Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture

Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture PDF Author: Roland Michaud
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780500017111
Category : Architecture, Islamic
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
A collection of photographs of the tiled domes, minarets and walls of the mosques and buildings of Islamic Asia. The tiles bear the seven colours of heaven: ochre, turquoise, white, black, green, red and blue.

Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture

Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture PDF Author: Roland Michaud
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780500017111
Category : Architecture, Islamic
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
A collection of photographs of the tiled domes, minarets and walls of the mosques and buildings of Islamic Asia. The tiles bear the seven colours of heaven: ochre, turquoise, white, black, green, red and blue.

Design and Color in Islamic Architecture

Design and Color in Islamic Architecture PDF Author: Roland Michaud
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Michael Barry's text draws on a wealth of historical, technical and iconographic information to illuminate the history and meaning of these remarkable decorations.

Colour, Light and Wonder in Islamic Art

Colour, Light and Wonder in Islamic Art PDF Author: Idries Trevathan
Publisher: Saqi Books
ISBN: 086356190X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
A unique investigation into the aesthetics of colour in Islamic art revealing its deeper symbolic and mystical meanings. The experience of colour in Islamic visual culture has historically been overlooked. In this new approach, Idries Trevathan examines the language of colour in Islamic art and architecture in dialogue with its aesthetic contexts, offering insights into the pre-modern Muslim experience of interpreting colour. The seventeenth-century Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, represents one of the finest examples of colour-use on a grand scale. Here, Trevathan examines the philosophical and mystical traditions that formed the mosque's backdrop. He shows how careful combinations of colour and design proportions in Islamic patterns expresses knowledge beyond that experienced in the corporeal world, offering another language with which to know and experience God. Colour thus becomes a spiritual language, calling for a re-consideration of how we read Islamic aesthetics.

The Meaning of Islamic Art

The Meaning of Islamic Art PDF Author: Khursheed Kamal Aziz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art, Islamic
Languages : en
Pages : 608

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Book Description


Islamic Art and Spirituality

Islamic Art and Spirituality PDF Author: Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780887061752
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This is the first book in the English language to deal with the spiritual significance of Islamic art including not only the plastic arts, but also literature and music. Rather than only dealing with the history of the various arts of Islam or their description, the author relates the form, content, symbolic language, meaning, and presence of these arts to the very sources of the Islamic revelation. Relying upon his extensive knowledge of the Islamic religion in both its exoteric and esoteric dimensions as well as the various Islamic sciences, the author relates Islamic art to the inner dimensions of the Islamic revelation and the spirituality which has issued from it. He brings out the spiritual significance of the Islamic arts ranging from architecture to music as seen, heard, and experienced by one living within the universe of the Islamic tradition. In this work the reader is made to understand the meaning of Islamic art for those living within the civilization which created it.

The Topkapi Scroll

The Topkapi Scroll PDF Author: Gülru Necipoğlu
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892363355
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
Since precious few architectural drawings and no theoretical treatises on architecture remain from the premodern Islamic world, the Timurid pattern scroll in the collection of the Topkapi Palace Museum Library is an exceedingly rich and valuable source of information. In the course of her in-depth analysis of this scroll dating from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, Gülru Necipoğlu throws new light on the conceptualization, recording, and transmission of architectural design in the Islamic world between the tenth and sixteenth centuries. Her text has particularly far-reaching implications for recent discussions on vision, subjectivity, and the semiotics of abstract representation. She also compares the Islamic understanding of geometry with that found in medieval Western art, making this book particularly valuable for all historians and critics of architecture. The scroll, with its 114 individual geometric patterns for wall surfaces and vaulting, is reproduced entirely in color in this elegant, large-format volume. An extensive catalogue includes illustrations showing the underlying geometries (in the form of incised “dead” drawings) from which the individual patterns are generated. An essay by Mohammad al-Asad discusses the geometry of the muqarnas and demonstrates by means of CAD drawings how one of the scroll’s patterns could be used co design a three-dimensional vault.

Islamic Art and Architecture

Islamic Art and Architecture PDF Author: Henri Stierlin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780500511008
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
More than five hundred full-color illustrations and reproductions capture a panoramic array of Islamic art and architecture in a study that examines the sources, forms, themes, and symbolism of Islamic artistry, as exemplified in mosques, palaces, landscape architecture, caligraphy, miniature painting, tapestries and textiles, and other artforms.

