While this movie we watched in class seemed to focus on it’s presentation of different Muslims and the whole of the Islamic religion, it also gave detailed and interesting looks into various Islamic architectural feats through the ages. One of those that I personally found particularly intriguing was the former palace of Alhambra built in Granada, Spain.
Though the original structure existed in the 9th century overlooking Granada, in what is today Spain, what survived most intact were the parts of the fortress-turned-palace built in the 13th and 14th centuries under Yusuf I and Mohammed V. As much as the palace has been altered and alternately built up and demolished, it is indeed a wonder that what has survived remains so well preserved, particularly with all of its intricate detail and the sheer amount of planning and work that would have had to go into the structure of the architecture, much less its decoration.
It is in part the continued display of such detail that personally fascinates me about all of these old structures, as I tend to particularly like complexity when well designed. In the design of the Alhambra though, there was also the incorporation of water and live plants into gardens and outdoors spaces that many of the other buildings lacked, and that I am additionally quite fond of.
For example, the Patio (or Court) of the Lions is a striking work of both architecture and sculpture that I find quite pleasing and well designed. It incorporates the water into an interesting and unusual fountain that continues onto and through the floor, which I haven’t really seen before and think is just cool and fun to look at, ignoring its significance in dispensing water. I also like the sculptures of the lions on the base of the fountain, especially as animals in general are some of my favorite artistic subjects.
The reflecting pool in another of the courtyards of the palace is an additional beautiful and smart use of water to extend the height and seeming power of the palace that it reflects. The finely crafted detail on the walls and pillars surrounding the pool are also reflected and add to the atmosphere of grandeur in the courtyard.
The interior ceiling-of-many-mini-vaults, or mocárabes, is quite fascinating itself, despite its lack of greenery or water. Looking at it, it seems almost to be a natural cave formation, only with far more exacting precision than would ever occur in nature. The complexity of it I could even see becoming hypnotizing, if stared at for too long.
In general I suppose, it is the incorporation of many details and oddities that none of the other mosques included, at least to such an extent, that I found the most intriguing about the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.
Sources:
http://www.alhambradegranada.org/en/info/historicalintroduction.asp
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/314
http://www.vivagranada.com/alhambra/lions.htm
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