The genius of Islamic architecture arises out of a sensitive handling of materials, writes Ronald Lewcock in "Materials and Techniques" in ( Architecture of the Islamic World, edited by George Michell). In Islamic architecture,  Lewcock writes, material, technique and design combine into a perfect union.

Little is known about the formal training of the early architects. Lewcock writes that it is difficult to believe the great masterpieces of Islamic architecture could have been achieved by architects who had not studied geometry, mathematics, applied mechanics and drawing -- and who had not cultivated design skills over a long period of time. But, he continues, Sinan, the great architect of the Ottoman era, spent most of his life as a Janissarian soldier and did not begin an architectural career until the age of 46.

Writes Lewcock, "An important advantage enjoyed by Islamic architects was that even the biggest mosques and tombs were usually erected during an amazingly short time. Islamic architects were proud of their ability to build quickly, and sometimes such feats were recorded in the inscriptions. The autocratic Muslim ruler could assemble vast numbers of workers and quantities of material from his widespread domains, and thus it was frequently possible for a large building to be conceived, planned and completed by the same architect -- a phenomenon which was much rarer in the West.

For the most part, those who did the physical building of the palaces, tombs, caravanserais and mosques were anonymous craftsmen using techniques that predated the Islamic era, Lewcock notes. The extent of specialization in the building trades, writes Lewcock, depended on the needs of the local community.

Lewcock writes that an idea of the extent of specialization can be seen in the woodworking classifications. According to Lewcock, there were sawyers who prepared the rough timber to the correct dimensions; carpenters who did most of the woodwork in buildings; makers of wooden door locks who were depended upon for 'the safety of property and the guarding of women'; turners whose work included the making of wooden screens for windows; makers of chests for clothes and valuables; carvers or decorators; and incrustors who worked with precious woods, ivory and mother-of-pearl.

Stonemasons, Lewcock continues, were similarly divided into a number of specialties, including the quarry men; the preparers of roughly shaped blocks for inner walls and foundations; the preparers of finished ashlar blocks; skilled carvers; masons for the rough stonework on the inner faces of the walls; and masons of the rough rubble cores between the outer and inner faces of the walls.

Because these men repeated the same limited task all day long, Lewcock notes, they achieved their work with incredible speed.

Other important building trades were brickwork, clay walling, metalwork, ironmongery, plastering and tiling.

Minaret is a tall, slender tower on a mosque with one or more projecting balconies from which a muezzin summons the people to prayer. Lewcock's discussion of the minaret provides additional insight into Islamic building techniques and materials. "Minarets began as low, square masonry towers on the pattern of pre-Islamic Syrian towers, which had been built for both pagan and Christian purposes," he writes. "As soon as Islamic architects desired to make them higher, however, they resorted to the stepped storeyed construction typical of Roman lighthouses. The minaret of the Great Mosque at Qairwwan (724 AD) is one example, and that of the mosque of al-Hakim in Cairo (1002-13 AD) is another. From there it was but a short step to the introduction of varied shapes on different storeys. Eventually a common form of minaret developed, which began as a square, changed in the next storey to a polygon and then to the cylindrical main shaft. The balcony was constructed of light wood, or cantilevered on brackets or superimposed niches. The top of the minaret formed another story, frequently contrasting in shape, and it was then crowned by a dome or a conical roof.

"The stability of high minarets was assured, not merely by the system of superimposed stories of decreasing size, but also by the use of the staircase construction to tie the outer skin of each minaret to its central core. With stone treads the tie was simple and strong, with brick it was created by building an arch under each tread, or a sloping barrel vault under each flight. Minarets of square plan were further strengthened by introducing arches under the landings. In this way the whole height of the minaret was constructed as a hollow screw of greater strength than its slender appearance suggested. Using this technique, Ottoman minarets rose to heights of more than seventy meters." (p.18)