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The number of mosque buildings is continuously increasing with the Muslim population, which is fast growing around the world. In particular, the demand of new mosque buildings is high in the urban areas, due to increasing urban population growth in many parts of Muslims countries, as a result of economic growth and political instabilities in some parts of the Muslims world. Mosques are becoming more overcrowded and as a result a number of researches have been conducted to address the issue of thermal comfort of mosques’ users and efficient cooling solutions. The motivator of this research is the lack of researches in sustainable mosques, where the current condition of mosque buildings is not satisfying. Additionally, mosque buildings are unique because of their intermittent operation and variation in the number of users in terms of gender, age, weight ... etc. which require a special heating and cooling strategies. On the other hand due to environmental pressure to suppress global warming, more energy efficient and sustainable buildings design is one of the current issues in building industries. Passive heating and cooling techniques integrated with natural ventilation are key solutions highlighted in many publications to solve the thermal comfort issues in all type of buildings but there is a demand for mosques in particular. This research aims firstly to explore sustainable techniques for mosque buildings under different climate zones. Then focusing on one specific climate and test a wide range of building envelope options and techniques. The climatic location of the mosque building combined with social culture impact the level of comfort that a mosque building may provide. The research studies a number of mosques buildings in different parts of the world with different climate; and assesses the strategies employed to cool or heat these buildings depending on the climate and season. The effectiveness of the building features in relation to each climate are carefully analysed, and possibility of potential replication of these features elsewhere are examined. This thesis explores and evaluates a number of sustainable envelope options using Design Builder and Energy Plus computer simulations. The target is to provide feasible options to reduce energy consumption in mosque buildings in hot and arid climate. The study concludes that there are potential features of building design which are adopted in many locations and these have a great potential to application elsewhere, and would aid sustainable mosque building in many parts of the world if taken into consideration when designing mosque buildings. The eventual objectives are establishing a guideline for architects and masques buildings designers to take into account when considering mosque building at any climate, in order to achieve sustainable mosque building. The investigation included a number of envelop options for roof, walls and windows. In particular, the thesis examines 12 roof types, 8 wall arrangements and 9 windows options for a case of a mosque building in hot arid climate of Saudi Arabia. At this point, a combination of optimal roof, wall, and window designs are explored. The research concludes with a brief economic evaluation for all options, and results revealed the importance of shading the roof alongside wall insulation and use of reflective films on double-glazed windows. The combination of these options have potential to save up to 26% of the cooling loads for mosque building in hot arid climate. These findings could form a key part in the proposed Saudi Building Code for Mosque Building as they could be highly recommended for either new or current mosque buildings.

The purpose of this thesis is to collate and analyse information on wider-precinct buildings in Scottish monasteries c.1070-1560; all monasteries founded within this period in Scotland are included, regardless of religious order. This study discusses different genres of wider-precinct building in turn, seeking to determine where in Scotland each type of building can be found, in what quantity it survives and how it was experienced by the medieval monk. Also important is how wider-precinct spaces developed during the monastic period. Consideration is given to ambiguous precinctual remains with the aim of suggesting what their purpose could have been. After an introduction and literature review which define the parameters of the investigation, the first chapter focusses on buildings in the wider precinct which were used to house and manage residents and visitors; these include abbots' and commendators' houses, infirmaries and guest houses. The second chapter, 'Agriculture in the Precinct', covers buildings related to grain- and livestock-farming which might be found in the precinct as well as evidence of gardens and orchards, and in the third the same treatment is given to buildings and sites used for light-industrial activities such as baking, brewing and tanning. The fourth chapter discusses the networks which surrounded and crossed the precinct, especially walls and access points as well as water and drainage systems. Concluding thoughts are found at the end of the thesis.

The construction of eruvin - symbolic boundaries demarcating communal space that enable traditionally observant Jews to carry in public domains on the Sabbath - poses a unique problem at the intersection of religious and secular life. The application of the ancient doctrines of eruv to modern urban spaces has proven to be controversial in rabbinic circles, and in many respects the attendant Jewish law questions remain unsettled. At the same time, controversy over the construction of eruvin in modern metropolitan areas has metastasized to impact a much broader field of inquiry that includes law, politics, sociology, architecture, and aesthetics. My research in this area - which began with the publication of my book, The Contemporary Eruv: Eruvin in Modern Metropolitan Areas, and continues in this commentary and my recent essay, The Non-Territoriality of an Eruv: Ritual Bearings in Jewish Urban Life - touches on all these areas of inquiry. This commentary provides a broad overview of my work on eruvin and offers insights into the significance of my original research, the impact my work has had on the broader scholarly community, and possible lines of further inquiry for future work. Part 2 provides a glossary that defines the many Hebrew and technical-legal rabbinic terms used throughout this commentary. Next, Part 3 of this commentary offers a broad overview of my past and ongoing research into eruvin and touches briefly on the central question that drives much of my work. Part 4 discusses the central research questions that both animate my broader body of work and frame my more specific work on the study of eruvin in modern metropolitan spaces. Building on these research concerns, Part 5 of this commentary provides a general overview of the central concepts, doctrines, and issues in the construction of eruvin, tracing the topic from its biblical origins through early rabbinic legislation that set the stage for ongoing concerns. Part 6 explains the methodology of my research into eruvin, and lays out its three-pronged approach: addressing past rabbinic scholarship, actual hands-on experience with the urban spaces in which contemporary eruvin are built, and reconceptualizing traditional doctrines so as to apply them to modern contexts. In Part 7, I offer a literature review that focuses principally on the impact that The Contemporary Eruv has had on a variety of fields of inquiry, including law, urban studies, architecture, religious studies, public policy, and art. Part 8 includes abstracts of my other published works offered as further support for the merits of my scholarship. Finally, Part 9 of this commentary provides a tentative look forward at areas for future research, including a brief discussion of some of the ethical concerns raised by the construction of eruvin in modern metropolitan areas. Part 10 includes a list of sources referenced in this commentary.

