Alhambra is a famous place that everybody loves to visit. It is situated in Granada in Spain. Alhambra was constructed in 889 A.D. This palatial fortress is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, attracting visitors from all over the world to marvel at its beauty and enjoy this wonderful place’s cool, relaxing atmosphere.
Geometric Patterns and the Alhambra of Granada Reason for Detail:
The Alhambra of Granada was designed and built by the Moors, a people whose cultural background was rich in patterns and geometric designs. Their society valued knowledge, art, and mathematics both greatly. These three things were generally incorporated into all aspects of their culture.
To the Moors, there were several origins for geometric design and patterns. Some believed that it was used to decorate buildings and clothing:
- Others thought it represented the eternal beauty of God’s universe through complex mathematical relationships.
- Others thought it embodied secular ideals such as wisdom, fertility, abundance, good health, etc.
- Still, others believed that geometry enabled man to understand all things in nature as a model for humans to follow.
Granada’s Alhambra’s interior and exterior design:
Interior:-
The interior of the Alhambra is one of beauty, elegance, and wonder. You can find A wide variety of geometric patterns throughout the palace. Inside, one can see intricate designs on archways, ceilings, and floors in private rooms and public areas. For example, a massive six hundred foot (two hundred meters) central courtyard contains geometric patterns that extend from all four sides to represent the perfection of God’s creation in all things, including humanity.
Exterior:-
The exterior of Alhambra is also significant for its geometric patterns, which dominate its overall decor. The walls, towers and balconies are filled with elegant patterns in blue, purple and green. These patterns are often used to form shapes that represent plants and animals. In addition, every other building surrounding the fortress also contains geometric patterns. The patterns have played an important role in the history of Alhambra.
The architecture of the Alhambra and the people who live there have an environmental impact.
The Alhambra in its territory presents a great presence that especially places itself in the territory. The site’s morphology represents the unity of heaven and Earth and can be reflected in the geometrical form that adorns it. The idea of harmony is present through the large-scale use of regular patterns whose geometry carries a sense of balance and order.
The Moors were originally nomadic people who inhabited North Africa and Spain before settling there. They lived an extremely active life; they were hunters, farmers, shepherds, etc. Their society was very advanced for its time; their math skills were very good for this period (they could solve the cube).
Their architecture was very sophisticated due to their mathematically-trained society. The Alhambra, initially a small fortress, was also built on templates. They would place a certain number of stones in their buildings based on the length of the structure and the area that it is used for. This allowed them to layout each building following a grid system, which allowed rectangular buildings to be more stable and easier to construct.