Cosmology and architecture in premodern Islam : an architectural reading of mystical ideas / Samer Akkach.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Akkach, Samer.

Series:

SUNY series in Islam.

SUNY series in Islam

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islamic art and symbolism.

Symbolism in architecture.

Islamic architecture.

Islamic cosmology.

Sufism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxv, 262 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This fascinating interdisciplinary study reveals connections between architecture, cosmology, and mysticism. Samer Akkach demonstrates how space ordering in premodern Islamic architecture reflects the transcendental and the sublime. The book features many new translations, a number from unpublished sources, and several illustrations.Referencing a wide range of mystical texts, and with a special focus on the works of the great Sufi master Ibn Arabi, Akkach introduces a notion of spatial sensibility that is shaped by religious conceptions of time and space. Religious beliefs about the cosmos, geography, the human body, and constructed forms are all underpinned by a consistent spatial sensibility anchored in medieval geocentrism. Within this geometrically defined and ordered universe, nothing stands in isolation or ambiguity; everything is interrelated and carefully positioned in an intricate hierarchy. Through detailed mapping of this intricate order, the book shows the significance of this mode of seeing the world for those who lived in the premodern Islamic era and how cosmological ideas became manifest in the buildings and spaces of their everyday lives. This is a highly original work that provides important insights on Islamic aesthetics and culture, on the history of architecture, and on the relationship of art and religion, creativity and spirituality.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Illustrations

Note to the Reader

Preface

Introduction

Abbreviations

Discursive Order

Metaphysical Order

Cosmic Order

Architectural Order

Afterword: Architecture and Cosmic Habitat

Notes

List of Arabic Manuscripts Cited

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-253) and index.

ISBN:

9780791483442

0791483444

9781423744054

1423744055

OCLC:

76764809