Architectural Features and Influences of Umayyad - Arts and Architecture

 Materials :

Umayyad architecture represents the birth of the first Islamic architecture tradition, one that adapted features from the Sassanian and Byzantine empires.

The Umayyad's used stone extensively in their architecture as this material is abundant in great Syri, where most of their surviving buildings are located.

They used stone in their architecture as this material

Brick is also used frequently, often in the combination with stone.

Mosaics are used widely as a surface cover for both floors and walls.

Mosaics are used widely in Umayad's Architecture

Stucco is used as a decorative material and becoming particularly widespread during the later Umayyad period.

Stucco is used as a decorative material 

Wood is used as a construction material for roofs and domes, and also as a decorative material for elements such as doors and panels.

Wood is used as a construction material

Reused Roman and Byzantine elements, such as column shafts and capitals, are commonly incorporated into Umayyad buildings.

Architectural Features :

In general terms, Islamic Architecture can be classified into two categories:

Religious Architecture

Secular Architecture.

Religious Architecture :

Mosques :

The Mosque for obvious reason lies at the very heart of Islamic Architecture. It is a symbol of faith.

The symbolic role was understood by Muslims at a very early stage and played an important part in the creation.

The First Mosque in Islam was the courtyard of the Prophet's house in Madina, with no architectural features.

Early Mosques built by Muslum as their empire was expanding were simple.

The general plan consists of a large courtyard by arched porticoes, with more aisles or arcades on the side facing Mecca / Qibla.

The great mosque of Damsusc followed the same plan of the Prophet PBUH mosque and became the prototype of many mosques built in various parts of the Islamic world.

The minaret, mihrab, and minbar make their first appearance in the religious architecture of the period.

The arch in Umayyad architecture is primarily round in shape, which becomes predominant in later periods.

 

Secular Architecture :

Whereas the functions of the religious buildings of early Islam could not have existed without the new faith, the functions of secular Muslim architecture have a priori no specifically Islamic character.

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Woodwork Techniques - Applied In Islamic Architecture

 There are different kinds of Woodwork Techniques which are applied in Islamic Arts and Architecture in different periods.

Carving :

Carving is one of the most used Woodwork Techniques in Islamic Architecture. In the method of carving, a pointed chisel works out decoration in raised form by carving the surface of the wood. Because of the Perishability of wood, it is more often found as an embellishment inside the building. 

Interior wood carvings of the Islamic monuments fall into three categories: Structural element, partitions, and fixtures. The first includes such integral parts of the structure as ceilings, beams, and wall or ceiling brackets. Partitions as a category of architectural woodworking include all those wooden additions which were used to cover openings, to screen areas, or to divide interior space, The most important category for the use of wood carving in Islamic Buildings includes such permanently fixed installations as minbar or pulpit from which the imam delivers his Khutbah during the Friday congregational prayer.

Latticework :

Latticework is one of the woodwork Techniques. It is a piece of material made by crossing lathes over and under each other to create a grid-like pattern. Traditionally, latticework is made of wood but it can also be made with plastic, iron, plaster, and other materials. The lattice is used in many cultures for a variety of decorative and functional purposes.

One common use of latticework is on the privacy screen. The openings in the lattice allow light and air through, less sensitive to climatic conditions where tables are allowed to allow light and air to pass through, which would be worse in a climate where a completely fenced area could be blocked. The lathes network prevents people from seeing inside the letter, allowing for privacy in the area surrounded by lattice activity. Latticework work can be seen in the surrounding buildings and yards, and it is used for things like the installation of windows so that people can enjoy the cool air while still feeling private.

Inlaying :

In this method of the Woodwork Techniques, which is divided as inlaying of the mother of pearl and inlying of wood, the decorative design is drawn on the finished surface by a pointed pencil and the proper places of the design are engraved and then inlaid with mother of pearl, tortoiseshell or ivory. In another kind named ''Damascus work '', the pieces of mother of pearl are surrounded by thin metalwork.

Woodworks in Early Islamic Architecture:

Various woodworks unearthed in the central Asian tumuli and Pazyrk excavations have revealed that Turks were interested in this subject since ancient times. In Islamic art and especially in Omayyad and Abbasid wood works, we find a tendency to look for a new style. The Syrian and Egyptian stone reliefs of the 10th to 13th centuries had influenced the Fatimid woodworks and decorations of acanthus and vine leaves peculiar to the Syrian region were widely used. For example, the stone reliefs on the front of Meshatta palace was revived with nuances in the Omayyad and Abbasid works, was a favorite decoration of this period. The most famous example of Omaayd woodwork is the multi-pieced pulpit of the Qayrawan Mosque made in the 11th century and presently kept in the Cairo museum, and the woodworks in the El hakim mosque reveal the most interesting example of Islamic woodworks.