Mosques are established as physical manifestations of Islam and its cultural identity in every settlement in Malaysia, including in urban areas. The original concept of the mosque suggests that its use as a community place should be all-encompassing, not only for Muslims, but also to inspire the involvement of other community members. In spite of far-reaching studies conducted on the importance of mosque architecture, historical background and functions, very little attention has been paid to the utilisation, functions and importance of mosque open spaces to the multicultural community. This study aims to explore the spatial and sociocultural factors of urban mosque open spaces in order to determine the extent to which intercultural space exists within them. The study focuses on three urban mosques at the national, district and sub-district levels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Guided by theory of place and the concepts of affordance and social affordance, this study employs a mixed method strategy with a cross-sectional design. It comprises both quantitative – systematic observation with behaviour mapping at selected urban mosques – and qualitative – focus group discussions with mosque managers and multicultural users – methods, as well as findings with regard to the use of mosque open spaces that were derived from social media sources such as Facebook and blogs. The findings show that more multicultural users utilise the National Mosque open spaces in comparison to those at district and sub-district mosques. Patterns were identified in the spatial occupancies based on gender, age group, ethnicity and activities at all of the urban mosque open spaces studied. People‟s identification of their favourite open spaces and preference for outdoor activities, as well as the current condition and design of the mosque open spaces, influences the utilisation of urban mosque open spaces by multicultural users. Both opportunities and challenges may arise in relation to multicultural use in the form of public friendliness, accessibility, community sensitivity and mosque etiquette. This study highlights several factors that encourage better intercultural interaction at mosque open spaces: good social activities; the good design, facilities and accessibility of mosque open spaces; proper promotion, publicity and education; and social acceptance among community members.

This work is intended primarily as an original contribution to knowledge in the field of architecture and subsequently as a useful text for architects and designers and grass roots Muslim community builders. Though written to serve in particular the Muslim communities who seek to establish socially dynamic places of work, and worship, the present study is intended to be of interest to those looking at approaches to build collectively and create a beneficial spaces and places of great architectural merit. Although the particular lived way or praxis that is served is Islam, which asserts unseen and seen realms and a life beyond this life, the present study is written from the human phenomenological perspective of being and dwelling in this world here and now, and addresses the cultural role of architecture today. Islam is equally concerned with the eternal now of the present moment. This open book exploration is enframed by a) the foil of a specific proposed mosque project and b) grounded in the history and living tradition of Islam, and c) the phenomenologically understood life patterns of those who would dwell in the mosque complex daily. Research is guided by a key thesis that the simplest and humblest edifice, the most basic mosque, is adorned by and serves an ethos, by human rhythms and behaviour that are contained by its walls, and walls that are the very ornamentation of that ethos. This ethos shall be known throughout the work as an embodied adab, or embodied ‘gathering of all good.’ This ethos describes both the best or desired intentions and actions of people and the architectural manifestation that appropriately responds to an architectural program to serve,shelter and sustain this intent. The methodology to explore the notion of an embodied adab is interpretive, and accepts the prejudices of the author as the only valid starting point, when asserting that architectural theory and practice is dialogical in nature, gathering to itself many inter-subjective and inter-objective realms in a hermeneutic cycle, which results in a reiterative design process. Personal intentionality and embodied experience therefore meet an interpretive reading of the Islamic Tradition to grasp the historicity of the mosque complex or imaret. Therefore it is important to state that research of the present work is grounded in over fifteen years of being a student of Islam and the integral practice of Sufism, studying and practising with a lineage that travels back from Spain through Morocco across North Africa to the source for Muslims that is the resting place and abode of the Prophet Muhammad in Madina al munawarra in modern Saudi Arabia. This immersive period has lead to an embodied understanding of Islam and Sufism and a deepening understanding of Islamic Architecture, and the need for the ethical role of architecture to be reappraised when contemplating mosque architecture, as either a historic subject or a live project. Prior to an independent and intensive study of Islam as an adult, was a gently Buddhist upbringing which philosophically prioritised not being contained by dogma or controlled by religious communities or spiritual leaders. Study of Pre-Islamic religious texts such the Upanishads and Buddhist sutras as well as various forms of Shamanism including the Bon Tradition of Tibet and the core lojong and tonglen practices of Buddhism have been investigated affirming the universal core message of most ethical ways of living, that of compassion and loving kindness. This is celebrated in the Islamic tradition by Muslims trusting that the Prophet Muhammad was quite literally sent by the Divine as rahma, a ‘mercy’ to existence. The author has studied Islamic belief, practice and spiritual excellence, or iman, islam, and ihsan, directly from traditional scholars from around the world, who together transcend any single ethnic or social identity. Some are direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace and blessings be upon him and his family, and some are not of Arab descent. The priority of adab has come from a personal reflection on the value of life as a balance of vita activa et vita contemplativa, and is supported as a specific Islamic ethos by instruction from living masters and the great texts of Muslim scholars and mystics, commonly known as Sufis. All religious and philosophical studies have contributed to the notion of an ‘Ionian Enlightenment’ or the unity of knowledge, not as some simplistic single answer but as the value of interpretation and seeing realms of knowledge holistically and in relation to one another. This understanding mirrors the Muslim perspective that the Real, Allah, is One. Such a sentence is mystical poetics to some and reality to others. The subject of this PhD must negotiate both kinds of people, just as the proposed mosque complex must face the street on which anyone may walk. Poetically and ecologically our phenomenal earthly existence too is one, as observed by holistic and systems theories, living as we do as part of a single ecosphere. Despite being in danger of sounding rather lofty due to the nature of the subject itself, this declaration is a statement of intent and a personal acknowledgement, in the tradition of any phenomenologically hermeneutic methodology. The author’s interpretation is framed by the intent to see unity in multiplicity, the architectural paradox that is drawing order out of chaos, as much as to see each whole building as an interrelated sum of parts. Part of that intent is to convey to Muslim client builders, in more accessible works that will come from present research, the priority of a devotional ethos in the design of the dwelling that is a mosque complex; an ethos that may serve the community as a whole, in the context of any urban environment. For the Muslim this can be appreciated as both a spiritual and pragmatic imperative. This study and design process is a hermeneutic process of unfolding and interpretation by which the prayer becomes the means to reconfigure existing spaces, and a place for the practice of ethical halal business transactions can provide a successful urban node in the townscape. With clear justification, considering the current geo-political climate, the present work is polemical. Beyond the Minaret is an open exploration that gathers knowledges, in order to revive an understanding of adab as an embodied characteristic of a specifically Islamic ethos, and affirm the ethical role of architecture in general. The present work is concerned with how the Muslim worldview and the perspective of an embodied adab can inform our understanding of the mosque complex in the C21st. Despite the Arabic origin of the word itself, adab as the ethos that is the ‘gathering of all good’ transcends and includes any culture or language, if we but value the art of interpretation.

