Architectural patterns in al-Andalus Palaces : a typological study of Andalusian Islamic Palatial Architecture

The palatial buildings erected in the Iberian Peninsula between the 9th and 14th centuries by Spain's Islamic rulers form a distinctive architectural group in the multi-layered context of al-Andalus. Such buildings provide a rich but fragmented view of the built environment of these palatial complexes. This fragmentation contributes to a partial perspective on this architectural group. Current architectural research and history of art studies do not always provide much of a practical understanding of the drivers, considerations and approaches behind the design of these buildings. Consequently, when seeking to reflect the essence of these palatial complexes in contemporary design practice, today's architect lacks an overall guide setting out core design principles and parameters. To address this need, this research has developed a practical descriptive tool for Andalusian Islamic palatial buildings, which is its core contribution. By studying the main typological attributes of this building group and considering in a wide sense the context in which it was erected, the architectural descriptive framework incorporates both qualitative and quantitative approaches. At a theoretical level, the tool articulates concepts from the fields of environmental psychology, Post Occupancy Evaluation (PO), and design theories and pattern methodologies. To validate its practical facet, the framework has been applied to four case studies addressing the core spatial areas of the following palatial complexes: Medina Azahara, the Aljaferia Palace, the Alcázares in Sevilla and the Alhambra Palace. The development of this descriptive framework has shaped a richer depiction of this building group by incorporating qualitative and quantitative layers of information. In doing this it has enhanced the definition of the term "architectural pattern", and contributed to a more objective way to describe historic buildings. A practical contribution is to provide a common view to the diverse stakeholders involved in the design process, while the use of quantitative parameters helps to re-consider basic design assumptions and constraints that may be taken for granted. By improving the coherence and quality of such palatial descriptions, the result is a guiding architectural framework to assess the excellence and reflect the distinctiveness of such a palatial group in the contemporary built environment. Key words: al-Andalus, Andalusian Islamic palaces, architectural patterns, descriptive framework, design theory, quantitative approach, user-oriented design.