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The Taj Mahal is famous as an enduring monument to

love. It was built by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah

Jahan as a final resting place for his beloved wife,

Mumtaj Mahal. The foundation of her mausoleum was

laid in1631 and was completed after 22 years in 1653 at

a cost of 32 million rupees. Twenty thousand workmen

and master craftsmen from Persia, France, Iran, Italy

and Turkey worked on the building.

Site slection:

The site for the Taj Mahal was so chosen because of

the bend of the river and as such offered a clear view

of the monument from the Agra fort.

The river took a sharp turn at this place, almost at a

right angle so that a water-shed is made where the

thrust of the water is the minimum. It was, thus, the

safest point on the river-bank, it is far from thehubbub of the city~ affording a quiet and beautiful

situation, ideal for the project.

The river-bend created here almost a vast lake of

clean water below and just in front of the Taj Mahal,

with overwhelming moisture in the surrounding

atmosphere which was capable of absorbing dust or

any other air pollution.

The orientation of the site facilitated the

incorporation of a mosque in the Taj complex.

Site planning:

In a true Mughal tradition the tomb was laid in a

garden enclosure but was more logically placed at the

head of the garden which added rich depth and

perspective to the monument.

The four standing minarets at the four corners of the

platform on which the Taj stands provide a kind of a

spatial reference frame for the central structure.

This reference transforms what could have been

massive oppressiveness into a comprehensible beauty.

These minarets serve a dual purpose of imparting a

comprehensible scale as well as preventing its huge

mass to amorphously disintegrating into the horizon.

The Taj Mahal complex is bounded by a crenellated

red sandstone wall on three sides. The river-facing side

is unwalled.

On the inner (garden) side, the wall is fronted by

columned arcades, a feature typical of Hindu temples

later incorporated into Mughal mosques.

The wall is interspersed with domed kiosks (chattris),

and small buildings which may have been viewing areas

or watch towers (such as the so-called Music House,

now used as a museum).

The main gateway (darwaza) is a monumentalstructure built primarily of marble. The style is

reminiscent of that of Mughal architecture of earlier

emperors.

Its archways mirror the shape of the tomb's archways,

and itspishtaq arches incorporate the calligraphy that

decorates the tomb. The vaulted ceilings and walls have

elaborate geometric designs, like those found in the

other sandstone buildings of the complex.

The plan of the this whole c onception takes the form

of a rectangle lying north-south measuring an

impressive 1900 ft x 1000 ft with a central area divided

of into square gardens of 1000 ft side.The Taj stands on

a square 187 ft side and 22 ft high flanked on either

side by two similar structures viz. a mosque on the

western side and a uest-house onthe eastern side

GARDENS:

The ornamental gardens through which the

path leads are palanned along classical

mughal char-bagh style.

Two marble canals studded with fountains,

lined with cypress trees [symbolising death]

emanating from the central raised pool,

cross in the center of garden dividing it into

four equal squares.

The garden is laid out so as to maintain

perfect symmetry. The mausoleum stands

majestically at the north end just above the

river and not at the central location.

At the centre of the garden, in the mid of

the tomb and the gateway, is a raised

marble lotus shaped tank with a cusped andtrefoiled border. The tank has been arranged

to provide a clear view of Taj in its water

from any point in the garden.

The background has been provided by the

sky. it changes its colour and texture and the

Taj is always presented in a variety of tints

and moods.

Out of the total area of 580m x 300m , the

Taj garden alone covers 300m x 300m

The Taj Mahal garden is unusual in siting

the main element, the tomb, at the end

rather than at the centre of the garden.

But the existence of the newly discovered

Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden"on the

other side of the Yamuna provides a

different interpretation that theYamunaitself was incorporated into the garden's

design, and was meant to be seen as one of

the rivers of paradise.

FLOOR PLAN OF THE TAJ:

The interior of the mausoleum comprises a

lofty central chamber, a crypt

immediately below this and four octagonal

corner rooms originally intended to house

the graves of other royal family members.

In the center are the cenotaphs of shah

jahan and Mumtaz Mahal.

Shah Jahans cenetophs is to the left and

is higher than that of Mumtaz Mahal which

rests immediately below the dome.

A marble screen of trelliswork surrounds

the grave while both tombs are exquisitely

inlaid with semiprecious stone.The acoustics of the building are superb

with the dome celing being designed to echo

chants from Koran and musicians melodies.

