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Muqarnas

The honeycomb vaults of Islamic architecture drawn as modern architectural prints: domes, portal hoods, capitals and cornices built cell by cell from the builders’ plan units and lit by a single steady light.

20 printsPortrait · square · landscape · phoneFree · 300 dpi
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Looking straight up into a muqarnas dome set in a square bay: rings of folded stucco cells step inward to a gold star, with stepped corner squinches; in longer formats the bays repeat like a vaulted corridor.Under the DomeNo. 1
A portal in elevation: a tall pointed arch framed in lapis and turquoise, its half-dome filled with rows of stucco cells, one fewer in each row as they rise, above faceted walls, a turquoise dado and a dark doorway.IwanNo. 2
A line drawing of a muqarnas vault in plan: squares and rhombi radiating from an eight-pointed star, with each tier ring drawn heavier and gold construction lines laid over it.Builder’s PlanNo. 3
A deep cornice of muqarnas cells under a dark eave, lit low from one side so every hood falls into shadow and every pendant face catches the sun, with the cornice’s shadow laid along the wall below.Raking LightNo. 4
A single tall niche in a plain stucco wall, crowned by a small half-dome of cells and framed with a fine gold line.NicheNo. 5
The corner of a room where two walls meet, one in light and one in shade, bridged above by a squinch: a pointed arch filled with rows of stucco cells beneath the dark base of the dome.SquinchNo. 6
A slender column crowned by a capital of three stepped tiers of muqarnas cells under a square abacus, with pointed arches springing from it against a deep blue sky.CapitalNo. 7
Three rows of muqarnas niches running beneath a sandstone eave, above a plain stucco wall with slender pointed windows.CorniceNo. 8
A muqarnas dome seen from below, its folded cells painted in alternating rings of turquoise and lapis with gold joints, closing on a gold star, on a ground of faint eight-pointed stars.Painted VaultNo. 9
A close view of white stucco muqarnas: row upon row of niches in which only light and shadow describe each cell.White StuccoNo. 10
Three tiers of muqarnas cells drawn in elevation and lifted apart, in lapis, turquoise and stucco, with gold guide lines showing how each joint in one tier sits over the centre of a cell in the tier below.Exploded TierNo. 11
The squares and rhombi of a muqarnas plan laid flat as a field of colour cells in stucco, sandstone, turquoise, lapis, gold and umber, set in a dark joint.Colour CellsNo. 12
The vault of a muqarnas dome seen from below, every folded cell in gold, closing on a lapis star within a gold rim.Gold LeafNo. 13
A tiled portal at dusk under a crescent moon, its muqarnas half-dome glowing gold and its doorway lit.Dusk PortalNo. 14
The top rings of a muqarnas dome drawn on their own in shades of lapis, their points forming a many-pointed star around a gold star.Star CapNo. 15
An architectural section of a domed room in white line on lapis: the cut walls and pointed shell in solid stucco, the far half of the vault drawn row by row in cells, with gold construction lines on the axis and at the springing.SectionNo. 16
A tall conical dome covered on the outside with tier upon tier of muqarnas niches, rising from an octagonal drum with blind arches into a pale sky.SugarloafNo. 17
The rhythm of a muqarnas cornice reduced to three flat colours, lapis, turquoise and stucco, repeating across the sheet.FriezeNo. 18
A stalactite pendant of stucco cells hanging from a dark ceiling, tier by tier narrowing to a small gold point; in wide formats a larger pendant hangs between two smaller ones.PendantNo. 19
A minaret shaft against a turquoise sky, its balcony carried on four tiers of muqarnas cells beneath a turquoise parapet pierced with small arches.Minaret BalconyNo. 20
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