This thesis aims to understand the transformation process of the Friday mosque in the Arabian Gulf, in terms of its formal and spatial languages, within the period of 1975 to 2010. Essentially, the Arabian hypostyle mosque was the dominating architectural typology in the northern Gulf region until modern times. This traditional architectural language was transformed in many ways as a result of socio-political and economic factors subsequent to the discovery of oil in the region in the 1930s and 1940s. The transformation of the traditional Friday mosque was evident after the declaration of independence of the Arabian Gulf countries in the early 1970s, which coincided with the high revenues of oil. During this period and the decades following, the architectural discourse of the Friday mosque has express modernist influence and regional Islamic influences. This thesis provides insight into the contributing factors of these transformations and their role in shaping the contemporary Friday mosque character in the urban fabric of the Arabian Gulf cities. It investigates the vernacular and historical mosques in the region to establish the pre-existing context against which the analytical investigations of this study can be understood. The research focuses on comparative studies of the mosques of Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil, Rasem Badran, and Mohamed Makiya in the cities of Manama, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Muscat. These architects were selected owing to the significance and influence of their distinctive architectural languages based—in each case—on strongly articulated theoretical and socio-political positions. A spectrum of research approaches supports these comparative analyses, including: interviews with El-Wakil, Badran, and other significant actors; interpretative historical research; archival research; studies of the pre-oil settlements of the urban fabric of the Arabian Gulf; site visits to the representative traditional, contemporary mosque sites; and case studies sites included in the study.

By examining the shifting working practices of the Sompura community of hereditary temple architects of western India my thesis argues that the nature of their work culture invested in their architectural and textual production is far more critical, innovative, heterogeneous and fluid than how it is portrayed in post-colonial knowledge located within the disciplinary bounds of architecture and art history. Through unchartered empirical investigation, which uses ‘cultural translation’ as a framework for analysis, the thesis highlights their creative negotiations and struggles with modernity between the late 19th and early 21st - century. Whether it is modern historical consciousness, notions of ‘antiquity’, nationalist ideas of hereditary craftsmen and tradition, changing patronage, global economy or technology, the Sompuras in their concrete and ‘present’ practices, translate all these as well as their long architectural lineage in specific inviolable modes. These query notions of a ‘fossilised’ tradition viewed through historical frameworks; the agency of ‘ritual’ untouched by capitalist processes and binary oppositions such as ‘east vs west’ or ‘traditional vs modern’. The publications of Narmadashankar M. Sompura (1883-1956) and P.O. Sompura (1896-1978), are analysed as transformations of both modern notions of antiquity and history and indigenous practices. The restoration of medieval ruins of Ranakpur and Dilwara temples in the early and mid-twentieth century by master builder Amritlal Mulshankar Trivedi (1910-2005) are explored as negotiations with western European ideas of history and conservation. The contingent relations between practice and codified knowledges are explored through oral histories concerning transnational case studies in the UK, whereas a variety of qualities and affects are seen as transforming capitalist processes and relations in modern carving factories, deploying a range of hand intensive, machine and digital technologies for a global dispersal. The thesis uses a variety of extra disciplinary methodologies such as oral history, close reading of family archives, along with a range of architecture and texts by the Sompuras and their medieval ancestors. It demonstrates that the Sompuras, believed to be carriers of a dynamic architectural tradition, have creatively and dynamically negotiated change by translating and transforming both their pre-existing cultures of work, as well as modern and global paradigms.

