Najdi architecture

[1][2][3][4] The style flourished roughly between 13th and 18th centuries and is known for its desert adaptive urban patterns with low-contour earth-structured mudbrick buildings[5][6][7][8] that are characterized by elements such as triangular or rectangular openings (furjat) and battlements (shurfat) as well as peepholes projecting outward from the main façade (tarma).

[14] The mud bricks, composed of a mixture of water, straw, and other fibers, highlight the relationship between architectural artifice and naturalness.

These small openings do not have a purely decorative function but are arranged vertically, horizontally, or in stacks, creating a pattern on the facade with different dispositions and densities.

These decorative elements in the shape of triangles or arrows, sometimes alternating between full and empty, create a proportional rhythm by acting as a parapet for the rooftop and, in turn, protecting the facades from rainwater.

Some entrance doors are colored, engraved, and painted with geometric motifs, embellished with repetitive designs of a symbolic nature, and very pleasant in style and composition.

Materials used in the construction typically include mud, timber, tamarisk tree log beams, stone, clay, and thatch.

[citation needed] Mosques in the Najd have historically been devoid of decorations in order to resemble the puritanical nature of the Salafi sect of Islam adhered by the locals.

Other distinctive features also include carved wall panels, an arcade element, colonnade and a well-designed mihrab with intricate floral gypsum motifs.

[22][23][24][25] Four components comprise the architectural style of Najdi mosques, that are al-sarha (courtyard), al-misbah (prayer hall), al-sath (roof) and al-khalwa (basement).