--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "PaliGap" <compost...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" > <jstein@> wrote: <snip> > > "Imam Feisal says he chose 'Cordoba' in recollection > > of a time when the rest of Europe had sunk into the > > Dark Ages but Muslims, Jews and Christians created an > > oasis of art, culture and science." > > Some months ago I watched a most inspiring program > on Cordoba by art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon (The > Art of Spain). Unfortunately I don't think it's easy > to watch outside the UK. > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008wthr > > I say "inspiring" as it gave an intimation of a "better > life", an idea of what an "age of enlightenment" might look > like: a comfortable marriage of religion, philosophy, science, > learning, sensual and aesthetic pleasure, and religious and > social tolerance. > > I don't know if it was all true, or just over-sold by Graham- > Dixon. But I found it really impressive!
Probably a bit oversold as to the reality, but it's the ideal that's important here. <snip> > Their grasp of mathematics overflowed spectacularly into the > intricate patterns that filled every inch of their most > splendid buildings. The motivation was religious - to avoid > the representation of God or living beings - and the > combination of ornate decoration with water-filled gardens at > the Alhambra palace in Granada came close to creating the > illusion that paradise, the garden that awaits the righteous, > can be made on Earth." Tangentially, Slate.com had a fascinating article back in December 2001 pointing out that Minoru Yamasaki had made liberal use of Islamic religious architectural themes in designing the World Trade Center. The "implied" narrow, pointed arches on the bottom part of the facades, for example, were very Islamic. (The Western Gothic arch was derived from the Islamic original.) The design of the courtyard, moreover, echoed that of the Qa'ba courtyard at Mecca. Plus which, Yamasaki was one of the favorite architects of the Saudi royal family. The article concludes: "Having rejected modernism and the Saudi royal family, it's no surprise that Bin Laden would turn against Yamasaki's work in particular. He must have seen how Yamasaki had clothed the World Trade Center, a monument of Western capitalism, in the raiment of Islamic spirituality. Such mixing of the sacred and the profane is old hat to us--after all, Cass Gilbert's classic Woolworth Building, dubbed the Cathedral to Commerce, is decked out in extravagant Gothic regalia. But to someone who wants to purify Islam from commercialism, Yamasaki's implicit Mosque to Commerce would be anathema. To Bin Laden, the World Trade Center was probably not only an international landmark but also a false idol." http://www.slate.com/id/2060207 In this light, that famous poignant photograph of the sliver of facade left standing after the towers collapsed is even more iconic than we realized.
