Shafaqna English– The Arts and Design Studies has published the paper “Architectural Elements in Islamic Ornamentation: New Vision in Contemporary Islamic Art” written by Jeanan Shafiq in 2014.
According to Shafaqna, this paper contextualizes the concept and analyzes the Islamic traditional ornamentation, focusing on the principles of Islamic ideology, which was behind the formation of a distinct identity and uniform architecture in Islamic cities and through time.
Throughout history, Islamic Ornamentation was the most characteristic to identify Islamic architecture. It was used in mosques and other Islamic buildings. Islam does not prescribe any special forms of art. It only restricts the field of expression. Islamic ideology in its original meaning is a faculty of unending realities. Islamic art derives its beauty from wisdom.
The Ideology of Islam and art, fixed Islamic effects on ornament, traditional elements of Islamic ornaments, new vision of ornament elements and the findings are mentioned below:
- Islamic Ideology influenced the art in different times and different places. Ideology of Islam involves fixed principles and variable effects according to era. Fixed principles effect on art by prohibition of drawing and sculpture, which led to abstaining from using figurative and naturalist ornaments in Islamic art, and gives the unity and identity of the Islamic art.
- The heart of the Muslim revelation is unity. It manifests itself in multiplicity. All the sciences that can properly be called Islamic disclose the unity of nature. Islamic art is basically derived from tawhīd that is from an assent to or contemplation of divine unity. The essence of al-tawhīd is beyond words; it reveals itself in the Quran through discontinuous and sudden flashes.
- All ornamental elements are based on the principles of infinity, abstraction, symmetry and repetition, arabesque and bordering. These principles formed a unity of ornamenting in each area of decoration in Islamic art regardless of differences between materials, production techniques, etc.
- Principle of Eternity represents in drawing the idea that God is Eternal. It is an indefinite existence without a start or a finish (Baer, 1998). Islamic ornament is an arrangement in accordance with the principle of eternity in decoration.
- Based on the principle of Abstraction, objects in a work of art are not depicted as they really look, but they are represented dissimilarly after being stylized. The goal of making such a change is not to distort objects and depart from the truth but to apply a different interpretation. Islam opposes the production of art works and architectural designs that depict figures of animals or human beings. According to Islam, all living creatures with the ability of locomotion fall in the domain of God and should not be replicated in any form such as art (Akkach, 2005).
- Based on the principle of Recurrence and Rhythm, ornament involves several regular shapes placed inside circular forms that are not marked with definite contours but can be recognized when looked at them; these shapes inside the circles are fluently converted into star shaped polygons. As circles decorate the work of art with a rhythmical repetition, different arrangements formed at the connection points create motifs with more circles and polygons too (Etikan, 2011). Islamic art concentration on geometric patterns diverts attention from the representational world to one of pure forms.
- Symmetrical arrangements were mainly used in architecture (Fig.6). They were often regarded in the plans and decorations of buildings. In the works of art in which geometric motifs were used, symmetrical decoration is remarkable at first sight.
- Geometrical patterns facilitate connectivity between various sections of a building. They also add an aesthetic value to the structure (Vernoit, 2000). Geometrical pattern and symmetry, which consist of the main visible body of Islamic art, lead naturally to abstract notions of pattern symmetry. These are the two most profound and broad notions that the human brain can conceive.
- Floral ornaments are stylized to the point of losing all resemblance with nature and obeying just the laws of rhythm. It is a real graphic of rhythms, each line undulating in supplemental phases, and each surface having its inverse counterpart (Fig. 9). The arabesque is simultaneously logical and rhythmic, mathematical and melodious, and this is most significant for the spirit of Islam in its equilibrium of love and intellectual sobriety (Burckhardt, 1967).
- Arabic calligraphy is a fascinating art form resulting in expressions that combine spiritual meaning with aesthetic beauty. Calligraphic expression is a basic decorative element of all forms of Islamic art (Fig. 10), ranging from Architecture to ornamental designs, and has widely been used throughout historical and modern times (Massoudy, 1981).
- It seems that symbolism in Islamic architecture is of a similar nature, with forms whose potential can be activated in specific circumstances, and whose import is not the less powerful for not being accurately circumscribed (Brend, 1991). The symbols and signs used in Islamic buildings did not always carry a religious message or meaning. Some of the forms were vague in meaning. Calligraphy was the only design that involved an easily understood message.
- The dome placed over a cubic space is sometimes simply a convenient means of roofing and sometimes an astonishing symbol of heaven above the earth (Fig 13), which carries the further message of all – powerful oneness of Allah. At what might be called an intermediate stage between these cases, the dome can symbolize the power of a ruler, whose power derives from Allah. Thus, the celestial dome may be used over a majestic audience chamber (Brend, 1991).
- The most characteristic architectural form is the minaret (fig. 14). Though the standard function of the minaret is to provide a location for the call to prayer, it is obvious that its meaning extends far beyond this, on the one hand, the minaret is not absolutely required for the call to prayer: and on the other hand, minarets are sometimes found extra tall, or in pairs, or in multiple and reduced form.
- Islamic architecture uses arches a lot in the design of entrances and wall pillars. Muslims mastered art of using the arch in construction more than any other cultural group (Fig.15).
- Islamic house used to provide privacy by the in word looking and the use of wooden special forms of windows which has different details and terms all around Islamic countries, such as AI Shinasheel in Iraq (Fig16) and Al Mashrabia in Egypt (Fig.17), which usually used occur to privacy. Between the architecture of a mosque and that of a private Muslim house, there is a difference in plan but not in style, for each Muslim dwelling is a place of prayer: the same rites are celebrated here as there.
Source: researchgate.net