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ISLAMIC GEOMETRIC DESIGN
ERIC BROUG
The beauty of Islamic geometric designs, and the
breathtaking skill of the craftsmen who created
them, are admired the world over. The intricacy
and artistry of the patterns can seem almost
beyond the powers of human ingenuity.
In this handsomely illustrated volume, artist
~and teacher Eric Broug analyzes and explains
these complex designs for the first time in their
historical and physical context. His own original .
drawings accompany magnificent photographs of
mosques, madrasas, palaces and tombs from the
Islamic world, ranging from North Africa to Iran
and Uzbekistan, and from the 8th to the 19th
centuries.
The creators of these patterns were usually
anonymous and there is little evidence for their
working practices, but a close and detailed study
_of the designs can tell us much. Combining
wide-ranging empirical research with his own
artistic skills and sensibility, Eric Broug shows how,
over the centuries, craftsmen were able to adorn
beautiful buildings with wonderful geometric
patterns using the simplest of tools and without |
recourse to mathematical calculations. Design
elements created from straight lines and circles
were placed in grids and then repeated and
waried to generate seemingly limitless arrays
y of dazzling patterns.
Chapters are devoted to each of the main families
of geometric design — fourfold, fivefold and sixfold
— and to the complex combined patterns. Every
design is carefully, explained and illustrated with.a
wealth of stunning photographs and clear,
meticulously detailed drawings.
Readers can follow the design processes by
which these patterns were created and even
learn to reproduce and invent geometric patterns
for themselves using exactly the same tools as
the Islamic craftsmen ofo ld: a ruler anda pair .
of compasses.
| 800 illustrations in color and black and white,
including over 350 line drawings
On thej acket, front: Tiled drinking fountain, Meknes, Morocco.
© Travelwide/Alamy. Back, top left: Inlaid bronze doors, Sultan Hasan
Mosque, Cairo. © Micah Hanson/Alamy; center right: Jali screen, Qutb
Minar complex, Delhi. © Eastland Photo/Alamy; below left: Column
with tiled decoration, Madrasa of Abu al-Hasan, Salé, Morocco (1333). .
© Iconotec/Alamy. All illustrations by Eric Broug (back jacket patterns
are variations of a design from the Attarin Madrasa, Fez, Morar® \
3 3052 01213 5853
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DESIGN
ERIC BROUG, ous:
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To my parents Li' e
In memory of Suwantji Sisworahardjo
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Half title Decoration on the minbar of :
al-Rifai Mosque, Cairo, Egypt (1869-1912).
Titlespread Carved wooden door at the ‘Abdallah
Khan Madrasa, Bukhara, Uzbekistan (1588-90).
This page Ceramic decoration on the Ustad
Nasif mausoleum, Shah-i Zinda complex,
Samarkand, Uzbekistan (c. 1385).
Islamic Geometric Design © 2013 Eric Broug
Designed by Phil Cleaver and Jennifer Penny of
et al design consultants ;
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
_ by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording or any other information
storage and retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publisher.
First published in 2013 in hardcover
in the United States of America by
Thames & Hudson Inc., 500 Fifth
Avenue, New York, New York 10110
_ thamesandhudsonusa.com
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number
2012956320
ISBN 978-0-500-51695-9
Printed and bound in China through
Asia Pacific Offset Ltd
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CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1
Basic Design Principles
Chapter 2
Grids and Polygons
Chapter 3
Fourfold Geometric Design
Chapter 4
94 Sixfold Geometric Design
Chapter 5
128 Fivefold Geometric Design
Chapter 6
166 Combined Geometric Design
Appendix
194 How to create designs
244 Glossary
248 Bibliography
25 Acknowledgments
-_
252 Illustration Credits
254 Index
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