Service Description

Muqarnas are Islamic squinches and resolve the problem of how to connect a spherical dome to a cuboid building ('squaring the circle'). In this class we won't construct muqarnas geometrically like the makers of muqarnas, we will draw, trace and paint them like artist observers. We'll also look at the seemingly complex but actually fairly simple (when you draw and analyse them) Chinese bracket system 斗拱. I remember temples in Hong Kong that were built entirely without nails and glue and only with artful joinery. These wooden brackets support the eternal, quintessential Chinese roof that essentially hasn't changed in hundreds of years. We'll draw, trace, understand and analyse these and if you ever come across either of these architectural elements in future you'll have a better insight into how and why they were invented. PLEASE NOTE: There are 4 sessions. There is no session on 8 November. Instead there is a double session on 15 November. The sessions run like this: 1. 1 Nov, 9-10pm 2. 15 Nov, 9-10pm 3. 15 Nov, 10-11pm 4. 22 Nov, 9-10pm All London time. The Architectural Elements series focuses on the 'bits' of architecture to hone in our skills and sharpen our brushes. Short and succint classes, these are the building blocks of buildings. Please note that these, like the rest of the Masterclass series, are one-off classes and will not be repeated. More info on Forum: Forum link in main menu