Draft:Alhambra Clay Architecture


Intro: The Alhambra Palace in Spain is built using clay minerals. As will be seen in the Article, the instructor will realize how 'claying' men will lead to them leaving behind a place, and only leaving behind 'memories'.


History: The Alhambra complex's clay architecture (Romanesque, too) plays a large role in Spanish modernism and beliefs. Using Clay architecture, the Alhambra complex hearkens back to the original Umayyad architecture in the Middle East since Clay bricks are phenomenal at absorbing heat and weather elements. This Moorish design has set the standard when it comes to air flow, knowing the direction of the sun, and cooling clay floors. not to mention the Romanesque living rooms and guest rooms, and open gardens (McSweeny 2015).


Architecture: The Moorish design of Alhambra relies on Roman influences, as well as Arab ones. As seen in the illustrations (pictures), the arches in Alhambra are reminiscent of Roman arches found in Roman palaces and public buildings, but the engravings on them are reminiscent of Arab architecture.


Aftermath: Spanish architecture and history were really formed by this 'clay' architecture of the Moors, who had the knowledge of both Greeks and Romans at their disposal (McSweeny 2015). Even Francisco Franco during his dictator ship, he enforced Moorish architecture when it came to designing buildings because this style perfectly encapsulates Spain— a melting pot of different histories, peoples, and architecture.


Images:

As seen in the pictures, The Umayyad architecture left its mark on Spanish identity and building design, and hence, becoming the "traditional way of Architecture" as Marta Carbonero says in her Article (Carbenero, Nieto. June 2021).

References

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McSweeney, Anna. “Versions and Visions of the Alhambra in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman World.” West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture 22, no. 1 (2015): 44–69. https://doi.org/10.1086/683080.

 Carbonero, Marta García, and María Antonia Fernández Nieto. “The Gardens of the Alhambra and the Search for Spanish Modernism, 1953–75.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 80, no. 2 (2021): 202–18. doi:10.1525/jsah.2021.80.2.202.