The history of the sacred architecture of Islam reveals a surprising degree of unity and coherence, the result of the continuous expansion of the Muslim religion that lasted 800 years and was world-wide in its scope, before subsiding in the 16th century. The many representative examples contained in this richly-illustrated album offer an overview permitting even the casual reader to follow the successive transformations and stylistic variations on a country-by-country basis.
The text and illustrations cover twenty-one countries, all of which were touched by the wave of Islamisation in the course of their history.
0riginating in the holy city of Medina, the current proceeded in three separate directions: North Africa and Spain, Central Asia and Central Europe. This system of geographical analysis permits a comparative study of the regional specificities of the monuments and edifices common to each zone, based on their respective architectural plans, interior and exterior volumes and decorative elements.
The first two chapters of the study contain an explanation of the religious and architectural considerations necessary for formulating a general overview of the subject, while the third chapter is devoted to specific and representative examples of Islamic architecture throughout the world.
The text and illustrations cover twenty-one countries, all of which were touched by the wave of Islamisation in the course of their history.
0riginating in the holy city of Medina, the current proceeded in three separate directions: North Africa and Spain, Central Asia and Central Europe. This system of geographical analysis permits a comparative study of the regional specificities of the monuments and edifices common to each zone, based on their respective architectural plans, interior and exterior volumes and decorative elements.
The first two chapters of the study contain an explanation of the religious and architectural considerations necessary for formulating a general overview of the subject, while the third chapter is devoted to specific and representative examples of Islamic architecture throughout the world.
