Muqarnas is a unique architectural-decorative element introduced by Islamic architecture before the tenth century A.D. It is made up of blocks with a concave surface such that each layer of muqarnas composition projects beyond the previous layer and creates a rich, articulated surface that changes in three dimensions. It is referred to in western literature as stalactites, honey-comb designs, cell work and alveole among other descriptions. Because none of these terms represent a satisfactory equivalent of the Arabic concept, “muqarnas,” the Arabic version will be used in this study.
It is the thesis of this author that muqarnas (plural, muqarnasat) can still be used as a space defining system of great versatility and unique visual qualities. Thus muqarnas will not be studied as a set of examples frozen in history, but rather as a process that was formulated in the past and could be further advanced and developed for present and future use.
The first two introductory chapters review briefly the history of muqarnas and previous published literature about muqarnas, a somewhat detailed section is devoted in the first chapter to muqarnas domes that are composed of exterior as well as interior muqarnasat. This section underscores their importance as urban design elements that has not heretofore been discussed, and illustrates their somewhat different principles from those discussed in the rest of the study.
Unlike most previous research devoted to muqarnas, chapter three thoroughly examines the basic unit in muqarnas compositions, the muqarnas block, and defines its component parts, its form variation, and the method of generating different block forms. An example to demonstrate the application of the method is also presented.
The next chapter deals with blocks compositions. Because it is beyond the scope of this book, and probably any one book, to present all composition methods, only one of the simple and most effective methods of composition is presented in detail, while other methods are briefly mentioned. Also an example to demonstrate the application in one, two, three layers, and finally complete domes are presented visually, along with a written notation devised by this author to describe muqarnas geometries in writing.
The last chapter points out some directions both for further research and for practical applications. Only a small portion of muqarnas potential applications is mentioned with a brief discussion of the technological and practical aspects associated with it.
Two well-known techniques for the study and representation of three-dimensional geometries are used here for the first time in muqarnas research. These are modeling and computer graphics. Models provide an excellent tool to visualize complicated geometries, their main disadvantage is the difficulty of making changes or variations in the form of the modeled units. These changes are easier done with computer graphics, which not only provide three-dimensional images of muqarnas compositions, but also allow us to simulate the experience of being inside the space defined by these compositions. A brief description of the computer used is included in Appendix A. There is still potential for expanding on the use of both techniques in future research.
Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Washington, 1982. Bibliography: leaves [209]-212.
