|
The Fires of
Excellence
Spanish and Portugese Oriental Architecture
Miles Danby
The oriental influence in Spain
and Portugal has left a legacy of extraordinary architecture, celebrated by
scholars, poets and artists. In this lavishly illustrated book, Miles Danby
reveals the multi-layered cultural interactions which took place, and which
have in turn provided inspiration for architects through the centuries and
around the world.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths conquered the Iberian
peninsula, bringing new ideas of architectural form from the eastern
Mediterranean. More powerful and pervasive influences arrived with the
Muslim invaders in AD 711 and the peninsula was to remain wholly or partly
under Islamic rule until 1492. Expansion of the Christian kingdoms in the
north led to a decline in Muslim political power, but Alfonso the Wise
maintained his court at Toledo in a spirit of tolerance, with Christians,
Muslims and Jews all contributing to its rich and sophisticated arts and
architecture. The final flowering of the oriental style occurred in the
mid-fourteenth century, when a Christian king in Seville, Pedro the Cruel,
and Ibn Nasr, the Muslim ruler of Granada, used many of the same skilled
craftsmen to build their palaces.
The magnificent buildings described range in character from the Nasrid
palace of the Alhambra and the Umayyad mosque at Córdoba, to the Mudéjar
cathedral of Teruel, or the Manueline Palácio Nacional at Sintra.
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century legacies include Antoni Gaudí’s work and
the Modernismo movement in Spain, and the neo-Mudéjar style used in the
construction of stations and bull-rings. The author describes their
aesthetic and structural techniques in detail, with clear and precise
language. Specially commissioned colour photographs fully illustrate the
buildings.
By looking at architecture across the whole Iberian peninsula, Miles Danby
has created a study of the oriental style which is unprecedented in both its
geographical and historical scope. This book will be essential reading for
architects, designers and historians, and for anyone with an appreciation of
one of the finest and richest architectural legacies in the world.
Miles Danby, MA, AA dipl., RIBA, is Emeritus Professor of
Architecture at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was Director of
the university’s Centre for Architectural Research and Development Overseas
from 1985 to 1990, and initiated its M Phil. course on housing for
developing countries. He has worked as a consultant and external examiner in
Britain and in various countries across the Middle East, in Africa and
South-East Asia, and has held teaching posts in Ghana and Sudan. He is the
author of numerous articles, reports and books, ranging from Grammar of
Architectural Design (Oxford University Press, 1963) to Moorish Style
(Phaidon, 1995).
Matthew Weinreb is a photographer specializing in architecture,
interiors, landscapes and cityscapes, and is a winner of the European
Architectural Photographer of the Year Award. He has numerous books to his
credit, including London Architecture (Phaidon, 1993), London
Architects’ Houses (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1992), Metropolitan: A
Portrait of Paris (Phaidon, 1994) and The Synagogue (Phaidon,
1995).
1997 • 236 pages • 320 x 240 mm • 237 colour photographs and engravings,
1 map, 2 plans, 8 b/w illustrations • Cased £50.00 • ISBN 1 85964 087 7
Reviews
‘This lavishly illustrated book is essential reading for architects,
designers and historians, and for anyone with an appreciation for one of the
finest and richest architectural legacies in the world.’
Town & Country Homes |
|