LOCATED IN THE ANCIENT TOWN OF OLDDELHI,SHAHJANABAD.CONSTRUCTED IN THE YEAR 1644-1658 BYTHE MUGHAL EMPORER SHAHJAHAN.THE JAMA MASJID IS THE FINALARCHITECTURAL EXTRAVAGANZA OF THEMUGHAL EMPORER SHAHJAHAN.

THE MONUMENT WAS BUILT BY ABOUTFIVE THOUSAND ARTISANS.

ORIGINALLY,CALLED THE MASJID-I-

JAHANUMA OR THE MOSQUE

COMMANDING THE WIEW OF THE

WORLD,THIS MAGNIFICENT

STRUCTURE . STANDS ON THE BHOJHLA

PAHARI ,ONE OF THE TWO HILLS OF THE

OLD CAPITAL.. JAMA MASJID WAS THE

MAIN CONGREGATIONAL MOSQUE OF

SHAHJANABAD.JAMA MASJID I S AMAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF

MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE.IT IS THE LARGEST MOSQUE IN INDIA.ITWAS CUSTOMARY FOR

THE EMPORER AND HIS COURTIERS TOGO TO THE MOSQUE EVERY

FRIDAY TO ATTEND JUMME KINAMAAZ,THE CONGRESSIONAL

PRAYERS.THE LAL QUILA OR THE RED FORT LIES TOTHE EAST OF THE JAMA MASJID.

THE JAMA MASJID WAS DESIGNED AS THEMAIN MOSQUE OF SHAHJANABADTHE HALLMARK OF THIS MOSQUE ARE THEWIDE STAIRCASES AND

ARCHED GATEWAYS.THE STRUCTUREWAS SITUATED ON A HIGH

PLATFORM O THAT ITS MAGNIFICENTFAADE COULD BE VISIBLE

FROM ALL NEIGHBOURING AREAS.LIKE ALL OTHER MOSQUES,JAMA MASJID ISA PORTICO WHICH IS ENCLOED ONLY IN THEWESTERN SIDE WHICH CONSISTS OF AKIBLAH.

GATEWAYS

THE MOSQUE HAS THREE GATEWAYS.THE

IMPOSING GATEWAYS

PPROACHEDTHROUGH A B ROAD FLIGHT OF

STEPS IN THE NORTH AND SOUTH.

THE LARGEST AND HIGHEST GATEWAY ON

THE EAST ISREACHED BY A FLIGHT OF

THIRTY-FIVE STEPS AND WHICH WAS

PROBABLY USED BY EMPERORS,REMAINS

CLOSED ON MOST OF THE WEEKDAYS.

THE STAIRS ARE CONSTRUCTED OF RED

SANDSTONE. THE NORTHERN GATE IS

REACHED BY A FLIGHT OF THIRTY-NINE

STEPS,WHICH IN OLDEN DAYS WERE

OCCUPIED BY STALLS KEPT BY COOKS. THE

SOUTHERN GATE IS REACHED BY A FLIGHT

OF THIRTY-THREE STEPS

Mosque:

THE MOSQUE MEASURES 65M X 35M.AS

SOON AS ONE PASSES THROUGH THE

GATEWAYS, ONE ENTER INTO THE

COURTYARD WHICH MEASURES 408 SQ

FEET.

THE MOSQUE HAS THE CAPACITY TO HOLD

AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND

DEVOTEES.

ON THE BACK OF THE MOSQUE,THERE ARE

FOUR SMALL MINARETS CROWNED LIKE

THOSE IN THE FRONT..THE MOSQUE STANDS

ON A PLINTH FIVE FEET ABOVE THE

PAVEMENT OF THE TERRACE/COURTYARD

THE FLOOR IS COVERED WITH BLACK AND

WHITE MARBLES ORNAMENTED IN

IMITATION OF MOSHALLA OR THE CARPET

FOR PRAYERS.

THE TOWER IS MADE UP OF FIVE

FLOORS,EACH PRONOUNCED BY A

PROTRUDING BALCONY.

THE FIRST THREE FLOORS ARE MADE UP OF

RED SANDSTONE.THE FOURTH ONE WITH

MARBLE AND THE FIFTH ONE AGAIN WITH

sANDSTONE. EACH MINARET HAS THREE

PROJECTING GALLERIES OF WHITE MARBLE

AND HAS SUMMIT CROWNED WITH A LIGHT

OCTAGONAL PAVILLION OF SAME MATERIAL.

