Book Description
This magnificent book is the key to understanding one of the world's most important architectural traditions, one that spawned major masterpieces throughout the near east, and particularly in Persia, India, Turkey, North Africa, Southern Russia, and Spain. As human representation is forbidden in Islamic religious monuments, design and ornamentation reach unparalleled heights of expression through mosaics, stucco, brickwood, and ceramic. Brilliant colors are used everywhere to enhance design.
This monumental study is a close collaboration between Dominique Clevenot, a distinguished scholar of art, and Gerald de George, a renowned photographer. Together, they visited and photographed hundreds of monuments, selecting their most noteworthy features. Unlike other books, which divide the subject geographically or chronically, the authors have approached this complicated topic from four different and interconnected angles: the history of Islamic architecture, materials and techniques, ornamental design, and the aesthetics of ornamentation.
Each of these topics is presented through a number of outstanding examples and comparable monuments from all over the Islamic world. Travelers overwhelmed by the Taj Mahal or the Alhambra will gain greater understanding. Architects and designers will find endless inspiration and ideas. Historians will be illuminated. Anyone interested in the vast world of Islam will find new knowledge in this magnificent full-color publication.
Customer Reviews:
Discovery.......2007-09-28
This is a thorough and scholarly exploration of a fascinating subject - the world of Islamic Design. The work covers all the main areas of the field, from al Andalus to India. The text is clearly written, yet scholarly in its approach, while still being accessible to the amateur. The excellent photographs serve to illustrate this magnificint work well.
Terrific Photography; Turgid Prose.......2007-03-28
The 325 photographs in this book--all in color--merit every superlative reviewers have given them. And the subject is indeed presented in a unique way. However, the text is so grandiloquent that I, a seasoned English teacher who is also well read in the field of Islamic architecture, had to spend far too much time trying to decipher it. So why did I pay $40 for a used copy of this book? Quite simply because none of the many other books I examined taught me nearly as much about the decoration and design of Islamic architecture. So illuminating are the photographs, in fact, that one can learn much even without plodding through the prose.
For those unable to find a copy to preview, what follows is a more specific summary of its contents.
SECTION 1--which focuses on the variations in Islamic architecture in one part of the world--devotes 8 to 10 pages of text and photographs to each of the following: the Dome of the Rock, the Alhambra, the Taj Mahal and Persia's Shah Mosque. Eight pages of smaller photographs of other significant monuments from the Arab lands, Turkey, India, Iran and Central Asia follow.
SECTION 2 focuses on the use of brick, stucco, mosaics and ceramics in design. Additional photographs illustrate the use of bronze, wood and painted wood.
SECTION 3 focuses on the decorative use of mathematically defined forms (e.g. stars/hexagons), vegetation, calligraphy and even occasionally the human figure.
SECTION 4 focuses on how the elements in Sections 2 and 3 combine to create surfaces that resemble textiles. Specifically discussed are a) the division of flat surfaces into panels and bands, b) the multi-layering of textures and c) the use of repetition to create geometric designs. The use of ornamentation to disguise supporting forms and embellish supported ones is also well covered.
The APPENDIX has been detailed in Library Journal's review.
A must companion.......2001-02-16
If you are someone who is involved in arhitect or interior decoration, this book is a must to guide you in creating something splendor from the Islamic culture, and it's a good refrence on a cofee table top.
Four different approaches to Islam architecture.......2001-02-15
Islam expanded quickly within a few centuries, embracing a wide area and altering the political and cultural heritage of the entire region. Splendors of Islam examines the visual effects of Islam, considering the structures in contrast with other architectural traditions and examining the role given to various decorative choices and styles. Four different approaches to Islam architecture provide an exceptionally well-rounded view, with color photo examples packing an oversized coverage.
Book Description
This richly illustrated book provides an unsurpassed overview of Islamic art and architecture during a time that witnessed the formation of a new artistic culture and its first, medieval, flowering in the vast area from the Atlantic to India. Inspired by Ettinghausen and Grabar's original text, this book has been completely rewritten and updated, and many new illustrations have been added.
