Interior Design of the Alhambra Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Interior Design of the Alhambra - Essay Example There is an attention to detail and patterns to where intricate forms are made. In addition to the interior aspect, it has a massive interior space but even so, the smallest corner has great significance in the entire presentation of the building. It then has these momentous domes that are loaded with art work and glass that allow light to enter the space making it a different place in different times of the day. I will now present a detailed description of the Alhambra and the meaning of its designs. The "red fortress" or the Alhambra is the only most significant and most conserved Arabian palace. The Alhambra is built by Moorish kings during the 12th and13th centuries and is located in the southern part of Spain. Its chief glory is its exceptional ornamentation. The name also refers to the color of the mountain to where it is built. The palace is an ensemble of exquisite artistic designs that can be attributed to the following inspirations such as religion, nature, music, culture, important personalities, and the foreign influences. It is a genuine expression of the once prosperous Moorish civilization and its architecture in Spain. The interior of the structure is decorated sumptuously with impressive examples of the honeycomb and stalactite-like vaulting1 of roof or dome which are eminent and typical of Islamic style of decoration. The famous beauties of the palace are: The Gate of Justice, The Court of Alberca; The Court of Lions with its alabaster basin peeling diamond drop s; The Hall of Ambassadors; The Tower of Canaries; The Court of Myrtles; The Hall of Justice; and several gardens, fountains, panoramas, chambers, towers, and balconies. Little and beautiful patterns containing vines and Arabic characters are interwoven into a structure of red, black, blue, and gold unspeakable richness. Decoration is simply defined as the act or process of putting ornaments to beautify, adorn, or enrich a place. Once all these concepts are implemented in the interior of a building or a structure, it now becomes interior decoration. In the Alhambra, the embellishment or decoration within the palaces epitomized the vestiges of Moorish dominion within Spain. The seclusion with the rest of the Islam, and the commercial and political relationship with the Christian kingdoms also influenced in the concepts on space; columns, muqarnas and stalactite-looking ceiling decorations, are visible in several chambers, and the interiors of numerous palaces are decorated with arabesques and calligraphy. Muqarnas is an Arabic word that illustrates a traditional element distinctive to Islamic architecture. They are small niche-like components that are combined with each other in successive layers to enclose a space and produce surfaces rich in three-dimensional geometric compositions.2 It is a unique Arabic/Islamic space-enclosing system used for the decoration and ornamentation of domes, minarets and portals. This type of design is often applied to domes, pendentives or devices used allowing the placing of a circular dome, cornices, squinches and the underside of arches and vaults. Indeed, the Alhambra is one of the olden structures to use the muqarnas. At the same time, arabesque is an elaborative application of repeating geometric forms that often resonates the forms of plants and animals. Usually this type of design is found in the walls of mosques. Arabesque designs found in the Alhambra did