Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th century, part of a widening vocabulary of articulated decorative ornament drawn from historical sources beyond familiar classical and Gothic modes. Neo-Moorish architecture drew on elements from classic Moorish architecture and, as a result, from the wider Islamic architecture.
In Europe
The "Moorish" garden structures built at Sheringham Park in Norfolk, ca. 1812, were an unusual touch at the time, a parallel to chinoiserie, as a dream vision of fanciful whimsy, not meant to be taken seriously; however, as early as 1826, Edward Blore used Islamic arches, domes of various size and shapes and other details of Near Eastern Islamic architecture to great effect in his design for Alupka Palace in Crimea, a cultural setting that had already been penetrated by Ottoman architecture.
By the mid-19th century, the style was adopted by the Jews of Central Europe, who associated Moorish and Mudéjar architectural forms with the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. It has also been argued that Jewish communities adopted this architecture (which in Western eyes was seen as stereotypical of "Islamic" or "Oriental" culture more broadly) for more complex reasons; mainly, as an affirmation or reclamation of the Middle Eastern roots of their history and thus as a way of setting themselves apart from the surrounding Western or Christian society. This came at time when Jews were gaining more freedoms in some European societies and the construction of ostentatious synagogues was possible for the first time, thus provoking a search for a new distinct style of architecture. Historian John M. Efron of the University of California at Berkeley regards the popularity of Moorish revival architecture among builders of synagogues as a counterpoint to Edward Said's Orientalism, which criticizes European orientalism as inherently imperialist and racist, since the builders chose the style as an expression of admiration for the culture of the Muslim world. As a consequence, Moorish Revival spread around the globe as a preferred style of synagogue architecture for a long period until the early 20th century.
In Spain, the country was conceived as the place of origin of Moorish ornamentation, and the interest in this sort of architecture fluctuated from province to province. The mainstream was called Neo-Mudéjar. In Catalonia, Antoni Gaudí's profound interest in Mudéjar heritage governed the design of his early works, such as Casa Vicens or Astorga Palace. In Andalusia, the Neo-Mudéjar style gained belated popularity in connection with the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It was epitomized by Plaza de España of Seville and the Gran Teatro Falla in Cádiz. In Madrid, the Neo-Mudéjar was a characteristic style of housing and public buildings at the turn of the century. In contrast, the 1920s return of interest to the style resulted in such buildings as the bullring of Las Ventas and Diario ABC office. A Spanish nobleman built the Sammezzano, one of Europe's largest and most elaborate Moorish Revival structures, in Tuscany between 1853 and 1889.
Although Carlo Bugatti employed Moorish arcading among the exotic features of his furniture, shown at the 1902 exhibition at Turin, by that time the Moorish Revival was very much on the wane almost everywhere. A notable exception was Imperial Russia, where the shell-encrusted Morozov House in Moscow (a stylisation of the Pena Palace in Sintra), the Neo-Mamluk Dulber palace in Koreiz, and the palace in Likani exemplified the continuing development of the style.
In Hungary
In the Balkans
Another exception was Bosnia, where, after its occupation by Austria-Hungary, the new authorities commissioned a range of Neo-Moorish structures. The aim was to promote Bosnian national identity while avoiding its association with either the Ottoman Empire or the growing pan-Slavic movement by creating an "Islamic architecture of European fantasy". This included application of ornamentations and other Moorish design strategies neither of which had much to do with prior architectural direction of indigenous Bosnian architecture. The central post office in Sarajevo, for example, follows distinct formal characteristics of design like clarity of form, symmetry, and proportion while the interior followed the same doctrine. Vijećnica in Sarajevo is an example of Pseudo Moorish architectural language using decorations and pointed arches while still integrating other formal elements into the design.
Other notable example in the region is the building of the Regional historical museum in Kardzhali, Bulgaria build in the 1920s, combining also Central Asian styles.
In the United States
In the United States, Washington Irving's fanciful travel sketch, Tales of the Alhambra (1832), first brought Moorish Andalusia into readers' imaginations; one of the first neo-Moorish structures was Iranistan, a mansion of P. T. Barnum in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Constructed in 1848 and destroyed by fire ten years later, this architectural extravaganza "sprouted bulbous domes and horseshoe arches".John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers Jr. What Style Is It: A Guide to American Architecture, p. 63. In the 1860s, the style spread across America, with Olana, the painter Frederic Edwin Church's house overlooking the Hudson River, Castle Garden in Jacksonville and Longwood in Natchez, Mississippi usually cited among the more prominent examples. After the American Civil War, Moorish or Turkish smoking rooms achieved some popularity. There were Moorish details in the interiors created for the Henry Osborne Havemeyer residence on Fifth Avenue by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The most thorough example of Moorish Revival architecture was Villa Zorayda in St. Augustine, Florida, built in 1883 by Franklin W. Smith as a winter home and showplace for the Boston businessman and architectural enthusiast. Today it is a museum, open for tourists. In 1893, The Great Saltair was built on the southern shores of The Great Salt Lake, adjacent to Salt Lake City. Beneath dozens of Moorish domes and lambrequin, polylobed, and keyhole arches, Saltair featured an array of attractions, including popular clubs, restaurants, bowling alleys, a hippodrome, rollercoaster and an observation overlooking the vast desert landscape, and it was also home to what promoters claimed was the largest dance hall in the world. Much Like Iranistan before it, Saltair was destroyed by fire in 1925 and again in 1970; the first of which, less than 30 years after opening.
