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By: Tuan Khang Phan
Beauty in Simplicity
Beauty in Simplicity
Have you ever walked into a building and felt it speak to both your eyes and your mind? That is the very experience that you can have with Almoravid Architecture! Having existed between the 11th and 12th Centuries, this great dynasty had much influence in North Africa and parts of Spain. The way that every element of design, including arches, domed ceilings and their extensive use of decorative arts, means something.
A Vision of Purposeful Design
A Vision of Purposeful Design
The Almoravids were a Berber dynasty that rose out of the Sahara Desert to rule an empire encompassing the territories of modern-day Morocco, Western Algeria, and a large part of Islamic Spain. The Almoravids functioned as religious reformers, and their architectural values reflected their religious tenets of asceticism and religiosity. The Almoravids abandoned the trends of elaborateness in architectural design and emphasized harmony in the ratio and ornamentations of the architecture (Almoravid architecture, n.d.).
The uniqueness of their architectural style was a blend of their traditions. The Almoravids brought Muslim, Christian, and Jewish craftsmen from the Iberian peninsula to North Africa after they conquered Al-Andalus (Almoravid dynasty, n.d.). This has led the way for the sophisticated style of Córdoba to be combined with the puritanical aesthetic of the Maghrebian tradition and resulted in the construction of architectural works that coupled functionality with religiosity and meaning.
Muqarnas: Magic in the Ceiling
Muqarnas: Magic in the Ceiling
The most significant contribution of the Almoravids to the western Islamic world was the introduction of muqarnas, honeycomb-like stalactite vaulting. Muqarnas is a type of three-dimensional geometric structure that came from 11th century Iraq. The Almoravid builders refined muqarnas into magnificent architectural works (Almoravid architecture, n.d).
Upon entering the Almoravid Qubba in Marrakesh, the small muqarnas cupolas which seem to be hanging in mid-air at the corners of the building would catch your eye immediately. These ornamental forms are not only decorative, but they also help to support the dome and bring an intricate play of light and shadow to the interior.
With lighting traveling over the muqarnas pattern, it throws shadows into the hollow cells, thus giving the ceiling a living-like appearance. The shadows traversing the muqarnas pattern reveal that the firm structure of the ceiling is breaking down into a delicate, airy, and intangible form (Almoravid Qubba, n.d).
The Evolution of Arches: Form and Meaning
The Evolution of Arches: Form and Meaning
Horseshoe Arches at Great Mosque of Tlemcen
Horseshoe Arches at Great Mosque of Tlemcen
Horseshoe Arches: The Elegant Curve
Horseshoe Arches: The Elegant Curve
The first thing you will observe in an Almoravid mosque is the presence of a horseshoe arch. It was in the Almoravid dynasty that the first pointed horseshoe arches emerged, in which the arch continues its shape below the horizon diameter (Moroccan architecture, n.d.). The arch directs the viewer towards the prayer niche, thus giving a feeling of height and divinity. You will observe this design in the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, and you will understand how the arches impressed the designers in the generations to come, simple and magnificent in design and exuding the best combination of functionality and aestheticism (Britannica, n.d.).
Polylobed Arches are made of curved lines that create a scallop shape on top of doorways, creating a soft and natural feel to the structure. The use of these Polylobed Arch structures can be found in Fatimid Architectural Design but the Almoravid Era took the design of the Polylobed Arch, so that it could serve as a decorative element in Moorish Architecture (n.d). In the Almoravid Qubba, we see the Polylobed Arches acting as a framing device around doorways and how the curves mimic that of nature, giving the appearance to the stone of being more fabric-like in their curves and forms.
Polylobed Arches: Organic Rhythm
Polylobed Arches: Organic Rhythm
Lambrequin Arches: An Innovation
Lambrequin Arches: An Innovation
Perhaps the most characteristic Almoravid contribution to architectural design was the lambrequin arch, with its complex lobbed and pointed pattern. First appearing in the Almoravid dynasty in the form of the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fes in the early 12th century, the Lambrequin arch began to be commonly employed in mosques to emphasize an arch in the vicinity of the mihrab area, and marked the ingenuity of the Almoravids in making any architectural form their own (Lambrequin arch, n.d.).
