Islamic Geometric Designs
This excerpt is taken from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Islamic Geometric Design and Art” preface:
The principles and teachings of Islam as a way of life, a religious code, and a legal system were promulgated by Muhammad (ca. 570–632 A.D.), an Arab merchant from Mecca. These teachings were revealed to him over a period of many years beginning in 610 and were subsequently codified in the text known as the Qur’an. The word of God, as set out in the Qur’an and handed down in the sayings of Muhammad (known as hadith, or Traditions), forms the core of the religion.The primary premise of the Islamic faith is monotheism, a renunciation of all deities except one, Allah, who alone is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of life. Islam is Arabic for ”submission,“ here to the single entity of Allah. The recognition of Muhammad as Allah’s last prophet, a prophet like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the others that preceded Muhammad, is also a key element of the belief.
Neither the Qur’an nor the Traditions contain specific mandates against figural representation in art. However, both sources take a firm stance against idolatry and the worship of images. These precepts were interpreted strictly by early Islamic religious leaders as an injunction against the depiction of human or animal figures, although extant examples of architectural decoration, objects in all media, and illustrated manuscripts belie that stricture.
Four types of ornamentation can be found in Islamic art: calligraphy, figural forms (human and animal), vegetal motifs, and geometric patterns. These patterns, either singly or combined, adorn all types of surfaces, forming intricate and complex arrangements.
Essential to this unique style were the contributions made by Islamic mathematicians, astronomers, and other scientists, whose ideas and technical advances are indirectly reflected in the artistic tradition. The basic instruments for constructing geometric designs were a compass and ruler. The circle became the foundation for Islamic pattern, in part a consequence of refinements made to the compass by Arabic astronomers and cartographers. The circle is often an organizing element underlying vegetal designs; it plays an important role in calligraphy, which the Arabs defined as “the geometry of the line”; and it structures all the complex Islamic patterns using geometric shapes.
These patterns have three basic characteristics:
1. They are made up of a small number of repeated geometric elements. The simple forms of the circle, square, and straight line are the basis of the patterns. These elements are combined, duplicated, interlaced, and arranged in intricate combinations. Most patterns are typically based on one of two types of grid—one composed of equilateral triangles, the other of squares. A third type of grid, composed of hexagons, is a variation on the triangular schema. The mathematical term for these grids is “regular tessellation” (deriving from Latin tesserae, i.e., pieces of mosaic), in which one regular polygon is repeated to tile the plane.
2. They are two-dimensional. Islamic designs often have a background and foreground pattern. The placement of pattern upon pattern serves to flatten the space, and there is no attempt to create depth. Vegetal patterns are may be set against a contrasting background in which the plantlike forms interlace, weaving over and under in a way that emphasizes the foreground decoration. In other instances, the background is replaced by a contrast between light and shade. Sometimes it is impossible to distinguish between foreground and background. Some geometric designs are created by fitting all the polygonal shapes together like the pieces of a puzzle, leaving no gaps and, therefore, requiring no spatial interplay between foreground and background. The mathematical term for this type of construction is “tessellation.” The conception of space in Islamic art is completely different from Western models, which usually adopt a linear perspective and divide the picture space into foreground, middle ground, and background. Artists of the Islamic world were largely uninterested in linear perspective. Of the various styles of Islamic art, it was in Persian painting that a type of three-dimensional space was used in which figures could interact, but this space presented multiple viewpoints and simultaneously featured bird’s-eye and worm’s-eye views.
3. They are not designed to fit within a frame. Geometric ornamentation in Islamic art suggests a remarkable degree of freedom. The complex arrangements and combinations of elements are infinitely expandable; the frame surrounding a pattern appears to be arbitrary and the basic arrangement sometimes provides a unit from which the rest of the design can be both predicted and projected.
For our design projects, students were tasked with creating a design using basic tools that included the three basic elements of Islamic design. Enjoy their artistic efforts!
Check out some beautiful examples of Islamic art here!