THE FORMATION AND INFLUENCE OF THE MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN OMAN DURING AL-YA'ARIBA PERIOD (1034-1162 AH/1624–1749 AD)

Despite its richness, the research corpus published about Islamic architecture presents some discontinuities in the knowledge of the architecture in the lands ruled by Muslims. Similarly, the dynamics of influence that might have operated between the "monumental" architecture in these lands and their popular architectures are insufficiently addressed. Moreover, the material culture related to the Islamic civilization is almost exclusively studied as a product that has stopped evolving. The architecture produced during Al-Ya'ariba (Al- Ya'rubi) Imamate (1624-1749) is an instance of these understudied topics in the history of Islamic architecture. This research argues that Al-Ya'rubi Imamate is not only an important chapter in the history of Oman, the Arabian Peninsula, Indian Ocean, and Eastern Africa, but also the architecture of this period has created the identity of Omani architecture as we know it today. Nonetheless, there is no architectural production in this era both in the major references and scientific publications of Islamic architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries. Through field research, comparative analysis, and literature review of the history of Omani architecture, especially in the 17th -18th centuries, this research examines the military architecture in Oman during Al-Ya'ariba Imamate including its reference, and its influence on other architectures. It is a contribution to the scientific endeavour to address this specific architectural typology from the perspective of its mechanism of (trans) formation and its continuity of forms until the contemporary architecture of Oman.

The Beauty of Iraqi Shrines and Their Reflection in Iraqi Painting

This research deals with the study of (the aesthetics of the Iraqi shrines and its reflection in modern Iraqi painting) and is located in two axes: The first theoretical axis is devoted to (a statement of the research problem and its importance, its objectives, its limits, and the definition of terminology). The research problem is summarized in answering this question: What are the aesthetic features of the Iraqi shrines? What is the extent of its reflection in modern Iraqi painting? The importance of this research was evident in addressing the artistic and emotional beauty of the shrines' status on the individual and their great impact on it, which prompted Iraqi artists to master their simulation to be reflected in their many artistic achievements in different ways, so there was a necessary and urgent need for this study represented in leadership in some of its aspects, and it was not studied in this way. And to occupy an important place in the national, Arab and Islamic libraries that deal with this type of study. This axis also included two topics: The first section dealt with the aesthetic features of Islamic architecture represented by domes and minarets, their decoration, sanctity and distinctive colors. However, the second topic dealt with the styles of artists (Ismail AlSheikhly, Widad Al-Orfali, Salman Abbas and Ayath Al-Doori). But the second axis (applied) was concerned with the procedures, as it included (the adult research community and its sample models, its method and tool, and the analysis and discussion of the sample models). Then the conclusion, which contained the results of the research, conclusions, recommendations, and proposals. Then he mentioned the margins and the most important sources that were adopted in this study.

Excavations on the Coral Mosques of the Maldives

This report presents the results of an archaeological mission done in the Maldives archipelago located to the south-west of India, in the Indian Ocean. In November 2017, we carried out archaeological excavations and surveys as well as collected oral traditions on two sites, the Fandiyaaru Mosque and Koagannu Cemetery in Hulhumeeddhoo town on Addu Atoll and the Friday Mosque of Fenfushi on Alifu Dhaalu Atoll. Two outcomes were expected from our mission: first, to provide new scientific data on the coral mosques of the Maldives in order to improve the chances of success of nomination of the mosques on the World Heritage List of UNESCO; then to support the conservation project of the Maldivian government and international organisations such as UNESCO and the World Monuments Fund (WMF). One major question during our excavation was the continuity of the settlements from pre-Islamic cultures and influences from Buddhist architecture on local Islamic architecture.