This thesis investigates the surviving architecture built in Anatolia from circa 1170 to 1220, a period that encompasses the rule of the Rūm Saljūq sultans Kılıç Arslān II to ʿIzz al-Dīn Kay Kāwūs I. This was the period which saw the development of a discernible Rūm Saljūq architectural aesthetic across the lands under their control. Due in part to the accident of survival, the main focus is on imperial structures, beginning with the palace kiosk of Kılıç Arslān II in Konya and ending with the hospital and tomb of ʿIzz al-Dīn Kay Kāwūs I in Sivas. The thesis begins with a linear chronology of the various Turko-Muslim dynasties in the region, focussing primarily on the Rūm Saljūqs. This provides the historical and political context within which the corpus of buildings was created, and is based primarily on Arabic, Persian and Byzantine chronicles, augmented by the most recent scholarship. The second chapter studies the surviving corpus of portals, along with a number of tombs, and the monumental minaret attached to the qibla wall of the Great Mosque in Sivas. This reveals the range of patterns and forms which were employed to create an identifiably Islamic aesthetic. The portals are all stone, while the tombs may be in brick or stone. The minaret is entirely brick-built, and the analysis of the brick and glazed tile structures demonstrates the wide ranging connections to Persianate architecture, especially the Ildegüzid architecture of Nakhchivān and Marāgha. Chapter three is divided into two sections, with the first consisting of analysis of the various constituent materials used to construct the corpus. The palace kiosk of Kılıç Arslān II in Konya is used as a case study throughout the first part of the chapter. The second section examines working methods, and concludes with a hypothesis as to the division of roles among the skilled craftsmen and semi-skilled labourers responsible for constructing the buildings under discussion. The fourth chapter is devoted entirely to the hospital and tomb of ʿIzz al-Dīn Kay Kāwūs I in Sivas. Along with revealing hitherto unstudied decorative elements of the complex, the analysis shows that the tomb was part of the original design schema. This is in contrast to the currently accepted view of scholars that it was added after the death of ʿIzz al-Dīn Kay Kāwūs I by his brother, rival and successor, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Kay Qubādh I. The detailed analysis of the minaret added to the Great Mosque in Sivas, along with the nearby tomb and hospital, all built during the reign of ‘Izz al- Dīn Kay Kāwūs I, suggests an increased importance of that city to the dynasty which cannot be perceived from the literary sources alone. The thesis concludes with an overview of sultanic and royal female patronage during Rūm Saljūq rule, followed by a number of avenues for further enquiry.

This thesis deals with the origins of the architectural forms as expressed in the Homeric Mycenaean citadel. The Genesis of the Mycenaean Citadel is a philosophical quest which reveals the poetic dimension of the Mycenaean architecture. The Introduction deals with general theories on the subject of space, which converge into one, forming the spinal idea of the thesis. The ‘process of individuation’, the process by which a person becomes ‘in-dividual’ that is a separate, indivisible unity or ‘whole’, is a process of transformation and renewal which at collective level takes place within the citadel. This is built on the archetype which expresses both the nature of the soul as a microcosm and of the divinely ordered Cosmos. The confrontation of the rational ‘ego’ with the unconscious is the process which brings us to the ‘self’, that organising center of the human psyche which is symbolised through the centre of the citadel. . Chapter I refers to ‘the Archetype of the Mycenaean citadel’. The Mycenaean citadel, which is built on a certain pattern of placement and orientation in relation to landscape formations, reproduces images which belong to the category of the ‘archetypal mother’. On the other hand, its adjustment to a central point with ‘high’ significance, recalls the archetypal image of Shiva-Shakti. The citadel realises the concept of a Kantian ‘One-all embracing space’; it is a cosmogonic symbol but also a philosophical one. Chapter II examines the column in its dual meaning, which is expressed in one structure; column and capital unite within their symbolism the conscious and unconscious contents of the human psyche and express the archetype of wholeness and goal of the individuation process. 33 Chapter III is a philosophical research into the ‘symbolism of the triangle’, the sacred Pythagorean symbol which expresses certain cosmological beliefs about the relation between human nature and the divinely ordered Cosmos. The triangular slab over the Lion Gate is a representation of the Dionysiac ‘palingenesia’, that is the continuity of One life, which was central to the Mycenaean religion. Chapter IV deals with the tripartite ‘megaron’. The circular hearth within the four-columned hall expresses the ‘quaternity of the One’, one of the oldest religious symbols of humanity. Zeus is revealed in the ‘fiery monadic unit-cubit’ as an all-embracing god next to goddess Hestia, symbolised by the circular hearth. The ‘megaron’ expresses the alchemical quaternity and the triad but also the psychological stages of development in the process towards wholeness. In the Conclusions it is emphasised that the Mycenaean citadel was created as if in a repetition of a cosmogony. It is a ‘mandala’, the universal image which is identified with God-image in man. Moreover it is built in order to be experienced by its citizen in the process of his psychological transformation towards the ‘self’, the divine element within the psyche which unites with the divinely ordered Cosmos.

The thesis aims to develop an understanding of the nature and evolution of brick temple architecture in the subcontinent, focusing in particular on terraced Hindu structures of the fourth to sixth centuries CE. It also seeks to advance understanding of the iconography and artistry of the terracotta relief panels that once graced the outer walls or platforms of Gupta period brick temples. To date, scholarship on Hindu temple architecture of the Gupta period has primarily focused on cave and structural stone temples, while brick temple architecture of the epoch, along with terracotta reliefs and sculptures, have largely been confined to the margins of historical studies. This approach has led to the formation of a somewhat distorted picture of the architectural landscape of the Gupta period. To address this shortcoming, all of the known terraced structures in the subcontinent have been mapped in order to establish an understanding of the development and dissemination of this mode of architecture. The architectural form and relief sculpture of the vast terraced brick Śaiva monument known as ACI or Bhimgaja, situated at the heart of the ancient fortress city of Ahichhatrā in Uttar Pradesh, forms the main case study for the thesis - with architecture being the subject of the first half of the thesis. ACI is compared with a terraced brick Vaiṣṇava structure at Pawāyā in Madhya Pradesh, formerly the Nāga centre of Padmāvatī, and with the only standing brick temple of the Gupta period, at Bhītargāon in Uttar Pradesh. Despite the scale and complexity of the former two monuments, neither has received adequate scholarship. A series of fifth- and early sixth-century CE ornamental terracotta pilaster and frieze fragments from Ahichhatrā, held in the reserve collections of the British Museum, are examined within the context of Gupta period temple architecture; the objective being to determine where each of the fragments would have been positioned on a temple. On the basis of these artefacts and related pieces from the site, it is possible to build up a picture of the type of décor that would have adorned the exterior of ACI. The many intriguing sculptures and relief fragments from Pawāyā and Ahichhatrā are the subject of the second half of the thesis. Some of the reliefs - especially those hailing from ACI - are of great importance since they represent some of the earliest visual depictions of myths contained in the Mahābhārata and other religious texts. These reliefs and sculptures are explored within the broader context of Gupta iconography, with particular attention paid to the numerous and fascinating terracotta reliefs of the era, most of which are divorced from their original settings. Moreover, based on style and scale, some of panels evidently share the same origin and these are collated here. In addition, new interpretations are proposed for several of the plaques.

