"Much of the work for this book was completed under the auspices of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT"--P. vii.

Includes bibliographical references.

sect. 1. Meaning from faith -- Spirituality and architecture / Mohammed Arkoun -- "Simultaneous perplexity" : the paradise garden as the quintessential visual paradigm of Islamic architecture and beyond / Nader Ardalan -- On what makes architecture Islamic : some reflections and a proposal / S. Gulzar Haider -- The grand tradition of Islamic architecture / Abdul Rehman -- Discovering concepts from faith / Khalil K. Pirani -- sect. 2. Meaning from history -- Cities in the Islamic world / Ronald Lewcock -- Lofty chambers : the interior space in the architecture of Islamic countries / Ludovico Micara -- The aesthetics of space in Ottoman architecture / Jale N. Erzen -- Changes in the Islamic religion and their effects on the built environment : two cases from Indonesia / Adhi Moersid, Achmad Fanani, and Tulus Setyo Budhi -- Persian gardens and courtyards : an approach to designing contemporary architecture / Mahvash Alemi -- sect. 3. Contemporary trends -- Modernity and tradition : problem or potential / Suha Özkan -- The search for appropriate architecture / Ali Shuaibi -- On the poetics of place : the communicability of an architectural image / Rasem Badran -- Project and tradition / Eugenio Galdieri -- What Islamic architecture is not / Kamran T. Diba -- Architecture in Islamic societies and the new development paradigm / Arif Hasan -- An overview of architecture education in the contemporary Muslim world / Kausar B. Ahmad.

"The ongoing debate among practitioners and in academia about the meaning and understanding of Islamic architecture will be energized by this book. It contains essays by architects and academics from various parts of the world which clarify how the carious disciplines of the design profession can be employed to build in the spirit of Islam. The book is divided into three sections: Meaning from Faith, which draws meaning from the Islamic faith in order to propose a built environment that is universally beneficial; Analysis of History, which examines historical buildings and planning concepts, and suggest how to apply lessons learned to contemporary practice; and Contemporary Trends, which discusses current trends in architecture, education and socio-economic aspects of various Muslim countries."

http://books.google.com/books?id=rSLMCrC61Q0C.