[solon_where_r_u]

The pointed arch is a Gothic, and therefore Western, motif. I'm an architect by the way.

[John Jamieson]

You don't see any Islamic influence at all?

[MHT]

I read an article about the WTC architect (I think it was in the WSJ last week) and he lamented the many "classic failures". Now, in seeing those many steel columns reinforcing the exterior, I am more amazed than ever that it would collapse--and so quickly, at that.

Didn't any structural engineers ever foresee the possible problems and risks that these structures presented?

[Romulus]

Eastern architecture is full of pointed arches. It's worth noting that the pointed arch doesn't appear in Western architecture till around 1130, not long after the first Crusade.

[ItCanHappenToYou]

The interior of the mosque at Cordoba ( 8th century) is a continuous arcade - all round arches. The Alhambra ( 12th C) has tons of pointy arches in the tracery and lacework. The arch was actually discovered by the Etruscans and put to work by the Romans (Coliseum). It was lost, along with the recipe for concrete, during the dark ages. It was rediscovered in principle with the bays of late Romanesque and put to work in French and northern Gothic.

The arch is a Western invention, but the Islamic nations also used it. Islamic art relies heavily on patterns from nature- the natural arches of trees are one such example. Hope this helps.

[Fred25]

The pointed arch is a Gothic, and therefore Western, motif. I'm an architect by the way.

Yep, those entrance-way arches are Gothic.