The trend continued into the early 1900s, for example in the 1909 Murat Shrine Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana. The 1914 Pittock Mansion in Portland, Oregon incorporates Turkish design features, as well as French, English, and Italian ones; the smoking room in particular has notable Moorish revival elements. In 1937, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota added unusual minarets and Moorish domes, unusual because the polychrome decorations are made out of corn cobs of various colors assembled like mosaic tiles to create patterns. The Corn Palace’s Moorish-style towers and onion-shaped domes were added during the 1937 redesign by architect Emmett A. Angell, who aimed to give the building a more exotic appearance to attract visitors during the Great Depression. The 1891 Tampa Bay Hotel, whose minarets and Moorish domes are now the pride of the University of Tampa, was a particularly extravagant example of the style. Other schools with Moorish Revival buildings include David H. Zysman Hall at Yeshiva University in New York City. George Washington Smith used the style in his design for the 1920s Isham Beach Estate in Santa Barbara, California.Gebhard, David. Santa Barbara Architecture, from Spanish Colonial to Modern. Capra Press. Santa Barbara. 1980. (later editions avail.) p. 109
The Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine, California, also features Moorish-inspired architecture, specifically based on the Alhambra, including stuff like a replica fountain of lions.
In Latin America
Palace of Manguinhos, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1918) Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, in Méier, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1917) Pink Mansion, in Ipiranga, São Paulo, Brazil (1927) Municipal Market of Campinas, Brazil (1908) Lapinha Church, in Salvador, Brazil (1930) Morisco Kiosk, in Mexico City, México (1884) Palacio de Valle in Cienfuegos, Cuba (1913–17) Maestranza César Girón Bullring, in Maracay, Venezuela (1933) Castillo Unanue, in San Vicente de Cañete, Peru (1890) Moorish Arch, in Lima, Peru (1924) Casa Gimenez in Antofagasta, Chile (1924) Casino Español in Iquique, Chile (1904) Palacio La Alhambra, in Santiago, Chile (1862) Palacio Arabe, downtown Mar del Plata, Argentina (1945) Moorish Castle, at the top of the hill in Independence Park, in Tandil, Argentina (1923) Clock Tower of Guayaquil, in Guayaquil, Ecuador (1930–31) In India Spanish Mosque, built by Viqar-ul-Umra at Hyderabad.
In Saudi Arabia
Al Rajhi Grand Mosque, built by Sulaiman bin Abdulaziz Al Rajhi in Riyadh in 2004.
Theaters In the United States
Theater City and State Architect DateMurat Theatre at Old National CentreIndianapolis, IndianaOscar D. Bohlen1910 Alhambra Theatre El Paso, Texas Henry C. Trost 1914New York City CenterManhattan, New York CityHarry P. Knowles and Clinton & Russell1922 Alhambra Theatre San Francisco, California Miller and Pflueger 1925 Olympia Theater Miami, Florida John Eberson 1926 Madrid Theatre Kansas City, Missouri DeFoe & Besecke 1926 Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, California Lansburgh, Austin and Edelman 1926 Village East CinemaManhattan, New York City Harrison Wiseman; Willy Pogany (interior) 1926 Altria Theater Richmond, Virginia Marcellus E. Wright Sr., Charles M. Robinson 1927 Bagdad Theatre Portland, Oregon Thomas & Mercier 1927 Mount Baker Theatre Bellingham, Washington Robert Reamer 1927 Lincoln Theater Los Angeles, California John Paxton Perrine 1927 Keith's Flushing Theater Queens, New York Thomas Lamb 1928 The Carpenter Center Richmond, Virginia John Eberson 1928 Civic Theatre Akron, Ohio John Eberson 1929 Emporia Granada Theatre Emporia, Kansas Boller Brothers 1929 Fox Theatre Atlanta, Georgia Mayre, Alger & Vinour 1929 Granada Theater The Dalles, Oregon William Cutts 1929 The Majestic Theatre San Antonio, Texas John Eberson 1929 Music Box Theatre Chicago, Illinois Louis J. Simon 1929Paramount TheaterAbilene, TexasDavid S. Castle & Co.1930 Plaza Theatre El Paso, Texas W. Scott Donne 1930
Around the world Theater Photo City and State Country Architect Date Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre Tbilisi Georgia Victor schröter 1851, rebuilt 1896 Bains Dunkerquois Dunkerque France Louis Gilquin 1896 Odesa Philharmonic Theater Odesa Ukraine Alexander Bernardazzi 1898 State/Forum Theatre Melbourne, Victoria Australia Bohringer, Taylor & Johnson 1929Civic TheatreAucklandNew ZealandCharles Bohringer and William T. Leighton1929
Synagogues
Europe Munich synagogue, by Friedrich von Gärtner, 1832 was the earliest Moorish revival synagogue (destroyed on Kristallnacht) Semper Synagogue, by Gottfried Semper, Dresden, 1839–1840 (destroyed on Kristallnacht) Leopoldstädter Tempel, Vienna, Austria, 1853–1858 (destroyed on Kristallnacht) Dohány Street Synagogue, Budapest, Hungary, 1854–1859 Leipzig synagogue, 1855 (in the Gottschedstrasse, destroyed on Kristallnacht in 1938) Glockengasse synagogue, Cologne, Germany, 1855–1861 (destroyed on Kristallnacht) New Synagogue by Eduard Knoblauch, Berlin, 1859–1866 New Synagogue, Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland, 1857–1860 Tempel Synagogue, Cracow, Poland, 1860–1862 Cetate Synagogue, Timişoara, Romania, by Ignaz Schumann, 1864–1865 Choral Temple, Bucharest, 1864–1866 Zagreb Synagogue, 1867