Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design

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.

Venice & the East: The Impact of the Islamic World on Venetian Architecture 1100-1500

Average customer rating:

dont get carried away
The Many Veils of Venice
Venice's love affair with the Orient

Venice & the East: The Impact of the Islamic World on Venetian Architecture 1100-1500
Deborah Howard
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Criticism | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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Venice and the Islamic World, 828-1797
Bazaar to Piazza: Islamic Trade and Italian Art, 1300-1600
The Architectural History of Venice: Revised and enlarged edition
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Palladio in Venice

ASIN: 0300085044

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.

Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Average customer rating:

Where is the color?
must have
Geometry made easy
Geometrical Designs in Black and White

Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
J. Bourgoin
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Islamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive)
Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Arabic Art in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Persian Designs and Motifs for Artists and Craftsmen (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Authentic Turkish Designs (Dover Design Library)

ASIN: 0486229246

Book Description

Intricate overall patterns based on hexagon, octagon, geometric figures, rosettes, much more from traditional sources. 200 plates.

Customer Reviews:

Where is the color?.......2006-02-21

Very disappointed. All black and white line designs. Not what I wanted at all.

must have.......2003-05-12

Arabic Geometrical Patterns are not so easy to find, not to mention understand their knowhows, this book clearly displays a very wide array of examples with simple step by step instructions displayed on the same platform, i was searching for a book like that, this book is quite enough, it is not for novice beginners though, you need to have some background in such subject as the text and discription for each chapter is very limited, and the book is totally black and white, so you have to figureout what color combinations are suitable. But the layout of the book makes reprouducing the wounderful examples easy.

Geometry made easy.......2001-05-21

This book has an extensive variety of geometric patterns that can be use by a Math teacher as well as an Art teacher. The designs are easy to reproduce. The display of the designs are big enough for students to try out and experiment. I greatly recommend it.

Geometrical Designs in Black and White.......2000-05-04

This book is full of different patterns for use by craftsmen. Unfortunately, it has no color illustrations, and no information about sources for these designs. It is more like a coloring book than a resource for designs. However, it does have guidelines within each design to show how the design was created, and I find that useful.

Islamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive)

Average customer rating:

nice collection
Nice collection
An excellant source for Arabic designs!

Islamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive)
Eva Wilson
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Arabic Art in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Authentic Turkish Designs (Dover Design Library)
Persian Designs and Motifs for Artists and Craftsmen (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

ASIN: 048625819X

Book Description

280 authentic designs, beautifully rendered from book illustrations, pottery, metalwork, carvings, other sources. Geometrics, florals, animal and human figures in circular, hexagonal, rectangular, other shapes.

Customer Reviews:

nice collection.......2007-01-25

This is an interesting collection but I don't find it too useful for goldwork embroidery. Some of the designs would work if enlarged and simplified.

Nice collection.......2005-09-21

As a person involved in art and design, I found this book to be helpful. I love the intricate designs and the explanation at the beginning of the book. I have recently implemented them in my artwork and designs. I think any artist or craftsperson would find this a helpful tool.

An excellant source for Arabic designs!.......1998-09-22

Ms. Wilson presents various elements of Arabic designs drawn mostly in black and white. She includes instruction for reproducing the designs and commentary on time periods and original colors used. The only thing that would have made this book better would have been pictures of the artifacts she refers to in her extensive documentation. A must have for anyone doing Islamic or Arabic arts!

Arabic Art in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Average customer rating:

beautiful but disappointing

Arabic Art in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Using Color | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Islamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive)
Persian Designs and Motifs for Artists and Craftsmen (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Authentic Turkish Designs (Dover Design Library)

ASIN: 0486236587

Book Description

Here are 141 designs and motifs in authentic full color from classic 19th century work by noted French historian — a visual vocabulary of Islamic decorative art.

Customer Reviews:

beautiful but disappointing.......2007-10-16

The pictures are wonderful examples of patterns. I was looking for something with more depth explaining the structure and construction of the art.

