24/05_Complexity in Islamic designs

In today’s post I would like to continue with Islamic patterns but more in a practical way. What is more amazing about Arab ancient culture is how they created the designs with only two main elements.

With this first element,

A compass to make circles

And this second element,

 

A ruler to make lines within circles

 

…They created ornaments such like this:

 

 

Mosque of Moulay Idriss. Autor: Dimitry B. [Flickr]

With just two elements you can also create amazing art creations such as the one we have seen in the previous post or in this image. But how can we really promote this interest in our students? I have found an interesting video which shows you the complex of Islamic design and beauty. But the most interesting part is when they show you how they start with a single circle, and through a series of divisions and development, they create very intricate, breath-taking designs. Also, it gives a practical explanation through drawing the circle and doing some designs. Here you can see this short and convenient video (for your class) by TED talks:

Clic to see the video in Youtube

With this, you can do those patterns in class as well without a lot of mathematic instructions, such like in these examples:

Plane example. [Resource: https://profmate.wordpress.com/mosaico-teselado/]

Pajarita example [Resource: https://profmate.wordpress.com/mosaico-teselado/]

As we can see, we don’t need too much instruction, nor knowledge to create these examples and you are promoting them mathematic competence as well as technical drawing. Stay tuned for next posts! Bye 😉

Pd. By the way, I am not an English native speaker, but a Spanish one. I am still trying to improve my command of the English language so if you notice any mistake in my spelling or grammar, please let me know!

References

Broug, Eric. (2015, May 14). The complex geometry of Islamic design [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg1NpMmPv48

Profmat [Screen name]. (n.d.). MOSAICOS Y TESELADOS arte geométrico. Retrieved from https://profmate.wordpress.com/mosaico-teselado/