Learn: introduction and history

The history of Islamic geometry is interwoven with the history and cultural traditions of the regions in which it flourished. There is a rich variety of distinctive and different styles.  Many designs reappear over the ages in different parts of the world.

The variety of modes of application of geometric design is endless. It has been practiced for centuries in all parts of the Islamic world, craftsmen have transferred their knowledge from one generation to the next. Little is known about their design techniques and how they made their geometric compositions but their designs give us a lot of information and insight.
Geometric design has traditionally been done by hand and the process of creating a composition with the same tools as traditional craftsmen have done for centuries is a good way to learn how they constructed their designs. This website shows the results of my work in the field of Islamic geometric design. The watercolour compositions in the online gallery are the result of many years of trying to make traditional designs and learning how the use of colour and vegetal forms can enhance any geometrical composition. The image on the left is a page from a 15th century Mamluk Qur'an. It demonstrates that the most accomplished designs achieve a balance between rectilinear and curvilinear forms. As in life, art is also all about balance and nowhere omre os than in traditional islamic geometrical design.

Geometrical design is essentially ageless and of all periods. This does not mean that it has to be unchanging. In the history of Islamic art and architecture different dynasties were responsible for major innnovations in the fields of arts and sciences. In geometric design the Anatolian Seljuks, the Mamluks from Egypt and the Iranian Safavids were especially innovative.

This innovative attitude has created some of the greatest accomplishments in Islamic art and architecture. This website honours that traditional yet innovative attitude to design.

The most familiar geometrical designs in Islamic art and architecture is two-dimensional. However, there is however also a field of Islamic geometrical design that is less well-known, this is the tradition of three-dimensional geometrical design, muqarnas. Muqarnas constructions were originally created to provide a smooth transition inside a building between wall and a dome. Muqarnas are unique to Islamic architecture and have been used in different ways, using different construction techniques all over the Islamic world.
They can be seen as a three-dimensonal version of two-dimensional geometric design. Their construction methods are intriguing but less complex that they would seem. As with two-dimensional design, a compass and a ruler are all that is needed for muqarnas design. A page dedicated to muqarnas and their construction is here.
This page will give a brief introduction and will provide some basic tips and tools for analysing and understanding geometrical designs. Most of the topics that are discussed on this introductory page, are dealt with in more detail on the other pages of this LEARN section of the website. If you would like to know more still about the design aspects of Islamic geometrical design, buy my book.

The most helpful step a new student of Islamic geometrical design can take is to learn how to distinguish designs from each other. Designs can be categorised into geometrical families, such as a family of four, or family of five or family of six. There are a few more geometrical families but the three mentioned here are the most common. A traditional geometrical star design features a star or some other central shape, surrounded by petals. Counting the number of petals surrounding a central shape will give information on how the design was made. It will tell us how a traditional Islamic craftsman started out with his design. When looking at a geometrical design it is good to remember that the craftsman who made it centuries ago did not calculate angles or make measurements, His tools were a compass and a ruler.