Customer Reviews:
Islamic Art.......2007-08-27
This book contains the 'nut shell' of Islamic Art and Architecture. There are some plans, and many color photographs. Each project is accompanied by text explaining it and it's cultural significance. For someone who has an interest in the geometries and forms of Islamic Art this book was worth it.
Book Description
Venetian merchants of the Middle Ages imported more than precious spices and textiles from the far reaches of the eastern Mediterranean, they also acquired a wealth of visual ideas and information from Islamic culture, this book shows. Architectural historian Deborah Howard explores the range of buildings that reflected Muslim imagery and discusses the complexities of importing such ideas to an unambiguously Christian city.
Customer Reviews:
dont get carried away.......2007-08-03
The importance with books of this sort, is dont get carried away. Islam is a big question today, and intercultural history is a top priority, but accuracy should always trump political fads. Venice is by far a city of Byzantine and Gothic, much less Islamic influence. The book fails to make this sufficiently clear, and can leave the reader with the impression that Venice, and the Renaissance had Oriental roots. This is plain wrong.
The Many Veils of Venice.......2007-06-25
Deborah Howard is steeped in the enigma of Venetian architecture and gives a fabulous interpretation of its development through trading relationships with the Islamic world from 1100-1500 AD.
By emphasising the mental `Transmission and Propagation' of Islamic imagery as much as any materialistic one through trade, Howard shows just how elastic the `process of cultural diffusion' was and restores the importance of the oral tradition in the `reformulation' of that imagery into another space and time.
Her focus on the Middle East draws our attention away from Constantinople, bringing out the importance of Alexandria as one of the main sources of cultural inspiration.
In a vivid example of a rescued and transformed architectural motif, Howard mentions at length the lighthouse Pharos of Alexandria. This wonder of the ancient world was still standing when Islam spread across the North African coast and its secular function as a light in dark places became a potent spiritual symbol with the slimmed down rise of many a minaret.
The offspring of Pharos continued to multiply with Venice contributing several of its own; the last example, Codussi's campanile for the cathedral church of San Pietro di Castello with, `its snow-white ashlar masonry . . . stands at the eastern end of the city, as a beacon for the sea borne traveller from the east.'
The Great Umayyed Mosque in Damascus also gets singled out for special attention as does the Abbasid and Fatimid periods in general, with their legacy of impressive building projects that impacted upon the mind of many a Venetian merchant.
Howard reminds us how the papal ban on trade with Moslems became more than just a tiresome irritant for the Venetians. With so much lucrative trade at stake, the essence of its survival, good relations with the Moslem Middle East were a necessity; in Cairo for example, `only Venetian gold ducats are accepted currency.'
Venice also became a facilitator in pilgrim traffic to Jerusalem and it is the combination of so many of those factors that makes Deborah Howard's narrative so interesting. With splendid photographs and maps to reinforce her view, we look at Venice with fresh eyes while the ghost of bygone Alexandria dazzles, mirage like, before us.
The ripe old civilisations of the east were infused with much positive creativity in the wake of Islamic conquests: Howard's narrative helps dissolve the rigid and outdated paradigm of a `clash of civilisations,' revealing a grudging sense of admiration by many a Christian merchant and pilgrim who stood witness to Islamic ways of life and became transmitters of that imagery back to Venice.
An unusual book: Highly recommended!