Masjed-e Jame of Isfahan represents over one thousand year old tradition and history of mosque construction in Iran, demonstrating a variety of practical techniques, architectural styles and Iranian architectural decorations altogether in one building complex. The unique example of Iranian Islamic architecture was finally recognised as having international importance and therefore registered in 2012.The imperfections in Isfahan`s Masjed-e Jame nomination file may have delayed the registration process for its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL) took a long time (4 years). Each nomination file is composed of nine sections. The aim of this thesis is to clarify the weak points of the registered nomination file of Masjed-e Jame as a World Heritage Site (WHS), based on UNESCO guideline and to propose improvements for increasing the quality of Masjed-e Jame conservation management plan by utilizing nomination files of some similar registered sites in the WHL. Additionally, to show how these suggestions improve the quality of nomination files of similar monuments under preparation. The research was conducted by selecting similar sites from the WHL. To select similar sites to the Masjed-e Jame, it was necessary to prepare a series of tables which consists of all the registered sites in UNESCO from around the world. All 981 registered monuments on WHL in 2013 were evaluated in three different phases and eliminated by different criteria at each phase to leave eight suitable case studies. The research continued by assessing the eight selected nomination files and categorizing each part of the file as either excellent, good, average, adequate and poor. This evaluation used the main sections of nomination files based on UNESCO guideline which are: 1. Identification of the properties; 2. Description; 3. Justification for inscription; 4. State of conservation and factors affecting the properties; 5. Protection and management of the property; 6. Monitoring; 7. Documentation; 8. Contact information of responsible authorities; 9. Signature on behalf of the state party. By clarifying the weak and strong points of each nomination file, the following recommendations were proposed to improve the quality of nomination file of Masjed-e Jame and also the application of the findings in to similar monument nomination files under preparation. These included: 1) Full details of the location of The management of the conservation of Masjed-e Jame, Isfahan D the site; 2) Providing list of the site`s owners; 3) The usage of maps beside the text and referring to the policies; 4) Appropriate scientific methods to solve or reduce problems with the building fabric, usage etc.; 5) Preparing lists of responsibilities related to the selected organizations; 6) The relationship to tourism; 7) The connections between universities and related organizations; 8) The concentration on the urgent priorities by separating projects into long and short term; 9) Documentation. Furthermore, a timetable by considering priority was proposed to improve the Masjed-e Jame conservation management plan.

The local climate of Malaysia with high air temperature and relative humidity and inconsistent air movement throughout the day provides challenges for architects and designers to design a building including a mosque that can provide better indoor thermal condition. Thermally uncomfortable indoor environment in a typical Malaysian mosque can be sensed due to the poor attendance of believers during communal prayers conducted five times a day at the mosque. A study was carried out in four typical mosques in Malaysia to investigate the thermal comfort level together with what and how the thermal comfort factors affecting the condition. They study also looks at the influence of roof design of the mosque in affecting thermal condition inside the prayer hall since the roof design is a significant feature of the building not only as a filter to the outdoor climate but also as the identity of the building and the society. From the investigation, it has been revealed that air temperature is the primary factor in affecting thermal comfort. When the air temperature is at neutral or comfort temperature, the presence of other factors can be ignored. However, when the primary factor is no longer at its neutral condition, the secondary factors which are air movement and humidity will play their roles in influencing thermal comfort in naturally ventilated mosques in Malaysia. In many cases, air movement is always desirable and able to improve the thermal comfort level. Therefore, the need for the availability of air movement should be particularly considered in designing a mosque to ensure that the mosque is thermally comfortable. The research has also discovered that the pitched and doomed roofs have different abilities to control the distribution of air, for examples, the pitch roof mosque has the ability to circulate the air inside the prayer hall to achieve the equilibrium state whereas the domed roof mosque has the ability to stratify the air according to the temperature where the coolest air located at the lowest level of the space. With the pitch roof, a mosque is able to create air movement inside the space whereas the dome roof mosque will provide stagnant but cooler air at the active level due to the stratification process. Due to these findings, the pitched roof mosque is considered a better option for this climate for its ability to provide natural air circulation inside the space which is desirable by the users. With the understanding on the ability of the roof designs namely, domed and pitched roof in controlling air movement of the interior and the interdependencies of the main factors affecting thermal comfort, strategies for improvement on the design of the mosque can be made to achieve better indoor thermal condition of the prayer hall.

The predominant approach to the study of Doric temple architecture during the twentieth century has been the evolution model, which connects a temple’s design directly with its date of construction (Dinsmoor 1950; Lawrence 1996). Thus, the model allows temples to be dated to distinct decades, based upon their ‘key’ proportions, such as the length of the plan. B.A. Barletta’s (2011: 629) recent article entitled State of the Discipline: Greek Architecture discussed the need for constant reassessment of the proportions of Doric temples and their chronology, particularly in light of recent discoveries and new publications, suggesting that a reconsideration of the evolution model was now required. In the same article, Barletta (2011: 630) discussed the growing trend amongst classical archaeologists towards analysing the social role of temples. With the exception of the temple sculpture, which has generally been studied separately (Marconi 2007; Østby 2009; Maggidis 2009: 92-93), the move towards a social understanding of the temple has had little effect upon the study of the buildings’ designs. Although a number of studies have begun to investigate the role of architectural design in conveying meaning (Snodgrass 1986; Østby 2005), the studies are limited, both chronologically and geographically, by the constraints of the evolution model. Given the ‘mathematical’ image of classical architecture studies, and the subject’s “current lack of academic popularity” (Snodgrass 2007: 24), it is perhaps not surprising that a review of the evolution model and the social role of architectural design are long overdue. To this end, this study re-analyses the connection between date and design, demonstrating that a temple’s design was not entirely controlled by the date of its construction. Rather, temple design was affected by the sub-regional inter-group competition which was so prevalent in sanctuaries during the archaic and classical periods and the expression of identity on behalf of the different dedicatory groups.