Stucco Craftsmanship: Carving Light and Shadow
Stucco Craftsmanship: Carving Light and Shadow
In the 11th century stucco had become the primary decorative material used by artists who carved their work using very deep relief. The period of the Almoravids was characterized by the skilful use of stucco and allows us to see the artistry of that time through the highly decorative elements that these artisans created.
The artisans of the Almoravid era mastered the use of stucco in a deep relief format filled with both textual and organic motifs such as palmettes, acanthus leaves and pine cones painted with red earth and arranged in interlocking patterns forming borders around the stucco pieces. The beauty of the work can be observed when viewing the carvings and the patterns emerge from as well as recede back into the background at different times of the day.
Urban Vision: From Desert Camp to Imperial Capital
Urban Vision: From Desert Camp to Imperial Capital
Not to mention the Almoravids has transformed Marrakesh from a desert military encampment in the 1060s into an organized imperial capital that retained its distinctive character with date palms and informal layouts reflecting desert origins. The city earned the name "Marrakush al-Hamra" (Marrakesh the Red) from its mud-brick construction, while Ali ibn Yusuf's construction program added a magnificent Andalusian palace and defensive city walls built around 1126 that still define the medina today.
Ingenious Irrigation: Bringing Life to Arid Lands
Ingenious Irrigation: Bringing Life to Arid Lands
Here's where the Almoravids truly proved their genius: they conquered not just with swords, but with water. Imagine how bold it must have been to construct such a large city in one of the harshest environments on Earth! Under the leadership of Youssef Ibn Tachfine, Almoravid engineers were able to utilize and improve upon methods that had been developed approximately 2,500 years before by the Persians regarding water distribution using gravity and tunnels. Instead of creating a few wells, the Persians created an extensive system of tunnels that acted like underground rivers that brought water from far-away aquifers to cities sitting high on desert slopes. The chief engineer for Ali ibn Yusuf, Abd Allah ibn Yunus al-Muhandis, developed a sophisticated system of tunneled water and reservoirs, thus enabling the impossible to be accomplished. At its peak, there were approximately 650 khettaras operating under the Haouz plain, providing water for flourishing green spaces where fountains flowed and gardens flourished - clear evidence of the power of human creativity to turn an arid military camp into a garden paradise filled with vibrant life.
Legacy: How important it is?
Legacy: How important it is?
Until now, the architecture of the Almoravids continues to amaze and inspire. Those were the buildings that formed the basis of the Moorish architecture, which the later dynasties like the Almohads took their influence from. The fabulous ornamentation of the Alhambra, the complicated tilework of Moroccan madrasas, can all be recognized as the descendants of Almoravid experiments in combining restraint with decoration (Almoravid dynasty, n.d.).
The Almoravids are a case of beauty not having to roar, for at times it is a whisper in perfect proportion and harmony. By the muqarnas turning ceilings into geometric poems, arches that help not only movement but also meditation, stucco that interacts with light throughout the day, clever water systems that made the desert fertile, and city planning that was both very practical and majestic, Almoravid architecture is a perfect example of how limitation and refinement can lead to creations that are of eternal beauty.
References
Almoravid architecture. (n.d.). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almoravid_architecture
Almoravid dynasty. (n.d.). Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Almoravids
Almoravid Koubba. (n.d.). Almoravid Koubba Official Site. https://almoravidkoubba.com/history/
Almoravid Qubba. (n.d.). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almoravid_Qubba
Lambrequin arch. (n.d.). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambrequin_arch
Moorish architecture. (n.d.). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorish_architecture
Moroccan architecture. (n.d.). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccan_architecture
Stucco decoration in Islamic architecture. (n.d.). Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stucco_decoration_in_Islamic_architecture
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