Venice's love affair with the Orient.......2001-03-16
Clearly one of the best art books of the year, Venice and the East traces the impact of Islamic art on the Venetian imagination -- as evident in its architecture. Though stunning illustrations that compare Venetian and Islamic architecture and a well-written text based on primary sources, author Deborah Howard shows that, in the heyday of Levantine trade, Venetian merchants brought back more than spices and cotton from the Islamic world. They also brought back visions of paradise: Islamic styles in gardens, courtyards and palaces that evoked not just Eastern sensuality but also biblical grandeur and spirituality. Although Howard gives ample attention to the borrowing of specific architectural motifs -- balconies, crenellated walls and ogee windows -- she goes well beyond a cataloging of borrowed style. This is, most of all, a study in cultural assimilation -- of ideas as much as architectural form -- and is well worth treasuring whether your passion runs to architecture, history, sociology, or more simply: to gorgeously illustrated coffee table books.
Average customer rating:
- In the name of Iran
- A good surprise
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Palaces and Gardens of Persia
Yves Porter
Manufacturer: Flammarion
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The Art of the Islamic Garden
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The Persian Garden: Ecohoes of Paradise
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Gardens of Persia
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Gardens, Landscape, and Vision in the Palaces of Islamic Spain
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Iran the Beautiful
ASIN: 2080112570
Release Date: 2004-01-17 |
Book Description
In both decoration and design, the grand buildings and gardens of traditional Persia consistently refer to "paradise." The very word itself refers to a sense of heavenly perfection, derived from an early Iranian term for "the Shah's royal hunting grounds."
The fine touches of heaven that lie behind the colorful tiled façades of palace pavilions and mosques still shine in this richly illustrated and scholarly work. Enter gardens with intricate fountains and majestic ponds fed by water that is sourced from underground aqueducts dating to the 6th century. From ancient mirrored shrines of Shiraz and geometric gardens of Kashan to the ornate domes of Ispahan, here is a glorious photographic timeline drawn in water, brick, and ceramic ornamentation along the 3,000 years of the region's architecture.
Customer Reviews:
In the name of Iran.......2007-05-11
This book contains colorfull images of castles, gardens, public baths, mosques and pictures from ancitent time of Iran to present time. Also, there were some pictures which they showed Iranian people are walking in parks because Iranian people ejnoy a lot walking in park, and spend time some where close by tree and enjoy shade and away from hot sun.
This is a good book to have.
A good surprise.......2005-08-19
When I bought this book I expected only to see a book with nice pictures of Persian palaces and gardens. But for my surprise, this book contained a series of interesting information about the origins and reasons for the construction of gardens and other buildings since ancient times. It was interesting to know how Persians combined a tower to capture air that, after passing a small lake, became fresh and cool air. This is the predecessor of air conditioning. Other types of amazing buildings, such as the early freezer, are also explained in the book. An excellent purchase for those who - like me - like to understand how people in ancient times lived.
Average customer rating:
- Meticulous yet concise, an amazing guide book
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Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide
Caroline Williams
Manufacturer: American University in Cairo Press
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Historic Cairo - A Walk through the Islamic City
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Islamic Architecture In Cairo: An Introduction
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Cairo: The Practical Guide; New Revised Edition
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World of the Pharaohs
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A Short History of Modern Egypt
ASIN: 9774246950 |
Book Description
Cairo's Islamic monuments are part of an uninterrupted tradition that spans over a thousand years of building activity. No other Islamic city can equal Cairo's spectacular heritage, nor trace its historical and architectural development with such clarity. The discovery of this historic core, first visually by nineteenth-century western artists then intellectually by twentieth-century Islamic art specialists, now - at the turn of the millennium - awaits the delight of the general visitor.
This new edition of a popular and handy guide continues to walk the visitor around two hundred of the city's most interesting Islamic monuments. It also keeps pace with recent developments with updated and revised material.
Customer Reviews:
Meticulous yet concise, an amazing guide book.......2007-01-23
Caroline Williams has set the standard for all future books dealing with Cairo's Islamic heritage. Each chapter covers a specific area in medieval Cairo and starts with a list of the structures to be discussed. The buildings are ranked according to quality - a feature that tourists with limited time will find invaluable. The book reads easily and in addition to describing the architectural features of the mosques, palaces and madrasas goes on to give a brief history of each monument's builder. Detailed and accurate maps are given at the end of the book. An introductory chapter describing the features of Islamic architecture in general is included. However, if you're looking for a book of photographs this is not it.
