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North Africa: Islamic Architecture
Book by Hutt, Anthony, Hutt, Antony
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1990
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July 28, 2020
Slipped through the cracks
If you were a tourist going to North Africa (in normal times), you might like a book which guided you around some beautiful or impressive sites. If you were a historian, you might like a book that told you about the various dynasties, their cultural and economic structures, and the architecture that those produced. If you were a student of architecture or a professor looking for a good text book, you would like a book that went into considerable detail about the North African tradition. And if you didn’t know what squinches and gadrooned domes were, you might like some explanation with a couple of relevant, explanatory photos.
But, to quote Paul Newman (no relation) in “Cool Hand Luke”, “what we have here is a failure to communicate”. This book with its ten pages of history and gaze at architectural developments, with 22 color photos and a very large number of black and white photos, falls through the cracks. It will give sweet satisfaction to none of the above possible readers and not to me either. If you’re looking for a collection of photos of North African sites from the 8th century up to the 19th, then possibly you might get something out of this book and my remarks are too sharp. It’s part of a large series on Islamic architecture and the author also produced volumes on Iran. I think you might find better books elsewhere, though I cannot recommend any.
If you were a tourist going to North Africa (in normal times), you might like a book which guided you around some beautiful or impressive sites. If you were a historian, you might like a book that told you about the various dynasties, their cultural and economic structures, and the architecture that those produced. If you were a student of architecture or a professor looking for a good text book, you would like a book that went into considerable detail about the North African tradition. And if you didn’t know what squinches and gadrooned domes were, you might like some explanation with a couple of relevant, explanatory photos.
But, to quote Paul Newman (no relation) in “Cool Hand Luke”, “what we have here is a failure to communicate”. This book with its ten pages of history and gaze at architectural developments, with 22 color photos and a very large number of black and white photos, falls through the cracks. It will give sweet satisfaction to none of the above possible readers and not to me either. If you’re looking for a collection of photos of North African sites from the 8th century up to the 19th, then possibly you might get something out of this book and my remarks are too sharp. It’s part of a large series on Islamic architecture and the author also produced volumes on Iran. I think you might find better books elsewhere, though I cannot recommend any.
Displaying 1 of 1 review