detail of facade
a detail of the facade of the hotel where we were staying in Bukhara refers to the historical practice of cantilever constructions by which while cutting away a corner a transition of form is realised. Here the lower corner of a balcony is cut away.
Explore it in the following applet. Rotate and look from bottom beneath. Now you can see that in 2D the construction looks like a tiling of squares. This is how muqarnas work: In a 2D tiling elements are lifted up to layers sustaining each other, forming a muqarna.
You can see this construction realised in the Chasma Ayub mausoleum in Vobkent.
Vobkent is situated 30-tal km from Bukhara. The only remaining part of the mausoleum is the entrance. It is one of the few still remaining pre-Mongol buildings in the region.