A Victory Tower Built by a Slave: The Chand Minar at Daulatabad in Deccan India

The Chand Minar (1446) at Daulatabad Fort is one of the tallest pre-modern stone minarets in the world and has long been recognized as a major work of Indo-Islamic architecture. Yet surprisingly little is known about the building: its iconography and the reason for its construction have not been established; even its height is frequently misreported by half. The present article analyzes the building’s architecture and urban context and critically reads its inscriptions against the Tārīkh-i Firishta (ca. 1610), the main primary text for the history of the medieval Deccan. In so doing, the article demonstrates that issues of race shaped the courtly politics in the Deccan at the time of the minaret’s construction. The Chand Minar was commissioned by Parvez bin Qaranful, an African military slave, who dedicated the building to the Bahmani sultan ʿAla⁠ʾ al-Din Ahmad II (r. 1436–58). The article shows that the building commemorated the role of African and Indian officers in a 1443 military victory of the Bahmani sultanate (1347–1527) against the Vijayanagara empire (1336–1664). The construction of the Chand Minar impressed upon Ahmad II the importance of retaining in his court dark-skinned officers from India and Africa (dakkaniyān) at a time when their standing was threatened by the lighter-skinned gharībān, who had immigrated from the western Islamic regions. The article thus presents a detailed study of an important but neglected monument while shedding new light on racial factionalism in the fifteenth-century Deccan.

Iranian innovations in mosque lighting techniques: A historical survey

From the viewpoint of preserving the values of sustainable architecture, daylight in the interiors of mosques in hot and dry climates has always faced limitations. The need to use daylight to provide the required lighting and, in contrast, to prevent the scorching desert sun from entering the spaces led to innovative techniques in Iranian architecture. These techniques have gradually evolved along with the development of semantic concepts of space in different periods of Islamic architecture, which has resulted in slight differences in their application in mosque buildings. In this article, while analysing the place of light in mosque architecture, the standard techniques in lighting mosques located in Iran’s hot and dry climate are studied. The employed research method is a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. As the current historic-architectural research cannot be based solely on perception-based definitions, authors had to convert the conceptual features into a measurable index. To achieve this, a numerical index with the scale from 0 to 3 has been defined. The scoring was based on documents such as plans, images, etc. Although most case study objects were built over the centuries, they have general characteristics that distinguish them from a specific historical era. The authors studied the application of these techniques in some examples of selected mosques from four periods of Islamic architecture and present the results in the form of trend charts. Furthermore, they observed the principle of continuity in Iranian architecture from the historical period from the beginning of the Islamic period to the Qajar period, and, in accordance with the theoretical foundations of research, analysed the reasons for the ups and downs of each of the techniques.

A generative design case study for UAV-based assembly and fabrication: parametric analysis and synthesis of Iranian-Islamic Muqarnas

PurposeThis study proposes a DfMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and uses Iranian-Islamic Muqarnas as the main case study due to their geometric modularity. In Islamic architecture, different geographic regions are known to have used various design and construction methods of “Muqarnas”, a type of decorated dome.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a study on parametric analysis of the Iranian-Islamic Muqarnas and analyses its components, geometric relations and construction methods that should be considered when constructing one. This study aims to use the Muqarnas analysis as a driver to generate a DfMA basis on the UAVs and parametric fabrication. In Islamic architecture, different geographic regions use various design and construction methods of Muqarnas. There are four main parameters of the Muqarnas that define their classification; first, their three-dimensional shape, that provides volume. Second, the size of their modules is variable. Third, their own specific generative process-algorithm, and finally, the two-dimensional pattern plan that is used as a basis in the design. Thus, the authors present a global analytical study that drives a generative system to construct Muqarnas, through a careful balance of the four parameters.FindingsThis study thus presents a global analytical study that drives a generative system to construct Muqarnas, through a careful balance of four specifications. The paper reports the result of using a parametric tool, Grasshopper and parametric plugins, for creating a generative system of several types of Muqarnas. This synthetic translation aims at expanding our understanding of parametric analysis and synthesis of traditional architecture, advancing our understanding towards using parametric synthesis, with the scope to fabricate and assemble modules towards UAV-based fabrication of Muqarnas. To do so, the authors are taking advantage of their inherent repetition and recursion.Originality/valueIn the first step, this paper reviews studies on traditional Muqarnas (both Iranian and non-Iranian) and relevant parametric approaches. In the second step, the study aims to create a general generative system for Muqarnas. The creation of a generative system for Muqarnas is driven towards the creation of three-dimensional fabrication of their components so that these are assembled automatically using a swarm of UAVs. This particular drive imposes specific constraints in the parametric system, as the assembly of the final components, the authors posit, can only take place in a pick and place fashion.