouqarnas in Baghdad in both families: broken arch profile (Figure 20)[30]
- Mouqarnas in Iran in both families: arched profile (Figure 21)[31]
Figure 15. Cupola of the Two Sisters Hall, Al Hamra Lions Palace -Grenada.
Figure 16. Dome of the main entrance of the Madrasa Al Jaqmaqya in Damascus.
Figure 17. Siba iyya Madrassa Damascus 16 th century.
Figure 18. Mausoleum of Gulshani Egypt. 15th century.
Figure 19. Esrefoglu Mosque Turkey 13th century.
Figure 20. Abbasid Palace Baghdad 13 th century.
Figure 21. Entrance of shah mosque Isfahan.
As a conclusion to this part, it can be noted that on the basis of the geometry these three results can be derived:
- Defining the design of the Muqarnas,
- Clarifying the genesis of the Mouqarnas,
- Set up a typological classification of the different Mouqarnas.
- Case study of an Example of Andalusian and Maghrebian Mouqarnas
An example of a dome in Muqarnas in the Maghreb has been drawn in this part, the Mihrab dome of the Saiedy Abi al Hassan Mosque (Figure 23)[32], 13th AD, built by the Zianids at the same time as the Bani Nasr in Granada and the Merinids in Fes.
Figure 22. The mihrab dome.
To begin with, a brief idea of the genesis and development of the Muqarnas in the Maghreb and Andalusia is required. Starting in the Qalaa at Bani Hammad East of Algeria and Almeria[33] in Andalusia, then moving on to Almoravid and Almohad times, Arriving at the Zianides and Banu Nasr[34], the characteristics of the Andalusian and North African Muqarnas, based on our geometric definition, differentiate them from other types in other Islamic regions, because they are based on a layout of the first family characterised by constant units, and with a vertical round arch profile, they are generally built in plaster pieces glued together to form a dome, with some exceptions in adobe and stone Muqarnas, and wooden Muqarnas, as well as the use of Muqarnas with a broken arch profile in the last centuries in Morocco.
The geometrical study of the dome of Saidy Abi Al Hassan on plan and in vertical profile offers us an example that demonstrates the bases and characteristics of the Andalusian and Maghrebian Muqarnas in the following figures (Figure 23)[35], (Figure 24)[36], (Figure 25)[37], (Figure 26)[38]
Figure 23. Geometric layout based on octagons with two repetitive measurements.
Figure 24. Some pieces of Mouqarnas in separate 3d and in montage.
Figure 25. Sketch showing the die and shaded structure of the assembly of the parts in Mouqarnas.
Figure 26. View of the assembly of the Muqarnas dome of the Saidy Abi Al Hassane mihrab, in 2D and 3D simulation.
To conclude this study, an attempt has been made to address the concern about the possibility of reinterpreting the Mouqarnas as elements of tradition in contemporary architecture, by proposing an example of a contemporary roof integrating Andalusian and North African Muqarnas, suspended as a false ceiling under an upper metal frame covered in glass or Plexiglas (Figure 27)[39].
Figure 27. Views of a contemporary corrugated roof in both X. Y axes integrating the Andalusian Mouqarnas.
- Conclusion
Our study of the Muqarnas based on geometry, allowed us to complete previous research and to give some clarifications on several levels:
- To explain the genesis of the Muqarnas in a geometrical way and not according to the hypotheses of historical development, the muqarnas are in fact the result of a complex geometrical creation resulting from the development in the geometry of spheres and spherical triangles, this creation probably appeared in Iraq in the Abassid era, which confirms the third hypothesis.
- Explain the basics of Muqarnas design on a precise mathematical geometric basis,
- Recognizing and classifying the different types of muqarnas by geometry in the first place, both horizontally and in elevation (3D), and their variants according to materials and other details in the second place, which emphasizes the hierarchical structure of classification of muqarnas.
- Demonstrate the possibility of reusing and reinterpreting Muqarnas in new contemporary applications since they are geometric products, reinforcing our architectural identity
We hope that this study will contribute on the one hand to the mastery of these important elements in our architectural heritage, mastering their design, conception, restoration; and their recognition, and that it will also contribute to the revival of these architectural elements in our contemporary architecture.
References
[[1]] Silvia Harmsen Algorithmic Computer Reconstructions of Stalactite Vaults – Muqarnas – in Islamic Architecture, THÈSE à Obtention du doctorat la Faculté des sciences naturelles et des mathématiques la Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg.
