Hypostyle
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Temple_de_Louxor_53.jpg/220px-Temple_de_Louxor_53.jpg)
Inarchitecture,ahypostyle(/ˈhaɪpəˌstaɪl,ˈhɪpə-/)hallhas a roof which is supported by columns.
Etymology
[edit]The termhypostylecomes from theancient Greekὑπόστυλοςhypóstȳlosmeaning "under columns" (where ὑπόhypómeans below or underneath and στῦλοςstŷlosmeans column).[1]
Technical options
[edit]The roof may be constructed with bridginglintelsof stone, wood or other rigid material such as cast iron, steel or reinforced concrete. There may be a ceiling. The columns may be all the same height or, as in the case of theGreat Hypostyle HallatKarnak,the columns flanking the central space may be of greater height rather than those of the side aisles, allowing openings in the wall above the smaller columns, through which light is admitted over the aisle roof, throughclerestorywindows.[2]
Applications
[edit]The architectural form has many applications, occurring in thecellaofancient Greektemples and in many Asian buildings, particularly of wood construction.
Mosques
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Great_Mosque_of_Kairouan%2C_prayer_hall.jpg/220px-Great_Mosque_of_Kairouan%2C_prayer_hall.jpg)
With a combination of columns andarches,the hypostyle hall became one of the two main types ofmosqueconstruction. In many mosques, especially the early congregational mosques, the prayer hall has the hypostyle form.[3]One of the finest examples of the hypostyle-plan mosques is theGreat Mosque of Kairouan(also called the Mosque of Uqba) in the city ofKairouan,Tunisia.[4][5]
Modern
[edit]The hypostyle is widely used in modern architecture.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
References
[edit]- ^"Hypostyle", Random House Dictionary (unabridged) 2011.
- ^public domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Hypostyle".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 208. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^Fred S. Kleiner,Gardner's art through the ages: the western perspective,Cengage Learning, 2010, p. 265
- ^Fred S. Kleiner,Gardner's art through the ages: the western perspective,p. 267
- ^Kenneth Hayes (2010)."The Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Anatolia: Mosque- and State-Building under Mongol Suzerainty"(PDF).Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. pp. 18–19, 20 etc.Retrieved27 February2015.
(pp 18-19) Early iterations of the Kaaba also had wooden columns.... After this building succumbed to fire in the taking of the Haram, Ibn Zubayr... placed three teak-wood columns in a single row. (p 20) The mosque at Kufa became so paradigmatic that later hypostyle mosques are generally known as Kufa- or Kufic-type mosques.