Moorish Architecture in Andalusia (Taschen 25th Anniversary Series)

Average customer rating:

A Steal of a Deal

Moorish Architecture in Andalusia (Taschen 25th Anniversary Series)
Marianne Barrucand , and Achim Bednorz
Manufacturer: Taschen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Reference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Byzantine | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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The Book of Plants: The Complete Plates (Taschen 25th Anniversary Series)

ASIN: 3822831034

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!

Average customer rating:

Great value

Islamic Design (Dover Pictura)
Dover
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Japanese Design (Dover Pictura)
Arabic Art in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Art Nouveau (Dover Pictura)
Floral Design (Dover Pictura)

ASIN: 0486996360

Book Description

Among the world's great decorative art traditions, Islamic design has inspired the arts and crafts of many cultures. High-quality, royalty-free illustrations — reproduced from a wealth of rare sources — include exquisite patterns, borders, and motifs displaying all the beauty and intricacy of Islamic art. 201 color illustrations, 12 in black-and-white.

Customer Reviews:

Great value.......2007-08-09

I am a graphic designer for a magazine, and I use Dover publications often in both my professional and personal work. I have to represent many different cultures with the layouts I create. The Islamic patterns in this book and CD-Rom set are beautiful, and very useful. The price is so cheap, even if you only end up using a few images, it is a good deal. They can help put the viewer in the culture when the photo shoot needed help and an appropriate stock photo is not available. The printed book itself is attractive and pleasant to browse through.

One drawback is that the sources are not identified. It would be nice to know something about the background behind each design: where is it from, is it characteristic of any particular Islamic group? I would like to be able to use the images as intelligently as possible, and a little education along with the artwork would be nice.

I haven't used them yet, but there are also vector versions: over 70, all one color pieces. The quality varies, but at the price, I have no complaint. At least some of them will be useful, from what I have seen.

Overall, I would recomemd this book; you won't find a less expensive collection of Islamic art with this high lvel of quality and variety of formats.

Traditional Islamic craft in Moroccan architecture

Average customer rating:

Traditional Islamic craft in Moroccan architecture
Andre Paccard
Manufacturer: Atelier 74
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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French | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 2864860031

Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Average customer rating:

Great Islamic designs
Great colors

Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
N. Simakoff
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Decorative Arts | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Islamic Design (Dover Pictura)

ASIN: 0486274772

Book Description

Over 160 rich, sumptuous designs, reproduced from rare 19th-century edition. Royalty-free motifs drawn from carpets, tiles, carved wood, plates, jewelry, decorative painting of buildings and furnishings, metalwork, jewelry, more. Geometrics, florals, and other designs in many sizes and shapes; rich selection of borders. 162 designs on 68 plates. Captions.

Customer Reviews:

Great Islamic designs.......2005-11-22

To correct the previous reviewer, these designs are by no means Russian! Neither are they Arabic, but, as the name of the book states, they are Islamic. The designs were collected in Central Asia area, mainly in Bukhara, the center of ancient culture, and are the great sample of the wonderful art of the region.

Great colors.......1999-01-29

If you are looking for arabian designs this is not the book, the designs are russian, but the drawings are very good.

Average customer rating:

The Mediation of Ornament
Oleg Grabar
Manufacturer: Bollingen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Islamic | World | History | Subjects | Books

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The Sense of Order: A Study in the Psychology of Decorative Art (The Wrightsman Lectures, V. 9)
The Formation of Islamic Art, Revised and Enlarged
The Language of Ornament (World of Art)

ASIN: 0691001561

Book Description

In this richly illustrated book, Oleg Grabar shares a veteran art historian's love for the sheer sensuality of ornamentation. Grabar analyzes early and medieval Islamic objects and uses this art to show how ornament in general enables a direct, immediate encounter between viewers and art objects from any culture and time period.

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