Geometry in Islamic Art and Architecture

40 Pages·2012·9.73 MB·English

Geometry in
Islamic Art and
Architecture
By: Sydney Griswold, Sarah Lutz, Abigail
Bouldin, and Lucien Dalton
Art
● Began in the 7th century
History of Islamic ○ eleven main countries and their
racial/cultural history including:
Art
Spain, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco,
South-East Asia, Syria, Bosnia,
Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and India.
● Includes many different fields
○ Architecture, calligraphy, painting,
ceramics, textiles, and other forms
● House of wisdom
● Not restricted to religion
● Islamic art includes aspects of the
varied culture of Islamic societies
● Influenced by Greek, Roman, early
Christian and Byzantine Art styles
Basic elements of Islamic art
● Geometry
Themes of Islamic
● Calligraphy
Art ● Arabesque
○ interlacing and seemingly
never ending plant
○ floral or vegetal (plant
like) designs in repetition
○ Repeating element in
Islamic Art
○ Arabesque in Islamic art is used to
Calligraphy Geometry Arabesque
represent the “transcendent, indivisible,
and infinite nature of God”
● Non-figural
○ Believed humans in art was a sin to God and
is forbidden in Quran
■ Figural Islamic art exists, but is less
common than the other types
Arabesque or vegetal patterns Geometric patterns
Calligraphy in
Art
● Calligraphy is a very important
form of art and writing in
Islamic Culture
● Decoration of the Quran’s
manuscript connects art and
religion
● Calligraphers were considered
the most important artists
because they revealed the word
of God
Calligraphic panel by Mustafa Râkim. The panel reads
”God, there is no god but He, the Lord of His prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Lord of all that
has been created.”
Painting and ● Glazed ceramics was
most prevalent between
Ceramics
the eighth and eighteenth
century
● A lot of ceramics during
this time period where
inscribed with various
different inscriptions.
Generally the inscriptions
●
were carved into the
ceramics (whether plates,
tiles, etc.), covered with
colored glazes before the
final firing was done.
● Since the representation of animals or
Geometric Patterns
human beings were primarily forbidden in
in Islamic Art
Islamic art causing them to develop
these geometric patterns that appear to
continue on infinitely.
● The four basic shapes, or “repeat units,”
from which the more complicated
patterns are constructed are:
○ circles and interlaced circles
○ squares or four-sided polygons
○ the ubiquitous star pattern
○ and multi sided polygons
Intersecting Circles ● Pick radius
● Draw a circle with 2 intersection
and Square
points on the radius
● Create two new intersection
points using protractor
○ Creates perpendicular line
● Using 4 intersection points
create intersecting circles
● Using 8 intersection points, draw
diagonal lines
● Connecting points, create a
square