ROMANESQUE AND ISLAMIC DESIGN

 WHAT I LEARNED: 

This week focused on Romanesque and Islamic design. Although these traditions developed in different regions and religions, both demonstrate how architecture can express faith, power, protection, and cultural identity. They also reused earlier building knowledge while creating new spaces for worship and community. 

The word Romanesque means "In the manner of the Romans." The style began developing in Italy and southern France around 800 CE. Charlemagne encouraged education, art, monasteries, and construction based on Roman building methods. Religious life became especially important after 1000 CE as people traveled on pilgrimages to visit Christian shrines. Churches needed to accommodate larger congregations and groups of visitors. 

Romanesque churches developed from the Early Christians basilica. They normally included a nave, transept, apse, and side aisles. Builders added choirs, side chapels, and ambulatories where visitors could move around the church without interrupting worship. Semicircular arches, thick masonry walls, piers, and stone vaults gave these buildings a heavy and protected appearance. 

One major development was the use of masonry roofs instead of wooden roofs. Stone vaulting improved fire resistance, but its weight required stronger walls and supports. This affected the entire experience of the interior because windows were usually smaller and the spaces could feel darker. Architects and artists added color through painted walls, tapestries, gilded sculpture, and religious objects made from gold, silver, ivory, and precious stones. 

Romanesque churches could also have very different levels of decoration. Fontenay Abbey in France had a more austere appearance with simple walls and limited ornamentation. The Pisa religious complex used local marble and included a cathedral, cylindrical baptistery, and tall campanile. Cluny Abbey became connected to a powerful Benedictine movement that helped spread Romanesque art and architecture. 

Religious imagery was another important part of Romanesque design. Stone carvings around church entrances taught biblical lessons through images. The carved tympanum above an entrance could show Christ, virtue, sin, punishment, and salvation. This allowed the building itself to communicate religious beliefs to visitors. 

Furniture was less important than architecture during the Romanesque period, but several objects still survived. These included thrones, tabernacles, and storage chests. Chests were useful because they could protect valuable possessions and be transported. Many ordinary homes were constructed from wood, mud, and twigs, so they did not survive as well as stone churches and castles. 

Islamic design developed across Africa, Europe, and Asia, which created many regional variations. Religion provided an important foundation, but Islamic architecture also responded to local materials, climates, and existing cultures. Mosques became central places for prayer and community gathering. 

Early mosque design commonly included a courtyard, perimeter walls, and a covered hall supported by columns. Worshippers prayed facing Mecca, which shaped the building's orientation and layout. The Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia used a large courtyard, a columned prayer hall, and horseshoe arches. The Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain developed a hypostyle prayer hall containing repeated columns and striped arches. The repetition makes the interior feel as though it continues beyond what someone can immediately see. 

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also called the Blue Mosque, demonstrates Ottoman Islamic architecture. Its exterior contains one main dome, secondary domes, and six minarets. The interior includes thousands of handmade tiles, floral patterns, stained-glass windows, and walls that appear similar to carpets. The patterns create detail without depending on large figurative sculptures. 

Islamic architecture in Spain combined European and Islamic traditions. The Alhambra in Granada is a palace, fortress, and garden complex containing detailed stucco, tilework, arabesque patterns, courtyards, water, arches, and muqarnas. The decoration becomes part of the architecture instead of feeling like something added afterward. I especially liked the muqarnas ceilings because their repeated three-dimensional forms change as light and shadow move across them.

One difference I noticed is that Romanesque architecture often communicates strength through heavy masonry, solid walls, and clearly defined structural elements; Islamic interiors frequently create a lighter visual effect through repeated arches, patterned surfaces, water, gardens, and detailed ornamentation. However, both traditions used repetition, geometry, craftsmanship, and religious meaning to shape how people experience a space.

HISTORICAL EXAMPLES:

The Pisa religious complex uses local marble and separates the cathedral, cylindrical baptistery, and campanile into individual buildings.

This chest from approximately 1200–1250 demonstrates the Romanesque concern with storage and protection. Its decoration also transformed a practical object into a work of craftsmanship.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque uses a central dome, secondary domes, stained glass, floral patterns, and thousands of tiles to create a detailed worship space.

The Great Mosque of Córdoba creates a hypostyle hall through repeated columns and striped horseshoe arches. The repetition produces rhythm and makes the interior feel expansive.

The Alhambra’s muqarnas dome uses repeated geometric forms to create a complex surface shaped by light and shadow.

