Muqarnas

Muqarnas (مقرنص; مقرنس, or آهوپای), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of Islamic architecture, integral to the vernacular of Islamic buildings. It was most likely first developed in eleventh-century Iraq, though the earliest preserved examples are also found outside this region. The muqarnas structure originated from the squinch. Sometimes called "honeycomb vaulting" or "stalactite vaulting", the purpose of muqarnas is to create a smooth, decorative zone of transition in an otherwise bare, structural space. This structure gives the ability to distinguish between the main parts of a building, and serve as a transition from the walls of a room into a domed ceiling. Muqarnas architecture is featured in domes, half-dome entrances, iwans and apses. The two main types of muqarnas are the North African/Middle Eastern style, composed of a series of downward triangular projections, and the Iranian style, composed of connecting tiers of segments. The etymology of the word muqarnas is somewhat vague. It is thought to have originated from the Greek word korōnis meaning "ornamental molding". There is also speculation of the origin to stem from the Arabic word qarnasi meaning "intricate work". Nişanyan claims that it is related to the Aramaic קרנסא, meaning "hammering". Muqarnas is typically applied to the undersides of domes, pendentives, cornices, squinches, arches and vaults and is often seen in the mihrab of a mosque. They can be entirely ornamental, or serve as load-bearing structures. The earliest forms of muqarnas domes, found in the Mesopotamian region, were primarily structural. Muqarnas grew increasingly common and decorative in the beginning of the 12th century. Muqarnas can either be carved into the structural blocks of corbelled vaulting or hung from a structural roof as a purely decorative surface. The most distinctive form of the muqarnas is the honeycomb structure, often intricate and impossibly fractal-like in its complexity.