Movement
Islamic Architecture
Explore in the Atlas →The building traditions established by Muslim peoples from the 7th century onward, spanning Spain to South Asia, synthesising Roman, Byzantine, Sasanian and Mesopotamian sources into distinct forms such as the hypostyle and four-iwan mosque, the dome, minaret, muqarnas and surfaces ornamented with geometric pattern, arabesque and calligraphy. It encompasses mosques, madrasas, tombs, palaces, hammams and caravanserais across successive dynasties.
Ritual Power Memory
Details
- Origin
- Arabian Peninsula and the wider Islamic world
Classifications
- Holder
- Communal intergenerational
- Source of authority
- Revelation cosmologyAncestry
- Subject
- Human centred
- Cosmological orientation
- Cardinal axesMandala
- Degree of codification
- Pattern based
- Mode of transmission
- ApprenticeshipText drawing
- Knowledge type
- Relational embodied
- Epistemic cluster
- Islamic menaCross cultural cosmological
Referenced by
- Taj Mahal exemplifies
- Süleymaniye Mosque exemplifies
- Shah Mosque (Isfahan) exemplifies
- Alhambra (Nasrid Palaces) exemplifies
- Mimar Sinan associated with
- Byzantine Architecture influenced
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Islamic architecture. Britannica, 2024.
- Various. Islamic architecture. Wikipedia, 2024.
- Robert Hillenbrand. Islamic Architecture: Form, Function and Meaning. Edinburgh University Press, 1994.
Cite this entry
First published May 2026Last revised Jul 2026
CLAD. "Islamic Architecture." Atlas of Architectural Thought. CLAD, 2026. https://www.cl-ad.com.au/research/atlas/movement/islamic-architecture/. Accessed September 1, 2026.