Lecture announcement - Building Islamic Ifrīqiya: urbanism, aesthetics, and economics of architecture in the Aghlabid period - ReSIA, SOAS 16th January 2020

Building Islamic Ifrīqiya: urbanism, aesthetics, and economics of architecture in the Aghlabid period

with Dr Corisande Fenwick, Lecturer in Mediterranean Archaeology, UCL Institute of Archaeology

on Thursday 16 January 2020 from 5.30 pm to 7 pm

SOAS, 10 Thornhaugh St, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0XG Room 4426 (4th floor, Main Building)

Convenor: Professor Anna Contadini

Abstract: The Aghlabid dynasty (800-909) of Ifrīqiya produced some of the most spectacular buildings that survive from any period of North Africa’s history, and the most numerous. The new rulers built the spectacular palace-cities of al-ʿAbbāsiyya and Raqqāda and for the first time, built congregational mosques, ribāṭs, and fortifications in the major towns of Ifrīqiya. This paper will examine how this energetic, but often overlooked, ninth-century building programme wholly transformed the appearance of North African towns from a Romano-Byzantine aesthetic to an Islamic aesthetic. It will also explore the economics of medieval monumental construction, materials and decorative technique and the emergence of a responsive, but pragmatic, Aghlabid architecture.

For further inquiries please don't hesitate to contact Dr Tanja Tolar on tt30@soas.ac.uk.