History Of

Multifoil Arch
Submitted By:

Bushra Shahwar
09ARB 553 A3AR2

Submitted To: AR. Md. Farhan Fazli

A multifoil arch is a style of arch that was an architectural element in the Moorish architecture of Al-Andalus. The multifoil arch design was influenced by Islamic art and architecture. Examples are found in the Moorish Umayyad caliphate mosque maqsuras and arcades, that are located in present day Spain. The term is French, "foil" means "leaf." the number of foils involved is indicated by a prefix: trefoil3, quatrefoil4, etc Examples :

Mosque Of Cordoba In Maqsuras.: Multifoil Arches

Multifoil Arches At Alcazaba Of Mlaga, Andalusia, Spain Location in Aligarh: Sir Syed Hall At Masjid History of the building Sir Syed Masjid is located in the heart of Aligarh Muslim University campus. Standing against the university's cricket ground, It poses a striking view for the onlookers. It is located inside Sir Syed hall. The tomb of Sir Syed Ahmed khan is also enclosed within the walls of the mosque. The design of the mosque resembles the huge Mughal Badshahi Mosque of Lahore.

Night view of Sir Syed Hall , Masjid

The whole mosque is in semi-rectangular plan, and the north side contains a cemented grave of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. The picture below showing the best example of multifoil arch in Aligarh.

Masjid entrance from east side The whole structure is made of brick but main central body is of white marble and yellow tiles carved and ornamentation done on the walls. Interior view of the bulbous dome can be visible from small entrance too . it is completely on courtyard planning and contains a place for Ablution. Arch contains 12 foils and is pointed multifoil arch . Completely made of up brick and painted red in colour.

 There is a pointed keystone of shape like "onion". There are two doors on entrance one of iron (small) and other is timber framed door.

Multifoil Arch tracing is done on scale - 1:1