This dissertation examines the evolution of early Buddhist architectural forms of Bengal, specifically its vihāra and shrine structures. In general, this research explores Gupta and post-Gupta (c. third to eighth centuries AD) vihāra architecture of Bengal, where the primary focus is on the Buddhist shrine architecture constructed during this period. There is a preconception amongst historians that the period between the Gupta and the Pāla periods was characterized by disorder and chaos, commonly known as the period of Matsyanyayam. This is the reason why discussions on the architectural history of Bengal have generally commenced from the Pāla period (c. 750 AD onwards). Analyzing extant and new evidences this study argues that the Buddhist architecture of Bengal thrived during the intervening period, albeit under the patronage of local kings and rulers. In the field of art and sculpture it is accepted that Buddhist Pāla art was a continuation of previous Gupta art forms, where post-Gupta period acted as the transition or a bridge. Following this general pattern, as this thesis argues, the rectangular Gupta shrine plan takes a mature cruciform shape during the Pāla period through a complex morphological development. The nature of Buddhist shrine architecture in Bengal during the early Gupta, later Gupta, and post-Gupta periods is described in the light of analyzed archaeological findings and architectural trends. As no extant remains of superstructures have been identified for any early Buddhist architecture in Bengal, this study also proposes their likely appearance through virtual reconstruction of selected shrines that also include the conjectural architectural plans for the early stage of its development as a preparation for further analysis. Through these analyses the thesis completes the study of morphological development of the Bengal vihāra of the pre-Pāla period, suggesting that the superstructure generally followed the north Indian Nāgara language.

The study of the relationship between Shiism and Sufism is one of the most unexplored areas of Islamic studies, which has traditionally been hindered by the lack of primary sources. This is especially so in the case of Ismailism in the Indo-Iranian world, where that denomination held sway in the latter medieval Islamic era. Fortunately, in the case of the Indus Valley, certain religious ceremonies and a number of monuments common to the medieval Ismaili da'wa (mission) and the associated Suhrawardi Sufi Order, have survived. The comparison of the religious ceremonial at the shrine of the renowned Ismaili missionary Shams, with the iconography found on contemporaneous Suhrawardi monuments yields the covert connection that had existed between them. This was through an astrological framework based on the Persian New Year, and the vice regency and succession of the first Shia Imam Ali, as declared in the last sermon of the Prophet according to all Shiism. The nature and use of this framework is necessarily Ismaili in the Indus Valley. The astrological resonances of All's vice regency and succession to Muhammad were first intercalated by Shams with the local calendar for the benefit of his followers, and subsequently used to create a transcendental multi-faith Islamic system called the Satpanth, or True Path. The application of the Satpanth is found as astrological symbolism on the monuments of the Suhrawardi Order. In addition, an unorthodox monument archetype which is common to the buildings associated with both Ismaili missionaries and Suhrawardi Sufis endorses this connection further. A combination of extant religious ceremonial and iconography, the common monument archetype and a critical re-examination of history with local sources constitutes the methodological process which shows the covert Shia-Ismaili beliefs of the Suhrawardi Order in the Indus Valley. In the present day, these monuments are at risk of being destroyed by the Pakistani state apparatus, which traditionally sees Suhrawardi Sufi heritage in a Sunni light. This pressure has been accentuated in the aftermath of the Afghan War when puritanical elements made inroads into the official bodies which manage these monuments and shrines.

This thesis discusses the architecture of early Islamic Iran (16-450/637-1059). To better understand the architectural history of this period, it is necessary to specify in detail how it took shape and to describe its features. Hitherto, no fully comprehensive study has been carried out on this subject. Most of the earlier attempts in that direction are the products of Western scholars. Few of these can be regarded as fully comprehensive - however worthy they were in their own time - in the light of the huge amounts of information now available. This mass of new material, a good deal of it unearthed in the decades since the Islamic Revolution, at last makes it possible to outline in detail the architectural characteristics of this early period. The proposed study will build on the work done by earlier scholars in the field, both western and Iranian, among which two lengthy studies are of particular value. Mehrdad Shokoohy in his unpublished Ph. D. thesis, Studies in the early mediaeval architecture of Iran and Afghanistan (Edinburgh, 1978), describes twelve buildings in 2 Iran and Afghanistan which he dates to the early mediaeval period. This research - some of which has been published in article form1- introduces some monuments that are little known, but there is still ample room for more detailed conclusions and analysis to clarify the evolution of Iranian architecture in this period. The latest study, Frühe Iranische Moscheen (Berlin, 1994), has been carried out by Barbara Finster. This book explains the different types of early mosques in Iran, with much material from literary sources to supplement the author’s own fieldwork. Since the Islamic revolution in Iran (1357/1979), Iranian specialists have carried out some significant architectural and archaeological research; some of this work has not been published yet while other work has been published only in Persian and is difficult of access. In the course of restoration operations in key historical monuments much new and important material has been assembled, though much of this has not been reported yet. To gather together and to order all of this new information is one of the most important aims of my study. Its primary aim is to understand the characteristics and the underlying principles of early Islamic Iranian architecture. In what follows, I shall try to explain how and why this early (and neglected) period holds the key to understanding the Islamic architecture of Iran. It is essentially a transitional period, a time of laying the foundations for what was to come. It documents the earlier experiments in building types, structural techniques and architectural decoration. We see here the earliest attempt of Islamic architecture in Iran to find a distinctive voice. Only few buildings survive – thought it is very likely that more will be 3 found in years to come - but their wide range of form, style, material and decoration reveals a national tradition that – even thought it was still in the process of tradition that was already, in key ways, different from that of the other Islamic lands. The thesis tries to explain how the heritage of pre-Islamic Iranian architecture evolved and how it laid the foundations for Iranian, and especially Saljuq, architecture. Thus, to create a solid base for studying the later period is an important supplementary aim of this thesis.