Book Description
This beautifully conceived and produced survey of Islamic architecture explores the glorious world of the caravansarai, mausoleum, palace, and mosque. Focusing on the multifaceted relation of architecture to society, Robert Hillenbrand covers public architecture in the Middle East and North Africa from the medieval period to 1700. Extensive photographs and ground plans -- among which are hundreds of newly executed three-dimensional drawings that provide an accurate and vivid depiction of the structure -- are presented with an emphasis on the way the specific details of the building fulfilled their function.
Included are chapters on religious and secular architecture and the architecture of tombs. Each building is discussed in terms of function, the links between particular forms and specific uses, the role of special types of buildings in the Islamic order, and the expressions of different sociocultural groups in architectural terms. Here the student or historian of Islamic architecture will find an astonishing resource, including Maghribi palaces, Anatolian madrasas, Indian minarets, Fatimid mausolea, and Safavid mosques, each rendered in lavish illustrations and explained with incomparable precision.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent book that needs a prequel.......2007-01-09
This is an excellent book about Islamic Architecture. It offers a comprehensive coverage of building typologies, their influences, and the context (historical and geographic) within which these types can be found. However, I cannot use it as a textbook alone. I need to complement the content with other sources that talk about cultural context as both determinants and modifiers of the built form. I complement the book with George Michell's "Architecture of the Islamic World", the work of AlSayyad, Rapport, and many of the published work of the Aga Khan program.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Work ( Great Job).......2005-05-27
I was lucky to get this book at 1/2 price for $25. I am amazed by the way this book has been written. For people who are interested in reading islamic history, achievements, milestones this is the one. It talks about the Islamic civilization in different parts of the world. The Pictures are great, paper quality is excellent. It is definately worth its price. Book is really heavy, that tells you it has lots of pages.
My honest opinion is this book is a must buy for interested parties. Greate job authors, translators, editors, publishers.
Thank you for this great work.
Pictures don't use the size of the book.......2005-03-07
I can't add much more than has been said by the other reviewers here - this is a fascinating study of the art and architecture of Islam at a great price.
My one reservation, however, is the general size of the pictures. Unlike the other books in this series which I have (Gothic, Romanesque, Egypt, Baroque) there are far fewer full page bleeds - it is much more scrappy and bitty in its presentation of the images. It is more like a giant guide book.
Considering most people will be interested in this for the images (it is, after all, an art book), you are left wondering why the book is so big when most of the images don't make use of it.
put this in your library? this is your library!.......2002-06-07
Size does matter-this book is huge particularly if you consider the giveaway price(the paper costs more).Ok so it's big and it has pictures-nice ones!It's also comprehensive,diverse and well written,this book is the best there is for an amazing tour of islamic art and architecture.
Islam: Art & Architecture.......2001-11-25
Excellent book. Beautifully written, great photography...and a wonderful tour of the world of Islam. As always, Konemann has provided readers with many, many hours of pleasure.
A great big book.......2001-07-03
This is simply a magnificent book. Written and published originally in German, well-translated (it reads as if it had been originally written in English, which indicates a good translation), beautifully put together, well edited, with hundreds of full color photographs of mosaics, mosques, palaces, forts, towns, manuscripts, jewels, and mausoleums. The book claims attention. It is a full history of Islam, with maps and timelines in every chapter to help the reader in what might be unfamiliar territory, plus a full history of the development of Art and Architecture in 14 centuries of Islamic culture around the globe. Every page has at least one photograph, and all photographs are of great quality, sharp and clear. Even the photo on page 334, one of the very few in black and white, is good, almost haunting, since the walls shown are in ruins. The paper is also high quality. From the cover onwards it is clear that there is great respect for the culture represented in this book, and for the reader who will go through 600 hundred pages of text and supporting material. My personal highlights: night shot of the Kaaba, in Mecca, p. 2 and 13. Map of Europe, Asia, and most of Africa with sharp, thumbnail-like photographs of Muslim architectonic marvels in those three continents, p. 6-7. Al-Mutawakkil mosque, p. 103. What the facade of the Azhar Mosque in Cairo (p. 140) and the Almoravid clay seal (p. 247) have in common, which is a testimony to the endurance of symbols. The entire "Spain and Morocco" chapter, 207-299.
