Turned latticework

An assembly of small turned wooden spindles interlocked without nails, forming pierced screens of dense geometric pattern. This art joinery, the technical heart of the mashrabiya, demands highly specialised cabinetmaking skill. Turned screens filter light, ventilate and preserve privacy in Arab dwellings. They dress the windows, balconies and partitions of heritage hotels across the Islamic world, where their restoration calls on increasingly rare craftsmen.