- For the magazine, see Muqarnas.
Muqarnas (Arabic: مقرنص) is a type of corbel used as a decorative device in traditional Arabic and Persian architecture. The term is similar to mocárabe, but mocárabe only refers to designs with formations resembling stalactites, by the use of elements known as alveole.[1][2]
Muqarnas takes the form of small pointed niches, stacked in tiers projecting beyond those below and can be constructed in brick, stone, stucco or wood. They are often applied to domes, pendentives, cornices, squinches and the undersides of arches and vaults.[1]
Muqarnas is the Arabic word for stalactite vault, an architectural ornament developed around the middle of the tenth century in north eastern Iran and almost simultaneously, but apparently independently, in central North Africa. It involves three-dimensional architectural decorations composed of niche-like elements arranged in tiers. The two-dimensional projection of muqarnas vaults consists of a small variety of simple geometrical elements.
The earliest example of muqarnas can be found near Samarra, Iraq, at Sharaf al-Dawla Mausoleum, also known as Imam Dur Mausoleum, the Uqaylid 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]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Curl, James Stevens (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.
External links
- Muqarnas : A Three-dimensional Decoration of Islam Architecture.
- Abstract, Nexus 2004, Muqarnas, Construction and Reconstruction
- Modern muqarnas forms, Animated GIF version
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