The LEARN section of this website has a number of sections that each deal with different aspects islamic geometrical design.

INTRODUCTION: What are the principles of islamic geometrical design?

GRIDS: The hidden structure of Islamic geometric design, grids allow for creativity and innovation and make complex designs less complex.

Designs based on the division of a circle into five equal parts have characteristics that are different than all other kinds of geometrical design. Find out why.

LESSON 1:

Learn how to design one of the most common geometric designs in Islamic art and architecture. All you need is a pencil, a piece of paper and a compass and a ruler.

LESSON 2:
Learn how to design another common geometric design from Islamic art and architecture.

POLYGONS:
The building blocks of geometric designs. Polygons work together to make grids

MUQARNAS:
The three- dimensional manifestation of two dimensional Islamic geometric design. They are Islamic architecture's truly unique contribution to world architecture.

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Learn: Lesson 2

All Islamic geometric designs were originally constructed with just a compass and a ruler. By drawing circles and joining intersections of circles with straight lines, traditional Islamic craftsmen have, over the centuries, been able to create hundreds of different designs.

My book contains eighteen different designs that can all be created using the same basic techniques as shown on this page.


1. Draw a circle with diagonal, vertical and horizontal lines. Draw a square that contains the circle	2. Draw two V-shapes. both start where the horizontal line meets the circle and square. The lines of the V extend through the intersections that are indicated by the red circles	3. Draw another two V-shapes. both start where the vertical line meets the circle and the square. As in the previous diagram, the lines of the V extend through the intersections that are indicated by the red circles	4. All the necessary construction lines have now been drawn. With a different colour pen, draw the line sections as shown in the diagram.

5. With the same colour pen as in the previous image, draw in the remaining line sections as shown in the diagram.	6. This shows the final design without construction lines. The drawing below shows what appears when this design is repeated in a 3 x 3 format.