Principles for designing a modern Islamic garden - how can new design contain the memory of the past?

Islamic gardens were historically gardens designed and built by Muslims for Muslim patrons, in what is traditionally known as the world of Islam. Today due to the vast immigration of people made possible by the advancement of transportation methods, Muslims have dispersed their religion and culture to all parts of the world and, as a result, Muslim and non-Muslim clients are commissioning designers to build modern Islamic gardens inside or outside of Islamic countries. For this, designers need guidelines that gather underlying design principles of Islamic gardens cohesively in one place. Therefore this thesis approaches the “sense of Islam” by analyzing Islamic gardens based on formal elements such as pathways, buildings and forms of water in the garden, and abstracting design principles from them in order to illustrate the elements that comprise an Islamic garden. This will help landscape architects design modern gardens that have characteristics that echo historic Islamic landscapes and thus evoke a “sense of Islam.” These design principles will use traditional forms to inspire contemporary designers. The proposed result is a design booklet of Islamic design concepts, visual strategies, forms, textures, and ornament for an audience of landscape architecture firms and contemporary designers