This thesis explores different aspects of the architecture and construction of mastaba tombs in the late Old Kingdom. In particular it focuses on a group of tombs in the Unas Cemetery at Saqqara that can be characterised by their design and size, which are known as multi roomed mastabas. This includes an appraisal of tombs within this cemetery and examines the layout and development of the cemetery from the reign of Unas. Specific attention is paid to the constructional techniques used to build tombs via the recording and examination of specific architectural elements within different monuments. Features such as doorways and the security of the tomb and other aspects, such as the provision of storage space for the maintenance of the mortuary cult, are all considered. The thesis utilises published sources and survey work carried out by the author. Until comparatively recently, there has been no real attempt to produce a detailed study of the architectural make-up of multi-roomed mastabas and the implications of these observations for understanding the ways in which mastaba tombs were actually used. No thorough and comprehensive investigation has ever been dedicated to the constructional techniques, technology, materials and 'styles' of mastabas or, indeed, who built them. This thesis addresses these questions and addresses the imbalance of recording within Old Kingdom private tombs.

The aim of the research is 1) to introduce a definition of the concept of al-Aqsa Mosque and 2) to understand its architectural development and evolution in the early Islamic period within the cultural context of the site. The initial cause of the study was that almost nothing is known about the Muslim building activities at the enclave and there is very little information about it. The existing interpretations of the early development of al-Aqsa Mosque have been generated either from a typological and formal-aesthetic point of view or are based on interpretation constant with biblical texts. This thesis attempts to expand these interpretations with contributions by additional historical, archaeological and architectural investigations of the early Muslim architecture of the enclave within the Islamic cultural context. In order to achieve these main objectives, a systematic survey of the different parts of al-Aqsa was carried out and archaeological excavations of the site were stu died and both helped determine the significance of the site of al-Aqsa Mosque in each period of development. The thesis also investigated the urban context of al-Aqsa enclave and concluded that the earliest ancient traces in the foundation are mainly Roman and were destroyed in the 1st century AD when the site lost its significance and was situated outside the urban form of Aelia. Muslims reaffirm al-Aqsa Mosque for its religious significance in Islam after their conquest of Jerusalem. The Muslim had complete sovereignty over al-Aqsa Mosque in 638 AD and its initial revitalisation encompassed some building activities including the delineation of a house of prayer. Significant construction activities at al-Aqsa enclave were initiated a few decades after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. The surviving early Muslim building types, styles, decorative features and construction type provide evidence to show that they date back to the early Islamic period. Even this time could be narrowed down to the time of the Umayyad caliph 'Abd al-Malik. 'Abd al-Malik saw Jerusalem as a place where he could best proclaim his power and therefore he developed a fully threedimensional Muslim image of Jerusalem. The architecture of the enclave and its syntax presents considered and precise planning, a high quality of building skills and careful attention to the structural problems of its parts. Certain buildings are produced from relics in response to particular functional demands practised at the enclave. In relating the early Muslim buildings of the enclave to its given topography, neither their places nor forms, functions nor meanings are accidental. Each fits into its place within an overall architectural formula of al-Aqsa Mosque. From a comparison and evaluation of building types and architectural configurations, the study concludes that the early Muslim monuments have been built in response to Muslims' religious and cultural requirements. Annular centralised buildings have been c onstructed to fulfil cultural and functional requirements and reflect religious values. As for the broad house type of the Congregation Mosque, it was also created to meet the same purpose of the Muslims' religious functions, and its origin can be found in the plan of the Prophet Mosque in Madīnah. The thesis concludes with a set of recommendations for further research that would attract public awareness towards the cultural heritage of Islamic Jerusalem.

This thesis presents a study of the use made of tympana in English Romanesque portals and the evidence they offer for religious, social and cultural expression in village churches where the vast majority of examples are preserved. In order to achieve this a significant proportion of the analysis has been addressed to the manner in which people may have interpreted what they saw. For the convenience of the reader basic descriptions of all examples noted during the course of the research and details of manorial and patronal circumstances are given as the Handlist in Volume 2. The first two chapters establish the parameters of the research, outline the social and religious environment during the period, and the art historical principles underpinning the research. Chapter III examines the distribution of examples in geographical terms and the use made of tympana in different categories of building. In chapter IV the structural and compositional formulation of tympana is analysed and the use made of geometric ornament. Chapter V assesses images of Christ and the relationship between these and the representation of power. Chapter VI examines other human figural iconography through the categories of figure-types depicted. The subject of chapter VII is the use of compositional types as a means to assess the use made of beast imagery. The thesis demonstrates for the first time in a systematic and quantified manner that tympana are a significant feature of English Romanesque portals and that a strong decorative character is shared by all tympana, thus contributing to the adornment of the house of God in a befitting manner. It argues that the iconography was composed so as to ensure the utility of the images as a focus for devotion for a wide variety of audiences and as a means of expressing social values, particularly through the relationship between the figures depicted and the representation of temporal power. The thesis also confirms that the religion presented by examples with figural sculpture is centred on the authority of God and the saints and on iconic symbols, rather than exemplars for emulation, reflecting the conservative nature of devotion in local communities. The thesis therefore raises important issues in relation to our understanding of portals as architectural features, the expression of religious devotion and social values in local communities during the period, and the use of portals in the practice of religious devotion.

