Islamic architecture and identity
The Great Mosque of Corboda
The Great Mosque of Cordoba is one of the oldest structures still standing from when the Muslims rules in the late 8th century. The site on which the mosque stand has a lot of previous history from past religious buildings. In its place once stood a temple, a church and an older mosque. It was then demonlished and rebuilt to create the mosque that stands today. The building is a hypostyle (an open space filled with a series of columns) that has been added to over a period of 200 hundred years. The mosque prayer room is made up of the Mihrad, the Horseshoe Arch and the Dome all of which is covered in a gold mosaic configured in a radial pattern. |
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Masdar City
Masdar City is a new project east-south-east of Adu Dhabi design by architecture firm Foster and Partners. If successful it is to be the first fully self sustainable city and potentially a model for how human will live in the future. The city has been designed to be friendly towards pedestrians and cyclists and therefore works hard to regulate temperature within the city. From above the city is in the shape of a cube. |
It is clear to see that Islamic architecture has developed significantly in recent years. They are one of the leading groups of people in architectural design due to the extensive amounts of money they have through there oil companies. This means they are able to experiment with new technologies, design and methods of construction. Even though their architectural style has change so much there is still some relation between the modern architecture and the traditional architecture. Intricate decorative design is something that can still be seen throughout the years of Islamic design. As a result in the temperature in the desert there is still consideration to keeping living areas and external spaces cool. therefore direct sunlight is often avoided in all aspects of their design.