The subject of Islamic geometric design has been described in numerous ways:Keith Critchlow’s Islamic Patterns and Syed Jan Abbas and Amer ShakerSalman’s Symmetries of Islamic Geometrical Patterns, both highly esotericinterpretations; Owen Jones’ Grammar of Ornament, Emile Prisse d’Avennes’L’Art arabe d’apres les monuments du Kaire, and Jules Bourgoin’s ArabicGeometrical Pattern and Design, all descriptions of drawing...Read More

Following the collapse of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the 5th century man’s concern was primarily focused upon security and stability, whilst art and science were neglected. For two hundred years all progress stagnated in the wake of barbarian invasions and the resulting lack of maintenance of public works, such as dams, aqueducts...Read More

10th-century Córdoba, mathematics—and particularly geometry—was applied to architectural design in new ways, constituting a “mathematical turn” of Islamic architecture. In the mosque of Córdoba and in the palaces of Madīnat al-Zahrāʾ , geometry was employed in the design of ground plans, elevations, decorative patterns, and even to measure the human view. While Roman architects like...Read More

Communities in different times and places in the world have given varying weight to forms of knowledge and the variety of processes by which knowledge is believed to be created. Bound to each society’s unique culture, these epistemological hierarchies are constantly in flux: Social and religious factors, for example, shaped such hierarchies by emphasizing some...Read More