The appendix, starting on 601, is helpful and clear. The publisher, Könemann, is reponsible for another winner, "Gothic Architecture, Sculpture, Painting," but I believe "Islam, Art and Architecture" is better overall. This book is big and heavy, being more practical as a source of information than as a text that you would read from cover to cover or carry around. I highly recommend it, though, if you are interested in Islam at all from any perspective. My interest is mostly historical, but I can see already that this is a book that I will return to again and again.
Book Description
A beautifully illustrated introduction to the design, symbolism, and creation of an Islamic garden, featuring 200 color photos.
Customer Reviews:
Art and Soul of the Islamic Garden.......2005-01-08
I have been waiting for this book for several months; now that I have it in hand, it exceeds my expectations. It is visually AND intellectually stimulating. I have a particular interest in the symbolism of the Islamic garden and Clark not only gives an in depth description of this, but also puts it in context--historic and contemporary. This is also an excellent guide through the component parts of the garden. The chapter on The Prince of Wales' Carpet Garden is fascinating.
As Islamic gardens play such an important role in the history of garden design, this gem should be in every designer's book collection.
Average customer rating:
- A pearl of great value
- Great but not what you would expect
- One drawback...
- a quick & humble impression
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A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art: The Color and Geometry of Very Early Turkish Carpets (Center for Environmental Structure, Vol 7)
Christopher Alexander
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: 0195208668 |
Book Description
Christopher Alexander owns what many now believe to be the finest collection of early Turkish carpets in the western world, with perhaps half being the only specimens of their kind anywhere. In this richly illustrated, oversized volume--featuring four hundred illustrations, eighty in full color--Alexander takes readers on an engaging tour of his fabulous collection. Readers will see a 13th-century Seljuk Carpet with Dragons, a 15th-century Animal Carpet, a scarlet-niched Transylvanian Prayer Rug, a turquoise Lattice Carpet from Alcaraz, a 16th-century blue Medallion Keyhole Design from Bergama, a rare 16th-century White Field Bird Carpet, the dazzling color and brilliant geometry of a 15th-century Karapinar with Three Gulls, and perhaps Alexander's favorite, a 15th-century Star Karapinar with Flowers (whose designs he describes as "the high point of all Sufi art, the state of liberation, in which the artist is so free, that he is able to be completely natural"). In addition, Alexander elaborates on his theory that these carpets teach structure to artists and architects through the beauty of their form. This lavishly produced volume makes an important contribution to the world of rug scholarship. Equally important, Alexander's thoughtful meditations on these pieces will fascinate the many architects, artists, and planners who follow his work.
Customer Reviews:
A pearl of great value.......2006-05-20
I love and leave my books, but I'll never part with this one. I look at it daily and always find something new and edifying.
The book's raison d'etere is Alexander's magnificent collection, displayed in glorious photos. But if you feel frustrated/disgusted or uncomfortable/uneasy toward modern design, art, or architecture, you'll appreciate Alexander's axioms for objectively evaluating the aesthetic quality of the carpets. Alexander hopes that a generalized version of these axioms will save us from the ugliness of modernism and get human beings back into the business of creating truly beautiful things, whether carpets, buildings, comptuer programs, etc. That's why he titled it "A foreshadowing..."
Alexander comments on each carpet in the collection, describing the fascinating detective work that went into placing and dating each piece, as well as pointing out the most noteworthy elements of the patterns and colors. His commentary causes me to appreciate each carpet as a historical piece with tremendous significance to today -- the carpets are seemingly messengers from the past, reminding us of truths that have long been dormant in the human spirit.
