The Role of Calligraphy in Architecture

The Importance of Calligraphy in Islamic Art

The Role of Calligraphy in Architecture

The Origins of Islamic Calligraphy

However calligraphy as art form has been practiced in the early years of the history of Islamic civilization. A new script was created to be able to document and maintain the words of the Qur’an, the Islamic holy book. Arabic writing started by adaptation from upper (Nabataean) and lower (Aramaic) scripts, but also at this time, through development of the Islamic calligraphy, the art of calligraphy also expanded and divided into several varieties of the forms, different in-house. Some of the most prominent styles include:

Kufic:

The first calligraphic style of the script is a strong angular and geometric and centered emphases on horizontals and verticals; it is used in the Qur’anic manuscript as an engrossed and in buildings as inscription.

Naskh:

Naskh script was preferred to Kufic script and considered more round and natural and was used in writing most of the Qur’ans. It is still being practiced in some ways up to this date.

Thuluth:

Alignments are predominantly vertical, elongated and curved, styling the Thuluth is a more cursive, more, more decorative than Arabic style. In carving inscriptions on monuments and other architectural designs they mostly used it.

Diwani:

Diwani is a highly stylized calligraphic script originating from the Ottoman Empire that has features of ligatures and compact arrangement of letters. Primarily used to write letters, documents and formal notifications that were latterly issued either to the king or authorities.

Calligraphy as a Visual Art

Calligraphy was always symbolic of divinity in the Islamic art that has been inspired by religion. Islamic law prohibits artists to depict human and animal form in religious art, so artists resorted to calligraphy, in the form of poetry, in order to express themselves. The Arabic script was used to develop elaborate forms and patterns and the copybook changed words and phrases into art forms. There are different types of calligraphic compositions; linear, circular, or even geometric compositions that can be parts of it. It is also well possible for the words of the prayer to take the form of verses from the Qur’an, the names of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad or the like, or include phrases with a religious meaning. These calligraphic works are considered to be the process of making and are themselves a form of art and fine skill and master calligraphers are much honored.

The Role of Calligraphy in Islamic Architecture

Islamic architecture also employs the form of ornamental writing as a form of decoration and a tool of conveying information with scriptures. Mosque, royal palaces, tombs, Islamic countries, other buildings across the Islamic countries use calligraphy.

Mosques:

The verses from the Quran, specially written poems and other religious scriptures are written on the interior walls, the mihrab, minbar and the domes, in different writings and calligraphy. A constant reminder that the divine is always present and so is the all important match to making a spiritual environment for the worshippers. In the Great Mosque of Kairouan Tunisia and the Alhambra in Spain, mosques with much calligraphy are outstanding examples.

Tombs and Mausoleums

The other important places of calligraphy are the tombs and mausoleums where there would normally be names of the dead with their ranks, or a few verses from the Qur’an wrote on. Little known is its beauty but the beautiful calligraphic inscriptions both on the exterior and interior of the Taj Mahal in India are one.

Palaces and Public Buildings

Calligraphy does not rest in mere ornament in palaces or other public edifices; it is also utilized as a manner of domination and self assertion. As an example, calligraphic inscriptions on the entrance of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul are covering the moral values of the Ottoman sultans.

Architectural Elements

On buildings and their structures, the friezes, arches, and panels that are decorative are also used by calligraphy. It is also sometimes like other styles of art — geometric designs, arabesques, etc. it makes this view more attractive. Therefore calligraphy is one of the most important components of Islamic art and architecture. It communicates with it in ways both religiously and culturally, and it aesthetically is used as one of decoration. The use of calligraphy in structures is a way of their graphic features of the Arabic script and artistic occupation of the artists who combine them into a distinctive symbol of Islamic art.