The objective of this study has been to recover the fifth century cave-temple site of Udayagiri. Unlike the previous studies that have focused on iconography, epigraphy, architecture, rock paintings and pictoglyphs as independent subjects, I have adopted a holistic approach. The aim was to understand the relationship of the above mentioned elements which share and constitute this sacred landscape. My study has shown that the development of this site was undertaken in one campaign under the patronage of the mighty Gupta king Candragupta Vikramaditya II who was accompanied by his minister Virasena. This campaign was religious in its nature, political in its objective and astronomical in its application.

Chapter 1 sets out the nature of the four main sources from Peterborough on which this thesis is based. Two early-twelfth- and mid-thirteenth-century cartularies contain faithful copies of forged and genuine texts, dealing with events from the seventh century onwards. Two early- and mid-twelfth-century chronicles used some imported sources, but contain much accurate local information. Chapter 2 examines the early history of Medeshamstede, as Peterborough was known until the late-tenth century. Medeshamstede was a vital component in Mercian religion from foundation to the late-ninth century. Chapter 3 considers the nature of the primary sources for the tenth-century restoration of Medeshamstede as Peterborough. Chapter 4 considers Peterborough's foundation, during the tenth-century monastic reformation, and nature as a monastic institution: an important component in royal strategy towards uniting the kingdom, it was a distinguished house from the outset, and housed an important monastic school. Chapter 5 considers Peterborough's history from foundation to the Norman Conquest, largely in terms of themes established in Chapter 4: relations with leading churchmen and noblemen indicate distinguished status and a role in unifying the kingdom up to 1066.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural and aesthetic characteristics of the Sehzade Kulliye (950-55/1543-48) and to draw attention to its important place in the evolution of the centralized Ottoman mosque architecture. Chapter one gives a brief outline of Ottoman history, while chapter two describes the principles of Ottoman mosque architecture. It consists of three parts: terminology of Ottoman mosque architecture, the evolution of the four semidomed Ottoman mosque plan, and finally types of mosques built after the conquest of Constantinople. Chapter three deals with the exterior description of the Sehzade Cami, and makes comparisons with other mosque exteriors. The following chapter analyses the interior of the mosque. It is divided into several parts: supporting elements, the mihrab, the minbar, the hunkâr mahfili, the muezzin mahfili, the kadinlar mahfili, the zone of transition, the roofing elements and illumination, and whenever it is relevant reference is made to Ottoman decoration in general, and specifically to paintings (renkli kalem isleri) and calligraphy. Chapter five describes the structures of the kulliye. It begins with the madrasah, then continues with the taphane. the han. the imâret. the subyan mektebi. the turbes, as well as the interior tile work, the cesmes, and finishes with the outer enclosure. In the concluding chapter, a detailed study of the origin and development of the four semi-domed mosque plan is given with due consideration to the aesthetic and structures of earlier examples, and the influence of the Sehzade Cami on later developments is also shown.

This thesis aims essentially at an investigation of the origins and developments of mosque architecture in the region of Bengal in pre-Mughal times (that is, for these purposes, to A.D. 1538); but, since the study of a limited aspect of a pan-Islamic manifestation may in itself be sterile, an attempt has been made to integrate the Islamic Bengali microcosm into the macrocosm of the mediaeval Islamic world. Firstly, therefore, the growth of religious architecture is related to its humanistic background, especially that of the development of Islam with its political and social implications increasing in importance while Islam as a religious system gathered increasing momentum. The mosque itself is then studied in various aspects: the architectural origins of the mosque as a focal point of the religious life of the community are first investigated; and then the history of mosque architecture from the beginning to A.D. 1538 is analysed in general, but always with an eye to the particular manifestations of Bengal. Evidence for the etymologies which have been proposed for the term Masjid are collected and discussed in extenso; but, to preserve the continuity of the major arguments of the thesis, this material has been relegated to an appendix. The mosque architecture of Bengal is then discussed in detail. All previous work on the subject is examined and criticized, and the errors and misapprehensions of some authors corrected and explained. The treatment of this material is at once broadly chronological and typological, and a viable classification (as exhibited in the Table of Contents) has been adopted throughout. Full use has been made of the rather confused epigraphical evidence. While Mughal architecture is not the direct concern of the thesis, an attempt has also been made to relate some characteristic aspects of Bengali building and their future employment in Mughal times. The decorative arts of the period have been considered in drawing conclusions; but the volume of evidence from this sphere is so great as to have made it necessary to exclude any detailed discussion in this thesis. Thus the thesis as a whole presents an ordered exposition of Bengali mosque architecture viewed in its wider context, which I submit as an original contribution to scholarly knowledge especially in the exercise of critical judgment over the whole field; in addition, some new evidence is here presented for the first time, which adds a further dimension to the validity of my criticism.

The limitations of this study are evident from the title. Only the architectural monuments of the Early Western Calukyas are here considered and those structures which date from earlier or later periods at the Western Calukyan sites together with the rock-cut monuments do not form part of the study. The sculptural and decorated portions of the buildings are only briefly referred to, and comparisons with the architecture of contemporary dynasties will not be attempted. Such severe limitations have been imposed so as to permit a thorough architectural description and analysis of what is the largest earliest group of temples known in India from this period. Such a study takes its starting point from a thorough documentation comprising a set of measured drawings and accompanying detailed descriptions. In comparing the buildings, it has been found necessary to divide them into a number of component features. These features are then individually compared, and the variations within each noted. The resulting observations are assembled, so that certain temples may be associated together by the similarity of their features. The few dated monuments may suggest the possibility of a tentative chronology, but such conclusions are not the main objective of this study.