{{Short description|Hall with a roof supported by columns}} [[File:Temple de Louxor 53.jpg|thumb|Central columns of the Great Hypostyle Hall in the Temple of Karnak, Egypt]]
In architecture, a '''hypostyle''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|aɪ|p|ə|ˌ|s|t|aɪ|l|,_|ˈ|h|ɪ|p|ə|-}}) hall has a roof which is supported by columns.
==Etymology== The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|ὑπόστυλος}} {{lang|grc-Latn|hypóstȳlos}} meaning "under columns" (where {{lang|grc|ὑπό}} {{lang|grc-Latn|hypó}} means below or underneath and {{lang|grc|στῦλος}} {{lang|grc-Latn|stŷlos}} means column).<ref>"Hypostyle", Random House Dictionary (unabridged) 2011.</ref>
==Technical options== [[file:NIEdot361.jpg|thumb|Design of the Great Hypostyle Hall constructed around {{Circa|1290}}–1224 BC<ref name="KleinerGardner">Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. 14th. Boston: Wadsworth, 73. Print.</ref>]] The roof may be constructed with bridging lintels of stone, wood or other rigid material such as cast iron, steel or reinforced concrete. There may be a ceiling. The columns may be all the same height or, as in the case of the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, the columns flanking the central space may be of greater height rather than those of the side aisles, allowing openings in the wall above the smaller columns, through which light is admitted over the aisle roof, through clerestory windows.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Hypostyle|volume=14|page=208}}</ref>
===Applications=== The architectural form has many applications, occurring in the ''cella'' of ancient Greek temples and in many Asian buildings, particularly of wood construction.
===Mosques=== [[File:Great Mosque of Kairouan, prayer hall.jpg|thumb|Hypostyle prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia]] With a combination of columns and arches, the hypostyle hall became one of the two main types of mosque construction. In many mosques, especially the early congregational mosques, the prayer hall has the hypostyle form.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IJrN8rDirxkC&dq=hypostyle+early+congregational+mosques&pg=PA265 Fred S. Kleiner, ''Gardner's art through the ages : the western perspective'', Cengage Learning, 2010, p. 265]</ref> One of the finest examples of the hypostyle-plan mosques is the Great Mosque of Kairouan (also called the Mosque of Uqba) in the city of Kairouan, Tunisia.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IJrN8rDirxkC&dq=Gardner%27s+art+mosque+of+kairouan&pg=PA267 Fred S. Kleiner, ''Gardner's art through the ages : the western perspective'', p. 267]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612251/index.pdf |title=The Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Anatolia: Mosque- and State-Building under Mongol Suzerainty |author=Kenneth Hayes |pages=18–19, 20 etc. |quote=(pp 18-19) Early iterations of the Kaaba also had wooden columns. ... After this building succumbed to fire in the taking of the Haram, Ibn Zubayr ... placed three teak-wood columns in a single row. (p 20) The mosque at Kufa became so paradigmatic that later hypostyle mosques are generally known as Kufa- or Kufic-type mosques. |publisher=Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey |date=2010 |access-date=27 February 2015 }}</ref>
==See also== {{Commons category}} * Ancient Egyptian architecture * Apadana * Peristyle * Portico
==References== {{reflist}} {{Islamic architecture}}
Category:Architectural elements Category:Ancient Egyptian architecture Category:Islamic architectural elements