Projections, Profiles, and Other Considerations for the Virtual Reconstruction of the Lost Muqarnas Vaults in the Tinmal Mosque

Abstract

Following the earthquake of September 8, 2023, much of the Tinmal Mosque suffered severe collapse. Within this context, the Atlas of Almohad Architecture project (https://ataral.es) undertook the virtual reconstruction of the monument. This paper outlines the methodological criteria applied in developing a 3D model, focusing on both the vaults that remained intact —the small dome over the mihrab and the eastern vault of the qibla aisle— and the hypothetical reconstruction of the two missing vaults, for which only scant remains were preserved. The approach draws particularly on the analysis of moldings and profiles from the third vault of the al-Qarawiyyīn Mosque, an Almoravid structure chronologically close to the Almohad vaults of Tinmal.