CURRENT APPLICATIONS: 

Romanesque and Islamic design principles still appear in contemporary architecture and interiors. Designers reuse arches, vaults, columns, symmetry, and historical ornamentation to give spaces a sense of importance or connect them to the past. These elements may now be made from steel, concrete, gypsum, or manufactured stone instead of traditional masonry. 

Islamic influence also appears in modern tile, textiles, wall coverings, screens, and bathroom fixtures. Repeated geometric and arabesque patterns can organize a surface while creating visual movement. Modern manufacturing allows these patterns to be used in residential and commercial spaces far beyond their original locations. 

The entrance to the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace uses arches, columns, heavy massing, and ornamentation to create a modern interpretation of historical architecture.

The Forum Shops interior uses vaults, painted ceilings, sculpture, columns, and controlled lighting to make a shopping center feel like a historical public space.

This modern interior uses patterned textiles and tile to create the repetition and visual richness associated with Islamic design.

The pointed opening and patterned tile reinterpret Islamic arches and surface decoration within a contemporary bathroom.

These modern tiles use repeated geometric and curved forms that connect to the pattern systems found throughout Islamic interiors.

ONE STEP FURTHER: SEDEFKÂR MEHMED AGHA 

I chose Sedefkar Mehmed Agha for my "One step further: research because the Blue Mosque was one of my favorite buildings from the presentation. I was especially interested in how its exterior shape, structural system, interior patterns, and lighting all contribute to the same experience. 

Sedefkar Mehmed Agha was an Ottoman architect who studied within the architectural tradition established by Mimar Sinan. Sultan Ahmed I selected him to design the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul. Construction began in 1609 and finished in 1617. The mosque stands near Hagia Sophia, so its design became part of a larger architectural conversation between Byzantine and Ottoman building traditions. 

The exterior composition centers around one main dome surrounded by smaller domes and semi-domes. These forms gradually step downward and make the building appear like one connected mass. The six minarets create strong vertical points around the lower domed composition. 

The building's structure also shapes the interior experience. Large supports carry the central dome, while the smaller domes help transition toward the surrounding walls. Windows bring light into the prayer hall and reduce the visual heaviness of the structure. This intrested me because the building has a massive structural system but stil creates a bright and open interior. 

The interior decoration included more than 20,000 tiles with many floral patterns, including tulips, Stained-glass, windows; painted domes, calligraphy, carpets, and tilework creating layers of color and detail. According to Architectural Digest, Sedefkar Mehmed Agha's design combined Ottoman domes and semi-domes with thousands of Iznik tiles and a carefully organized prayer hall. 

What I appreciate most is how Mehmed Agha treated architecture and interior design as one complete idea. The exterior domes show the organization of the interior space, while the tiles, light, and patterns reinforce the building's religious purpose. I found it interesting that the structural system does not disappear behind the decoration. The structure establishes the main space, and the decoration helps people understand and experience it. 

The Blue Mosque’s exterior is organized around a central dome, cascading secondary domes, and six slender minarets.

Thousands of handmade tiles and floral designs give the mosque its color, detail, and popular name.

The prayer area combines structure, pattern, carpets, stained glass, and religious function within one coordinated interior.

The main dome and surrounding semi-domes demonstrate how Mehmed Agha used geometry to unify the interior.

CLOSING REFLECTION:

After studying Romanesque and Islamic design, I understand more clearly how religion, culture, materials, and structure can shape architecture. Romanesque churches used thick masonry, vaults, arches, sculpture, and processional plans to create durable spaces for worship and pilgrimage. Islamic buildings developed differently across several regions but commonly used courtyards, domes, arches, geometric patterns, gardens, water, and detailed surface decoration. What stood out to me was that both traditions used architecture to create an experience instead of only providing shelter. Romanesque buildings odten communicate protection and permanence, while many Islamic interiors create rhythm and visual movement through repetition, light, and pattern. Studying both traditions also showed me that modern designers continue borrowing historical principles, even when they use completely different materials and construction methods.

SOURCES: 

Judson University INT 231. (2026). Romanesque [PowerPoint slides].

Judson University INT 231. (2026). Islamic Design [PowerPoint slides].

Architectural Digest. (n.d.). The Blue Mosque: Everything You Need to Know. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/the-blue-mosque-everything-you-need-to-know

Bravo, M. (2022, October 13). The Alhambra explained [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTXl4RQimbY

Haggo, D. (2021, July 1). Romanesque church architecture: The basics [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DLl4BPcoq8

UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (n.d.). Historic Areas of Istanbul. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/356/