Muqarnas: Islamic Honeycomb Vaults

Muqarnas is three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture. Rows of niche-like elements project over others below.

Cells are organized in multiple levels overlapping like corbels. The interplay of light and shadow creates the visual effect.

Al-Kashi wrote the oldest surviving muqarnas manual.

The structure originated from the squinch to bridge square rooms and round domes. Western writers saw stalactites and apparently stopped looking.

Materials vary by region. Syria, Egypt, and Turkey use stone, while North Africa uses plaster or wood.

In Iran and Iraq, muqarnas are built with bricks covered in plaster or ceramic. Some compositions hang from ropes.

By the 12th century, regional styles developed across the Islamic world. Mamluk portals culminated in scalloped semi-domes.

In 18th-century Iran, craftsmen began covering muqarnas with mirror glass mosaics. Chehel Sotoun got a very reflective renovation.