Reconstruction of a building destroyed by war (Afghanistan)

This is my reconstruction of a mosque that once stood on a ruined complex in Herat, Afghanistan. The Musalla Minarets complex is said to house around 20 minarets, a large mosque, and a madrasa (school) since the establishment in 15th century AD. However, only 5 minarets are still standing today, while the madrasas and mosque were completely destroyed.

This mosque reconstruction doesn’t resemble the original one because of the lack of references, but I’ve tried my best. From what I know, it has rectangular floor plan, four Iwans (a vaulted rectangular hall) on every 4 main points of compass, and decorated + colored tiles. I believe this ruined complex is a part of Timurid Architecture, so turquoise must be the dominant color.


The final rendition of Musalla Complex’s mosque :



From several angle:





This is the mosque floor plan:


In this project, it is my first time designing muqarnas (a complicated vaulting decoration…sort of) and interior dome decoration. Both had taken more than 8 hours to finish, but I’m quite happy with the results.

This is the muqarnas on one of the Iwans:





And the interior dome:

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Nice work. I always find it a great use of 3d to reconstruct and show people whats the subject would have looked like in its full glory.
It is this one? Musalla complex - Wikipedia

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Thank you, and yes … that’s the wiki page

I love the complex geometry of traditional Islamic architecture. But I get overwhelmed at the thought of trying to model it! Great job!

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Thank you