ARC475 Islamic Architecture in the Age of Empires

[2–0, 2 cr.]

This course surveys the development of Islamic architecture under the most powerful Islamic empires of the early modern period, namely the Ottomans of Turkey, the Mughals of India, and the Sfavids of Iran. It reviews and analyzes a number of paradigmatic architectural examples from these illustrious Islamic dynasties, as a way of elucidating how each royal house possessed its unique vision of the world, a vision which ultimately led to the formulation of unique regional styles in architecture. Sacred, commemorative and secular monuments will be closely examined, so as to illustrate how royal Muslim patronage evolved, how it produced structures of unprecedented scale and complexity and how Islam and modernity began evolved.

Prerequisite: ARC376 Introduction to Islamic Architecture.