Cultural Assimilation Seen in Islamic Architecture
Location
CSU
Student's Major
Anthropology
Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mentor's Name
Winifred Mitchell
Mentor's Department
Anthropology
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
The purpose of my project is to explore the origin of Islamic architecture and identify major features of variation in mosques during the early stage and the late stage of their development. The hypothesis is that the establishment of Islamic architecture was largely influenced by Western culture at the earlier stage, and there are also variations in the later stage mosques that are specific to each region. After it was originally introduced, Islam spread over much of the world. Islamic architecture played an important role in the distribution of the religion. Islam discourages the use of living figure in religious context. Although early mosques were very simple, Muslims developed their unique architectural styles, such as geometric motifs. Those characteristics were acquired mostly in the earlier stage, and the examples of earlier mosques are mosques in Jerusalem and Spain. Mosques in Africa and China are different from those in Arabia, showing Islam's successful adaptation into the local region. The causes of the changes include preexisting religion and local environment. Factors most important in these changes will be identified.
Cultural Assimilation Seen in Islamic Architecture
CSU
The purpose of my project is to explore the origin of Islamic architecture and identify major features of variation in mosques during the early stage and the late stage of their development. The hypothesis is that the establishment of Islamic architecture was largely influenced by Western culture at the earlier stage, and there are also variations in the later stage mosques that are specific to each region. After it was originally introduced, Islam spread over much of the world. Islamic architecture played an important role in the distribution of the religion. Islam discourages the use of living figure in religious context. Although early mosques were very simple, Muslims developed their unique architectural styles, such as geometric motifs. Those characteristics were acquired mostly in the earlier stage, and the examples of earlier mosques are mosques in Jerusalem and Spain. Mosques in Africa and China are different from those in Arabia, showing Islam's successful adaptation into the local region. The causes of the changes include preexisting religion and local environment. Factors most important in these changes will be identified.