THE MINARETS ARE LOCATED ON THE

NORTH AND THE SOUTH SIDE.THE PREMISES

OF THE SOUTH MINARET IS 1076 SQ FEET

WIDE AND PEOPLE ASSEMBLE HERE FOR

PRAYERS {NAMAAZ}.THE MINARETS ARE

130FT HIGH AND oFFERS A FABULOUS BIRDS

EYE VIEW OF THE CITY.

Red Fort:

The Red Fort is a 17th century fort complex

constructed by the Mughal emperor Shah

Jahan in the walled city of Old Delhi that

served as the residence of the Mughal

Emperors. It also served as the capital of the

Mughals until 1857. It covers a total area of

about 121.34 acres. Mughal Emperor Shah

Jahan, started construction of the massive

fort in 1638 and work was completed in

1648. The layout of the Red Fort was

organised to retain and integrate this site

with the Salimgarh Fort. The fortress palace

was an important focal point of the medieval

city of Shahjahanabad. The planning and

aesthetics of the Red Fort represent the

zenith of Mughal creativity which prevailed

during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan. This

Fort has had many developments added on

after its construction by Emperor Shahjahan.

The significant phases of development were

under Aurangzeb and later Mughal rulers.

Important physical changes were carried out in the

overall settings of the site after the Indian Mutiny in

1857. After Independence, the site experienced a few

changes in terms of addition/alteration to the structure

During the British period the Fort was mainly used as a

cantonment. The Red Fort is an attraction for tourists

from around the world.

Improtant buildings:

Diwan-i-Aam

Beyond this gate is another, larger open space, which

originally served as the courtyard of the Diwan-i-Aam, t

large pavilion for public imperial audiences with an

ornate throne-balcony (jharokha) for the emperor. The

columns were painted in gold and there was a gold and

silver railing separating the throne from the public.

Diwan-i-Khas

The Diwan-i-Khas or "hall of private audience" was used

by the emperor for giving private audience to the

courtiers and state guests. The hall, with openings of

engrailed arches on its sides consists of a rectangular

central chamber surrounded by aisles of arches rising

from piers. The lower parts of the piers are inlaid with

floral designs, while the upper portions are gilded and

painted. The four corners of its roof are surrounded bypillared chhatris. Over the marble pedestal in its center

stood the famous Peacock Throne which was removed

1739 by Nadir Shah of Persia and later in the year 1760

the Marathas removed and looted the Silver ceiling of t

Diwan-i-Khas. To the north is a square red sandstone

building standing by itself a little a loof and self-

composed, referred to as the Diwan-e-Khas. The buildin

from the exterior has two storeys, the upper one with a

deep hanging eave around it like a hood and the lower

floor is demarcated externally by a balcony supported b

decorative brackets. The flat roof has a tall kiosk at each

of the four corners. I nside, it appears that the building is

not two-storeyed but one high-ceilinged room. At thecentre is a single faceted pillar with long tapering

brackets clustered around it supporting a walkway with

branching catwalks connected to corners of the room.

Moti Masjid

To the west of the hammam is the Moti Masjid, the Pea

Mosque. This was a later addition, built in 1659 as a

private mosque for Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan's successor.

is a small, three-domed mosque carved in white marble

with a three-arched screen which steps down to the

courtyard. The Moti Masjid measures approximately 12

9 meters, with a height of nearly 8 meters.

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Nahr-i-Behisht

The imperial private apartments lie behind the throne.

The apartments consist of a row of pavilions that sits

on a raised platform along the eastern edge of the fort,

looking out onto the river Yamuna. The pavilions are

connected by a continuous water channel, known as

the Nahr-i-Behisht, or the "Stream of Paradise", that

runs through the centre of each pavilion. The water is

drawn from the river Yamuna, from a tower, the Shah

Burj, at the north-eastern corner of the fort. The palace

is designed as an imitation of paradise as it is described

in the Koran; a c ouplet repeatedly inscribed in the

palace reads, "If there be a paradise on earth, it is here,

it is here". The planning of the palace is based on

Islamic prototypes, but each pavilion reveals in itsarchitectural elements the Hindu influences typical of

Mughal building. The palace complex of the Red Fort is

counted among the best examples of the Mughal style.

Alberti:

Leon Battista Alberti, Italian architect, art theorist and

writer, was born in Genoa in 1406 and died in Rome in

1472. He began his artistic studies in Padua and

Bolonia, but the most important period of formation

passed in Rome, where he in 1432 started to work in

the office of an apostolic abbreviator. He studied deeply

the classic architecture, its design, proportions,

decorations and projecting.

