The effects of muqarnas and mortar joints on the acoustic quality of the jaame mosque of yazd

The architecture of the Jaame mosque, being the most important place for gathering and worship in the Islamic world, is detailed to the finest of building elements. Several activities take place inside the Jaame mosque in separate or connected order. These activities are the performing prayers led by the Imam, the preaching speech, and the recitation of some of the verses of the Holy Quran. Considering that, it is determining to study the acoustics of Jaame mosques and how architects constructed the space to promote the words of God; hence, this paper analyzes the acoustic qualities of Jaame mosque of Yazd, as one of the architectural and historical masterpieces in Iran. The decorative brickwork used in conjunction with tiles and the muqarnases, Karbandies, and squinches adorning the dome, iwan, and their adjacent spaces, appear to have significant effects on the quality of sound in the building. In this study, we simulated the volume and interior surface of the space and conducted calculations of the reverberation time using EASE. Reverberation time shows a downward trend from low to high frequencies and is controlled in low frequencies to produce a preferable acoustic experience. The median of reverberation time shows 4.32-seconds without muqarnases. This time reduces to 3.33-seconds with the proper arrangement of muqarnases, squinches under the dome, and their distance from the sound source, as well as the brickwork decorations and the configuration of the mortar joints to remarkable effect. The results showed an appropriate distribution of sound throughout the mosque.