Universität Wien

080074 VO Islamic Architecture (2012W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 8 - Kunstgeschichte und Europäische Ethnologie

First session October 10, 2012
Moodle

Details

Language: German

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 10.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 17.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 24.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 31.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 07.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 14.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 21.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 28.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 05.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 12.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 09.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 16.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03
  • Wednesday 23.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C2 UniCampus Hof 2 2G-K1-03

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The Arab Empire of Islamic rulers in the 7th to 10th centuries included most of the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia and produced in these regions new conditions for the arts. Buildings ordered by the caliphs and princes of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750) whose centres were in Syria and Palestine, are viewed by scholars as a transformation of late-antique models, while architecture under the Abbasids in Iraq (750-1258) is seen as a continuity of building traditions of the Ancient Orient and as a spread of new formal ideas and aesthetics. Mosque and palace architecture as well as city foundations are mostly interpreted from a perspective of royal representation. While earlier scholarly literature discusses "Islamic" architecture as a rupture vis-a-vis preceding formal traditions, more recent research emphasizes continuities and asks for a change of content as related to a change of context.

Assessment and permitted materials

Regular participation, exam (multiple choice) at the end of the semester.

Date of exam: see above.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The lecture introduces key monuments, some of them known through archaeological excavation, in order to discuss buildings types and functions, architectural forms and decoration in the two related but distinct periods of early Islamic architecture under the Umayyads and Abbasids in the years c. 650 to 1000 AD. The focus will be equally divided between sacred and secular buildings, such as the mosque and the palace, and include a view on city foundations. Precursors and interpretations will be discussed case by case. Continuities, formal and thematic innovations will be made clear and perspectives of interpretation will be discussed.

Examination topics

The lecture addresses students of Art History and is open to interested students of other disciplines such as Oriental Studies and Classical Archaeology. The discussion is based on formal and comparative analysis put into a historical context.

Reading list

Introductory readings:
Oleg Grabar, The Formation of Islamic Art (Yale 1987). Richard Ettinghausen, Oleg Grabar und Marylin Jenkins-Madina, Islamic Art and Architecture 650-1250 (New Haven 2001), chap. 1-2, 4. Martina Müller-Wiener, Die Kunst der islamischen Welt (Stuttgart 2012), pp. 21-57, 61-78. Robert Hillenbrand: Islamic Architecture: Form, Function and Meaning (Edinburgh 1994), chap. 2, 7. K. A. C. Creswell und James W. Allan, A Short Account of Early Muslim Architecture (Aldershot 1989).

Association in the course directory

F 160, F 250

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:31