Islamic.

Islamic design, like the Romanesque design, is centered around religion; without Islam there is no Islamic design. And just as the Romanesque architecture surrounded the building of Churches, Mosques were the most important structure during the Islamic period.





Mosques:

As opposed to Christian Churches where the priest preaches to a congregation, the Islamic religion is more based on individual prayer. Because of the individual prayer focus, the apse of a mosque is significantly smaller than the apse of a Church; the main reason for this apse is to signal to the direction of Mecca for worship purposes.



During these times of worship, everyone sat on the floor; men in the front, women in the back, and the children sat in between. Mats, carpets, and pillows would be on the floor to provide a little more comfort, since the way the Islamic faith worships mostly involves kneeling and sitting on the ground.

Furniture:

The Islamic design followed where ever the religion traveled, so a lot of the main design stems from the middle eastern culture. Because the weather is so warm in the middle east, there was no real need for chairs to lift a person off of the cold ground; therefore, mats, carpets, and pillows were often used as seating rather than chairs. However, as I mentioned, the Islamic design followed where ever the religion took root, meaning, in other areas of the world where Islam grew, the use of chairs may have been more often used rather than mats or pillows. In addition to the alteration of seating due to geographical location, the Islamic design was also altered slightly to more fit the region.



Modern Islamic Influence:

The low pillow seating is influenced by the Islamic design.














The arches and columns in this interior are very much of an Islamic Influence. (Horseshoe Arch)






















The pointed arch was used a lot in the Islamic design.