He describes the best carpets as evoking a presence that is both human and divine. He says that a reliable way to judge the "better" of two carpets is to ask people which of the two they would choose to represent their own self or soul. Even carpet-naive people will consistently choose the more valuable carpet, even if it's not the one they "like" best. Interesting, right?
Great but not what you would expect.......2002-01-31
Christopher Alexander is known among architects and maybe even more among computer enthusiasts. If you are one of them (us) and know his other work, you would be surprised by this book.
It deals with carpets, specifically Turkish carpets.
A friend of mine lent me this book and I was fascinated. It has a certain passion for its subject and its interesting even if you don't know anything and don't care anything about carpets. Author explains about some items in his quite large collection of carpets and why he finds them not only rare and valuable as an antique but also beautiful.
The beauty of a carpet lies in its pattern and here we get to familiar grounds (as for example in his »A Pattern Language«). A pattern consists not only of the ornament but also of the negative space, the area remaining. He explains on examples from his collection. And one wanders if there is yet another application of his theory beside architecture per se, computer design and carpets.
Still its quite expensive, but if you happen to lay your hands on it, go ahead and enjoy.
One drawback..........2000-05-02
...shoddy binding.
Other than that, the book's great.
What I like about his writing is how relates the way your eye works to the way the carpets are designed and built. He yalks a lot about "centers" and about how a carpet can be that much more enjoyable when your eye can be drawn to sections which can be more-easily digested.
a quick & humble impression.......1998-02-15
I got to take a look at this book in the UMASS non-circulating collection. It was beautiful, covered with a gold patterned cloth. Inside, the paper and reproductions of the carpets and art work were of the very best quality. I read the introduction and skimmed through the subsequent chapters. After my breif encounter with this book, I felt as though I had found the secret heart of Alexander's architectural theories. Somehow his passion for these carpets seemed to be the kernal from which his volumes have sprung.
Book Description
Spain owes its special historical position in Europe very largely to his intensive encounter with the Orient. In the summer of 710, a small force under the command of a Berber named Tarîf ibn Mâlik landed to the west of Gibraltar. The Islamic armies that followed in its wake succeeded in conquering large areas of Spain within a short span of years. The conquerors gave the country the name of "al-andalus." Thus began a period of cultural permeation that was to last for almost 800 years. In spite of intolerance and animosity, there developed between Muslims, Christians, and Jews a shared cultural environment that proved the basis for great achievements.
Moorish-Andalusian art and architecture combine elements of various traditions into a new, autonomous style. Among the outstanding architectural witnesses to this achievement are the Great Mosque in Cordova and the Alhambra in Granada, recognized and admired as part of the world's heitage right up to the present day. They are described in detail in this book. The main centres of Hispano-Islamic art and architecture, the cities of Cordova, Seville and Granada, are discussed within the chronological framework of developments, both political and cultural, from 710 to 1492.
The author traces the changes in architectural forms over the centuries, and concludes with an attempt to identify those enduring characteristics which run like a thread through Hispano-Islamic architecture, for all the different influences to which it was subject. Alongside mosques, castle ruins, and splendid palaces, the reader will find detailed photographs of Moorish decorative art in all its thousand and one variations.
Customer Reviews:
A Steal of a Deal .......2007-05-05
I am not doing this review to acquaint readers with what this book covers, for the above editorial review does that well. Rather, I want to make sure that readers know that in spite of selling for so little, this book offers all one would expect from a book published by Taschen: superb colored photography, line drawings, maps, a glossary of terms and, of course, good writing/explanations. Marvel at your good fortune at finding such a bargain, and be assured that the coverage of Cordoba's Great Mosque and the Alhambra is superb.
P.S. Just how much of a bargain? Change only the picture on its cover, and you'll find that copies of the paperback start at $39.89, the hardback at $119.99!
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