Broug Ateliers for Islamic Art & Architecture-Muqarnas

Muqarnas

Muqarnas is the term given to an architectural device unique to Islamic architecture. Its purpose is to provide a transition between, for example, a square base and a dome. Muqarnas is also frequently used to create a concave semi-vault above an entrance to a building or to provide a decorative cornice along the perimeters of a ceiling or beneath a balcony. Different regions in the Islamic world have used different styles of construction techniques in their history.

Muqarnas compositions are very suitable for contemporary interpretations. They can be designed as ornaments for modern interiors and can be given new functions, such lamps or display cabinets. It is possible to make a plaster muqarnas coving for an interior. They have a unique beauty quite distinct from traditional two-dimensional geometry.

The image on the right is a model that was made using the style that is typical for North Africa and Andalucia. It uses triangular elements of wood or plaster into which the downward curve of the element is carved out. The elements have different angles (for example 30° or 60°). There are two versions of each element: they will either have a flat surface of the section facing forward or facing backward.
If it faces forward, the curve will move down and recede and taper until it reaches the bottom of the element. If it faces backward, the curve will recede but will get wider as it goes down. These different elements can be seen in the cardboard model to the right and the two photos of a wooden model from Damascus, below.

By combining differently angled elements (e.g 30° or 60°) and having two versions of each, a great variety of designs can be made. The model shown on the right is a convex design but is equally possible to make a combination between convex and concave or to do a straight line, such as can be seen in wooden muqarnas covings along ceilings of buildings in North Africa and Andalucia.

All the models on this page are made from card or cardboard. They do not appear exactly the same as the traditional muqarnas that can be seen in Islamic architecture, because the curved sections of the muqarnas elements have not been filled in. Construction-wise, they are true to the traditional design methods.

A traditional wooden muqarnas composition
from Damascus

The same muqarnas composition, seen from the back.
The triangular muqarnas elements can be easily identified.

This shows a muqarnas composition using a construction style that is typical for Iran and Central Asia. It does not use triangular sections but rather tiers that are connected by curved sections.

This particular composition has three tiers. The first step is to cut the tiers, then to fix them to a vertical backboard and lastly to connect the tiers by sections that are all of the same length and have the same curve.

There are different traditions when it comes to what the curve of the muqarnas composition appears like. Some muqarnas semidomes will have a greater angle than others, this is achieved by changing the vertical distance between the tiers. If the tiers are close together, the angle of the overall muqarnas composition will be smaller and the muqarnas composition will be less high. The greater the distance between the tiers, the longer the vertical connecting sections will have to be and the greater the angle can be to connect the tiers.
Small changes in design can have a larger than expected impact on the overall appearance.

This is a model of a muqarnas semi-vault using the Iranian/Central Asian design technique. The design of this model is quite basic but it does clearly show the tiers and how they are connected by vertical angled sections. In constructing this model it was remarkable to see how flexible it was during construction but when finally all sections and tiers were connected, the semivault acquired a surprising strength and rigidity.

This model uses the same Iranian/Central Asian technique as in the previous two models. The plan for the design was made using a compass and a ruler and is based on four-fold geometry. as can be seen the lower tiers are not connected to each other, they are traditional eight-pointed stars cut in half. They have been attached to a backboard.

The rest of the muqarnas plan radiates from these four half-stars. The radius of the circles that are used to design the plan is kept constant throughout, allowing the connecting vertical sections to all be of the same size and proportion. If more tiers were to be added to this model the backboard would become to far away from the tiers to be able to support them. In traditional Islamic architecture, similar muqarnas compositions are supported by a complex arrangement of wooden support struts and ropes attaching the muqarnas elements to the top of the space into which they are placed.

Muqarnas compositions can sometimes be better understood when they are seen as plans, i.e as two-dimensional drawings. The plans that can be seen below, represent what you would see if you were standing directly beneath a muqarnas vault and did not have the benefit of depth-perception. Muqarnas design is not far removed from two-dimensional design; it also uses the principle of intersecting circles and straight lines to arrive at different patterns. Whereas in two-dimensional geometric design the embellishment comes through deciding which sections of lines are given prominence, in muqarnas design the embellishment is introduced when it goes from two dimensions to three dimensions, i.e when depth and height are introduced.

This image represents a basic building block of the design of a muqarnas element. The square yields the proportions for the attached lozenge-shape: the sides of the lozenge are the same length as the sides of the square. The lozenge-shape in the square has the same proportions as the larger lozenge. The square and the lozenge can be divided in half to create two different kinds of triangles. By combining these basic shapes a muqarnas plan can be made, as can be seen in the below image. A muqarnas design starts by drawing circles with their centers in specific intersections of previously drawn circles and lines. In this way a design can be made to radiate form a number of different starting points, which will usually be the lowest part of an actual muqarnas composition.

The basic building block of muqarnas design has, on occasion, also been used in two- dimensional geometrical design, such as in this panel of the shrine of Abdullah al-Ansari (1428) in Herat. The squares, lozenges and triangles from the muqarnas drawing above appear in this design and have been combined with hexagons and equilateral triangles. Geometrical star designs and calligraphy have been used to embellish the design.

In these muqarnas plans, every colour represents a layer. This particular plan has five layers. The squares and lozenges, and their constituent triangles can be recognized. It is evident that the Islamic craftsmen who designed this plan were able to create a very large number of different combinations just using the square and the lozenge shape.

A more complex muqarnas plan can be seen here, it is a semi-vault in a pishtaq (a portal projecting from a facade of a building), most likely somewhere in Anatolia. Even though this plans looks a lot more complex than the one above, closer inspection shows that the composition is built up of only squares and lozenges. One of the ways that this plan could be translated from the drawingboard to a full-size muqarnas composition by Islamic craftsmen, was to create the plans full-size on a sheet of plaster. The lines from the plan would be incised into the plaster. The different colours represent tiers. The lines between the tiers would be where the craftsmen would cut the plaster. The layer that is marked '1', is at the apex(top) of the vault. The individual muqarnas units have their base on layer '1' and meet each other in a point at the top. The next layer holds muqarnas units whose upper edges meet layer '1'. This is repeated until all the layers are vertically connected and gives a cascading effect of growing semicircles the lower the the muqarnas composition goes. Most commonly the individual muqarnas units would have the same height all the way through the vault.