smart.way
New member
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2014
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- Arabic
- Home Country
- Egypt
- Current Location
- Egypt
Hello,
I would like to know the exact answer of these questions from the following passage:
In the middle of the sahn there was usually a fountain playing into a basin. Originally this basin was square in shape, with, at a lower level, the corners cut off to form an octagon. From each of the new sides thus formed, a semi-circle is cut, so that the whole basin seems to be a geometrical projection of a dome supported by arches(Figure 4), thus re presenting a man’s view of the sky from the middle of his house.
This shape was not accidentally nor haphazardly conceived. It was symbolic. To the Arab, the house was a microcosm or little world, and by using architectural symbols he expressed his view of the uni verse. To him, the four walls of the courtyard represented the four columns carrying the dome of the sky. The sky is then drawn down into intimate contact with the living rooms by reflecting it in a basin which has the form of a dome on arches. Thus, nature and space are brought into the town-house by their transposition into architectural forms and by symbolism.
Question (1): What is the usual shape of the basin?
Question (2): What effect has this shape?
I would like to know the exact answer of these questions from the following passage:
In the middle of the sahn there was usually a fountain playing into a basin. Originally this basin was square in shape, with, at a lower level, the corners cut off to form an octagon. From each of the new sides thus formed, a semi-circle is cut, so that the whole basin seems to be a geometrical projection of a dome supported by arches(Figure 4), thus re presenting a man’s view of the sky from the middle of his house.
This shape was not accidentally nor haphazardly conceived. It was symbolic. To the Arab, the house was a microcosm or little world, and by using architectural symbols he expressed his view of the uni verse. To him, the four walls of the courtyard represented the four columns carrying the dome of the sky. The sky is then drawn down into intimate contact with the living rooms by reflecting it in a basin which has the form of a dome on arches. Thus, nature and space are brought into the town-house by their transposition into architectural forms and by symbolism.
Question (1): What is the usual shape of the basin?
Question (2): What effect has this shape?
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