Color Symbolism in Islamic Book Painting

Color Symbolism in Islamic Book Painting PDF Author: Imane M. Sadek Omar Abaza
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Color drawing
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Abstract: Light plays a central role in the Quran. The contrast between light and dark demonstrates a pivotal conception in the Islamic faith. It is the difference between knowledge and ignorance, faith and infidelity, and right and wrong. As depicted by al-Ghazali, God is the source of the ultimate light, and by seeing that light a person reaches a state of revelation since only the faithful see that light. The ignorant or unfaithful live in darkness without the light of God or faith to guide them through life. Considering the importance of this concept in the Islamic faith, colors as the depiction of this light in different states must be considered as equally important. Muslims across the centuries dedicated a great deal of attention to colors, manifested in their glorious repertoire of architectural marvels. The same attention can be observed in works of art. Although the use of colors is a topic many scholars paid some attention to, it should be visited from a different angle. Usually colors are mentioned in a purely aesthetic or descriptive context to depict the range of artistic decoration in a work of art. Some scholars talk about colors in terms of availability of resources or from a utilitarian point of view. Articles or books that discuss color symbolism in Islamic art are rare. Many believe that the use of color was indeed a practical function of beautifying buildings or objects, but perhaps it was neglected based solely on misconception. Nasr in Islamic Art and Spirituality discussed the assumption that every artistic creation had a meaning and a purpose. "The creation of this artistic universe with its particular genius, distinct characteristics, and formal homogeneity underlying distinctions of a cultural, geographical or temporal nature requires a cause, for no effect of such immense dimensions can be considered as simply a result of chance or the agglomeration of accidental historical factors." Art historians and critics, in their pursuit to study and understand Islamic art, covered the iconographic, aesthetic, historical, economic and political aspects but very few considered color symbolism as an important factor. Color was treated from an aesthetic point of view (i.e. as a decorative tool). The pigments, hues and quality of the color were always discussed under the decorative repertoire of the object of study. The meaning behind the chosen colors was rarely mentioned. According to Bloom and Blair, the lack of colored representation of architectural and decorative features in published books on Islamic painting directed the focus of many studies to form and design rather than color. Black and white illustrations were the norm in earlier publications and unless one gets the privilege of seeing the art object first hand, the variety and complexity of the colors used would not be grasped. In the study of book painting, the lack of colored plates in published articles and books might have led the focus of researchers to the composition of the paintings and the shading rather than the study of color, which diminished the value of the artwork in terms of artistic appreciation. Reading about color in a description does not have the same effect as seeing it. The trigger of emotional responses is achieved by direct exposure to color. The aim of this study is to analyze color symbolism in Islamic book paintings in order to attribute the colors employed to religious, cultural or spiritual notions in Islamic tradition. It is an attempt to interpret color in relation to the Islamic doctrine with its mystical elements. This thesis will be based on theoretical analysis of primary sources such as Quran, hadith and Sufi writings, and their practical interpretation in book paintings. The metaphorical use of color in Islamic poetry and Sufi treaties has been long established, hence relying on these literary sources constitutes a logical starting point. The interpretation of the paintings will be primarily based on the following texts: Nizami's Hayft Paykar, different account of the mi'raj, hadiths, and studies of Muslim Scholars such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi and Ibn Sina among others. Another important source of information for this study is the recent research by scholars such as Soucek, Schimmel, Cross, Blair and Bloom. They have contributed to the study of color symbolism in Islamic Art and their research has brought this field of study into the spotlight. Chapter one focuses on a study of the primary sources discussed earlier in relation to color symbolism. Chapter two examines the meaning of color in the Islamic tradition with reference to the different color theories developed by Muslim and contemporary scholars. Chapters three to five analyze Islamic book paintings in light of the Quran, hadith and Sufi writings. The focus will be on some selected paintings revolving around three main themes; the mi'raj, Haft Paykar and Majnun and Layla; chapter three discusses the mi'raj theme and prophetic depiction in book painting, chapter four explores the color symbolism in the tales of the seven pavilions in Nizami's Haft Paykar. Chapter five examines the depiction of Qays or Majnun in different manuscripts. Interpreting the religious, poetic and fictional type of narrative in relation to book paintings will shed some light on the importance of color symbolism in Islamic art in general and not only limited to Sufi themed paintings. The manuscripts chosen varies in their area of production from Iran and Central Asia to Turkey and Baghdad. The variation of the geographical location of the paintings are considered strong supporting evidence in the presence of color symbolism in Islamic art. Of course the main focus would be on Persian manuscripts since manuscripts production reached its peak in that geographical location coupled with the time constrains of not being able to display the entire selection of my research.

Haft Paykar

Haft Paykar PDF Author: Nizami
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 1624664466
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
"It was a refreshing, old-fashioned pleasure to read Julie Scott Meisami’s verse translation of, and introduction and notes to, this twelfth-century Persian allegorical romance." —Orhan Pahmuk, in the Times Literary Supplement

Daylighting

Daylighting PDF Author: Derek Phillips
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113641200X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Daylighting offers a general theory and introduction to the use of natural light in architecture. The fourth of Derek Phillip's lighting books draws on his experience to illustrate how best to bring natural light into building design. As sustainability becomes a core principal for designers, daylighting comes to the fore as an alternative to artificial, energy consuming, light. Here, Phillips makes a rational argument for considering daylight first, outlining the arguments in favour of a daylight approach, and goes on to show, through a series of beautifully illustrated case studies, how architects have created buildings in which natural light has been shown to play a major strategic role in the development of the design of a building.