Palazzo rucellai

Palazzo Rucellai is a palatial 15th century townhouse on

the Via della Vigna Nuova in Florence, Italy. The RucellaiPalace is believed by most scholars to have been

designed by Leon Battista Alberti between 1446 and

1451 and executed, at least in part, by Bernardo

Rossellino. Its facade was one of the first to proclaim

the new ideas of Renaissance architecture based on the

use of pilasters and entablatures in proportional

relationship to each other.

The grid-like facade is achieved through the application

of a scheme of trabeated articulation. The stone veneer

of this facade is given a channeled rustication and

serves as the background for the smooth-faced

pilasters and entablatures which divide the facade into

a series of three-story bays. The three stories of the

Rucellai facade have different classical orders, as in the

Colosseum, but with the Tuscan order at the base, a

Renaissance original in place of the Ionic order at thesecond level, and a very simplified Corinthian order at

the top level. Twin-lit, round-arched windows in the

two upper stories are set within arches with highly

pronounced voussoirs that spring from pilaster to

pilaster. The facade is topped by a projecting cornice.

The ground floor was for business (the Rucellai family

were powerful bankers) and was flanked by benches

running along the street facade. The second story (the

piano nobile) was the main formal reception floor and

the third story the private family and sleeping quarters.

A fourth "hidden" floor under the roof was for servants;

because it had almost no windows, it was quite dark

inside.

St. Peters Basilica

Donato Bramante (1444 March 11, 1514)

was an Italian architect, who introduced theEarly Renaissance style to Milan and the High

Renaissance style to Rome, where his most

famous design was St. Peter's Basilica.

In 1505, Pope Julius II, in order to glorify

Rome, made a decision to demolish the old St

Peters Basilica and replace it with something

grander. Bramante won the competition that

was held to design the new St Peters Basilica .

The foundation stone of Donators

Bramante design was laid in 1506. This plan

was in the form of an enormous Greek

Cross with a dome inspired by the Pantheon.

The main difference between Bramante's

design and that of the Pantheon is that where

the dome of the Pantheon is supported by a

continuous wall that of the new basilica wasto be supported only on four large piers.

Bramante's dome was to be surmounted by a

lantern with its own small dome. Bramante

had envisioned that the central dome be

surrounded by four lower domes at the

diagonal axes. The equal chancel, nave and

transept arms were each to be of two bays

ending in an apse. At each corner of the

building was to stand a tower, so that the

overall plan was square, with the apses Plan

of St. Peters Basilica projecting at the

cardinal points.

Pope Julius died in 1513 and Bramante was

replaced. Major contributors were Raphael

and Michelangelo and was completed in 1590

by Giacomo and Fontana

Filippo Brunelleshi (1377-1446)

Invented linear perspective, one-point

perspective

Most of his work is in Florence, Italy

He was a master goldsmith great work in

bronze artwork

Considered f1st renaissance architect

Bramante and Brunelleshi visited Rome and

studied Roman architecture

Important works Foundling Hospital,Ridolfi

Chapel, Florence Cathedral, Pazzi Chapel,

Basilica of San Lorenzo, Santo Spirito

Florence Cathedral (1418 1436)

Began - 1296-Gothic Arnolfo di Cambio

Dome 1418 one of earliest buildings

no one knew how to build dome

larger than pantheon,

Buttresses were forbidden , no

rafters for scaffolding

Brunelleshi won competition to design dome

largest brick dome in the world

The cathedral complex includes the basilica,

the baptistery, and Giottos Campanile

Timeline

1296 Cathedral begun on design by Arnolfo

di Cambio.

1334 Giotto: building of campanile

1349 Project continued on a enlargerd plan

by Francesco Talenti include apse and side

chapel, finished campanile - Talenti's definitive

design emerged calling for an enormous

octagonal dome

1418 competition for construction of dome1420 technical solution for vaulting

proposed by Brunelleschi approved and

construction begun

1436 church consecrated

The basic plan is a cross - wide central nave of

4 square bays, aisle on either side, the naves

and aisles are separated by wide pointed

gothic arches resting on composite piers.

The building is huge: 153m length, 38m width

and 90m at crossing

Dome - basic design by cambio

Octagonal dome- no external

buttresses

Brunelleshi self-supporting

dome made of bricks

Base is tensioned by horizontal chains of ironand wood