Introduction to Islamic Architecture
Examines the history of Islamic architecture spanning fifteen centuries on three continents – Asia, Africa, Europe. Students study representative examples from the 7th century House of the Prophet to the current high-rises of Dubai, in conjunction with their religious, urban, social, political, and intellectual environments. Crosscultural exchanges are highlighted from late Antique Arabia down to the interaction with the West in the age of colonialism and the consequent revival of Islamic architecture today.
Fall 2002 · Religious Architecture and Islamic Cultures
This course introduces the history of Islamic cultures through their most vibrant material signs: the religious architecture that spans fourteen centuries and three continents — Asia, Africa, and Europe. The course presents Islamic architecture both as a historical tradition and as a cultural catalyst that influenced and was influenced by the civilizations with which it came in contact.
Readings
- George Michell, ed. Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History and Social Meaning. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978 [reprint 1984].
- Robert Hillenbrand. Islamic Art and Architecture. London: Thames and Hudson, 1999.
- Michell, George, ed. Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History and Social Meaning. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978 [reprint 1984].
- Hillenbrand, Robert. Islamic Art and Architecture. London: Thames and Hudson, 1999.
- Allan, James W. and K. A. C. Creswell. A Short Account of Early Muslim Architecture . Cairo: American University Press, 1989.
- Armstrong, Karen. Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet . San Francisco, Calif: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992.
- Asher, Catherine. Architecture of Mughal India. Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Bassiouni, M. Cherif. Introduction to Islam . Chicago, IL: Rand McNally & Co.: 1988.
- Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. Islamic Architecture of Cairo, An Introduction . Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989.
- Blair, Sheila, and Jonathan Bloom. The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 . New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 1994.
- Bloom, Jonathan. The Minaret Symbol of Islam . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
- Burckhardt, Titus. Sacred Art in East and West: Its Principles and Methods . London: Perennial Books, 1967.
- Dodds, Jerrilynn D (ed.). Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain . New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Distributed by H. N. Abrams, 1992.
- Ettinghausen, Richard and Oleg Grabar. The Art and Architecture of Islam: 650-1250 . London and N.Y.: Penguin Books, 1987.
- Ettinghausen, Richard, Oleg Grabar, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. The Art and Architecture of Islam: 650-1250. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001.
- Frishman, Martin and Hasan Uddin Khan (eds.). The Mosque: History, Architectural Development and Regional Diversity . New York, 1994.
- Goodwin, Godfrey. A History of Ottoman Architecture . London: Thames and Hudson, 1971.
- Grabar, Oleg. The Formation of Islamic Art . New Haven: Yale University Press, 2nd. ed., 1987.
- Grabar, Oleg. The Great Mosque of Isfahan . New York: New York University Press, 1990.
- Golombek, Liza and Donald Wilber. The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988.
- Hoag, John D. Islamic Architecture . New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1977.
- Hillenbrand, Robert. Islamic Architecture: Form, Function and Meaning . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994.
- Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab Peoples. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1991.
- Ibn Batuta. Travels, A.D. 1325-1354 . Cambridge [Eng.], 1958.
- Ibn Khaldun. The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History . Princeton, N. J., 1967.
- Irwin, Robert. Islamic Art in Context: Art, Architecture and the Literary World . New York, 1997.
- Kuban, Dogan. Muslim Religious Architecture . Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974.
- Prochazka, A. B. Mosques . Zurich: Muslim Architecture Research Program, 1986.
- Rahman, Fazlur. Islam . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.
- Rogers, Michael. The Spread of Islam . New York: Elsevier-Phaidon, 1976.
- Soucek, Priscilla (ed.). Content and Context of Visual Arts in the Islamic World . Philadelphia, 1988.
- Vogt, Ulya G. Mosquees: grand courants de l’architecture islamique . Paris: 1975.
- Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd Edition, article “Masdjid,” 6: 644-706.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-A
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Fall 2002
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.