[[2]]Yasser Tabbaa, Muqarnas vol. 3(1985) pp. 61-74.
[[3]] Hadi safeipour, 2012, Traditional Complex Modularity in Islamic and Persian Architecture, www.academia.edu, p04
[[4]] Alicia Carrillo, 2016, The Sasanian Tradition in ʽAbbāsid Art: squinch fragmentation as The structural origin of the muqarnas, Mirabilia, p 04
[[5]] Alicia Carrillo, 2016, The Sasanian Tradition in ʽAbbāsid Art: squinch fragmentation as The structural origin of the muqarnas, Mirabilia, p 04
[[6]] Lucien Golvin revue de l’occident musulman et de la méditerranée n17 1974. Pp63-69, les plafonds a Muqarnas de la Qala
[[8]] Yvon Dold Simplonius et Silva L Harmsen, Muqarnas annual on the visual culture of the islamic world, v 22 p86
[[9]] Al kashi, 2005, key to arithmetic, p 86
[[10]] Jules Goury, Owen Jones, 1842, Plans, elevations, sections and details of The Alhambra.
[[11]] Bourgoin, 1890-1892, Précis de l’art arabe et matériaux pour servir à la théorie et à la technique des arts de l’Orient musulman, p 65.
[[12]] Michel Ecochardn, 1977, Filiation De Monuments Grecs, Byzantins Et Islamiques- Une Question de Géométrie.
[[13]] Mamoun Sakkal, 1981, Geometry of Muqarnas in Islamic Architecture, p 22
[[15]] Jean p castera, 1999, arabesque.
[[16]]castera.net/entrelacs/public/articles/Venise04-fr.pdf
[[17]] Shiro Takahashi, 1983, Muqarnas Tama Art University Bulletin No 1, p 135-152.
[[21]] Photo JAMAL H ABED. archnet. org
[[22]] Photo Daniel Demeter syriaphotoguide.com
[[27]] Art of islam language and meaning, Titus Burckhardt, 2009;world.inc <wisdome,inc
[[32]] Photo from discover website
[[33]] Basilio pavon, 2010, Maldonado Tratado De Arguitectura Hespano Musulmana, p 169.
[[34]] Bourouiba, l’art religieux musulman en algerie.
[[39]] Conceived and drawn by the author
- Alicia Carrillo, 2016, The Sasanian Tradition in ʽAbbāsid Art: squinch fragmentation as The structural origin of the muqarnas, Mirabilia, p 04
- Al kashi, 2005, key to arithmetic, p 86
- Basilio pavon, 2010, Maldonado Tratado De Arguitectura Hespano Musulmana, p 169.
- Bourgoin, 1890-1892, Précis de l’art arabe et matériaux pour servir à la théorie et à la technique des arts de l’Orient musulman, p 65.
- Bourouiba, l’art religieux musulman en algerie.
- net/entrelacs/public/articles/Venise04-fr.pdf
- Hadi safeipour, 2012, Traditional Complex Modularity in Islamic and Persian Architecture, academia.edu, p04
- Jean p castera, 1999, arabesque.
- Jules Goury, Owen Jones, 1842, Plans, elevations, sections and details of The Alhambra.
- Lucien Golvin revue de l’occident musulman et de la méditerranée n17 1974. Pp63-69, les plafonds a Muqarnas de la Qala
- Mamoun Sakkal, 1981, Geometry of Muqarnas in Islamic Architecture, p 22
- Michel Ecochardn, 1977, Filiation De Monuments Grecs, Byzantins Et Islamiques- Une Question de Géométrie.
- Shiro Takahashi, 1983, Muqarnas Tama Art University Bulletin No 1, p 135-152.
- Titus Burckhardt, 2009, Art of islam language and meaning, world.inc <wisdome,inc
- Silvia Harmsen Algorithmic Computer Reconstructions of Stalactite Vaults – Muqarnas – in Islamic Architecture, THÈSE à Obtention du doctorat la Faculté des sciences naturelles et des mathématiques la Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg.
- Yasser Tabbaa, Muqarnas vol. 3(1985) pp. 61-74.
- Yvon Dold Simplonius et Silva L Harmsen, Muqarnas annual on the visual culture of the islamic world, v 22 p86
