A mosque is not just a sacred place of worship for Muslims, it also serves as community center and school. It has a wide range of architectural styles, all of them have specific requirements.

Therefore every component of interior and exterior has a profound meaning that mosque design requires understanding of them;

Types of mosque architecture

Since 7th century mosques have been built all over the world and it can be defined with three basic types;

Hypostyle mosque

House of the Prophet Mohammad, was inspired the earliest type  of mosques.

Common hypostyle plan’s characteristic is colonnade hall where columns can be reproduced along a orthogonal grid and has an adjacent courtyard surrounded by a single column.

This type was used in different mosques to bring great effect to the interior and The Great Mosque of Kairouan is a prototype of the hypostyle mosque.

Four-iwan mosque

Iwan is an area that opens onto the courtyard.

However, in the four iwan mosques, each wall of the courtyard ends with a monumental hall.

In four-iwan mosque architecture, the qibla iwan aligning the Mecca is usually decorated in the largest and most ornate way, as in the Great Mosque of Isfahan.

Centrally-planned mosque

Most common usage place, Ottoman Empire and  Ottoman architects were strongly influenced by Hagia Sophia’s centrally-planned dome.

The inner octagonal area is widened with 8 large piers pushed back into the walls, and a rhythmic harmony is created, filling the wide area with light and color through the diaphragms of the small and large arches framed.Check out Algedra’s Islamic Interior Design portfolio.