The magnificent gate displayed in the metropolitan museum and the woodworks displayed in the Cairo Museum, prove that the Fatimid decorations were oriented toward animal motifs in later periods. These decorations are thought to be relative to native art, including hunting scenes, symmetrical groups of birds of animals. this style later influenced the mamluk art and decoration with enriched with all over design. very few examples of Persia woodwork proceeding the Seljuk period have survived until the present day. some wood inscribed with Kufic writing is found in  Tashkent and Samarkand Museums and in private collections. Mongolian woodworks of the 13th century are also very rare. wooden door with Kufic inscription show grat similarities with stone decorations in the architecture of the period.

The Seljuk woodworks :

Seljuk considered woodworks very important and they have produced many works of art as pulpits, reading desks, chests of drawers in addition to architectural elements ornamenting buildings. Geometrical forms and plant motifs were often used in Seljuk woodworks where carving and latticework were widely applied. The ornaments were often raised and the compositions were completed with Roman-style borders. The motifs of peacocks, king Solomons seal, and cypress trees were largely used in Seljuk woodworks in Anatolia. The Seljuk woodworks reveal itself on the wooden sarcophagi. The coffin over Mevlana's grave in the Konya Mevlana Tomb is decorated with embellishments characteristics of the age and is covered all over with lyrics poems and couplets.

The Ottoman's woodworks :

The Seljuk woodworks influenced the early ottoman wood works of the 14th and 15th centuries and various works were started to be made by new techniques and with new decorative elements. Besides carving and lattice-work, the dovetail method was widely used and enriched woodworks were made also with the addition of auxiliary elements such as mother of pearls, tortoise shells, and ivory. Floral motifs were often used in addition to Rumi compositions. Beginning with the 16th century, the Rumi decoration on the woodworks gained a much more complex appearance by uniting with the different floral patterns found in the similarly decorated tiles. Although the forms used in the 16th-century woodworks were continued during the 17th century, new patterns were decorated in decorations.

The most renowned of these are the floral motifs that have lost their original forms in a tendency of stylization. Plainness was gradually left and a richer embellishment replaced it.

The Turkish woodworks have influenced architecture, presenting fine examples in old Turkish houses as well as the wooden Afyon Grand Mosque, Sirvirhsar Grand mosque, Beysehir Esrefoglu Mosque. Especially the ceilings of rooms, the shelved niches, and cupboard doors have been fastidiously worked.

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Art forms of Islamic Architecture

There are many art forms of Islamic  Architecture which include: 

• Ceramics.
• Girih tiling and woodwork.
• Jali.
• Kilim.
• Leather. 
• Metalwork.
• Muqarnas. 
• Stained glass.
• Zellige.

Ceramics :

                    Ceramic is the rich heritage of the Islamic world that has a unique aesthetic identity characterized by geometric patterns and calligraphy design. 

 Ceramics Pattern, Uzbekistan

It lends itself to circular motifs, whether radical or tangential. Bowls or plates can be decorated inside or out with radial lines. These may b stylized leaves or flower patterns or flower petals. 

Floral and Geometric pattern of Ceramics

These patterns applied in Islamic architecture since the Ayyubid Period, 13th century A.D.

Girih tiling and woodwork :

                                Girih is decorative  Islamic Geometric patterns used in architecture and handicraft objects. It elaborates five standardized shapes. This style used in Persian Islamic Architecture and also used in decorative woodwork. These Girih designs are traditionally made in different media including cut brickwork, stucco, and mosaic tilework, in the Safavid period.

Jali :

              Jali is pierced stone screens with regularly repeating patterns. They are characteristic of Indo-Islamic Architecture. For example, In Mughal dynasty buildings.

In addition, geometric designs combine octagons and pentagons with other shapes. Jali functions as windows or room dividers. It provides privacy but allows light and air. It forms a prominent element of architecture in India.

Kilim :

           A kilim is an Islamic flatwoven carpet. It used for households also as a prayer mat. Kilim motifs are often symbolic.

Kilim pattern

 And they are usually decorative. Kilim patterns are often characterized by specific regions.

Leather :

             Islamic leather is usually embossed with patterns almost like those already described. Leather book covers, starting with the Quran where figurative artwork was excluded, where decorated with a mixture of Kufic script, medallions, and geometric patterns, typically boarded by geometric braiding.

Metalwork :

             Metal artifacts share an equivalent geometric design that's utilized in other sorts of Islamic art. Geometric designs in Islamic metalwork can form a grid decorated with other motifs or they will form a background pattern.

Muqarnas :

            Muqarnas is a carved ceiling to semidomes often utilized in mosques. They are made from Stucco, also made up of wood, brick, and stone. They are characteristics of the Middle age of Spain and Morroco in Islamic Architecture. They are usually decorated.

Stained glass:

              Stained glass is used during a sort of settings in Islamic Architecture. It is used for surviving summers. Constructed in 1797 in the Palace of Shaki Khans, Azerbaijan.

Stained Glass

There are 6 to 8 pointed stars in the Pattern of stained glass. Tradition stained glass was in a wooden frame. These decorative windows are the features of the Palaces architecture.

Zellige :

            These are glazed terracotta tiles set into plaster, forming colorful glazed patterns. This is the tradition of Morroco but it is also found in Moorish Spain. Mostly, it is used for the adornment of the Mosque, Public buildings, and private houses.

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