Parametric Iranian-Islamic muqarnas as drivers for design for fabrication and assembly via UAVs: parametric analysis and synthesis of Iranian-Islamic muqarnas.

This study proposes a DfMA (from design to assembly) based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and uses Iranian-Islamic Muqarnas as the case study due to their geometric modularity. In Islamic architecture, different geographic regions are known to have used various design and construction methods of Muqarnas. There are four main specifications of the Muqarnas that define to which category they belong; first, its three-dimensional shape, that provides volume. Secondly, the size of its modules is variable. Third, its specific generative algorithm. And finally, the 2-dimensional pattern plan that is used in the design. First, this study presents thus a global analytical study that drives a generative system to construct Muqarnas, through a careful balance of four specifications. In this second step, the paper reports the result of using a parametric tool, Grasshopper and parametric plugins, for creating a generative system of several types of Muqarnas. This synthetic translation aims at expanding our understanding of parametric analysis and synthesis of traditional architecture, advancing our understanding towards using parametric synthesis towards UAV-based fabrication of Muqarnas, by taking advantage of their inherent repetition and recursion

Proceedings of the 9th Arab Society for Computer Aided Architectural Design (ASCAAD) international conference 2021 (ASCAAD 2021): architecture in the age of disruptive technologies: transformation and challenges.

The ASCAAD 2021 conference theme is Architecture in the age of disruptive technologies: transformation and challenges. The theme addresses the gradual shift in computational design from prototypical morphogenetic-centered associations in the architectural discourse. This imminent shift of focus is increasingly stirring a debate in the architectural community and is provoking a much needed critical questioning of the role of computation in architecture as a sole embodiment and enactment of technical dimensions, into one that rather deliberately pursues and embraces the humanities as an ultimate aspiration

The revival of the historic Islamic geometric pattern on the gate of The Al-Sharabeya School in Wasit City using the Grasshopper program

There is a lack of knowledge that is required for using computer programs (parametric computing) to generate and derive new Islamic geometric patterns locally. This study focuses on the application of parametric modeling using the Rhinoceros 6 Grasshopper program on an Islamic geometric historical pattern, which decorated the gate of the School in Wasit, where the search imposes a spatial approach. This program is applied with the help of the algorithmic parameters used by the parametric design technique to generate and derive new Islamic geometric patterns from an extinct reference pattern used in contemporary urbanism. The goal is to enhance and impart an attribute of cultural inclusion and architectural originality to the local architecture of cities. The results demonstrate that the program was able to generate a new Islamic geometric pattern that did not previously exist, by finding the associative relationships and a hidden network between the tessellations of the Islamic geometric pattern, through algorithmic relationships, which was not visible. Therefore, the Rhinoceros 6 Grasshopper program can be used by architects and urbanites to devise distinctive design alternatives based on historical patterns and heritage models that can be applied in the future design of urban areas and cities that belong to the Islamic civilization

Interrelation Between Grid Systems and Star Polygons of Muqarnas Ground Projection Plans

Many muqarnas ground projection plans contain stars with unequal edge lengths in their compositions. In this study, the geometric reasons behind the unequality of star edge lengths in muqarnas ground projection plans have been searched. The main gates with complex-looking muqarnas belonging to the period of Suleiman the Magnificent (Kanuni Sultan Suleyman), designed by Architect Sinan in Istanbul, have been selected to examine. From the data obtained by 3D laser scanning and from the verification made, it has been confirmed that there are stars with unequal edge lengths in these muqarnas plans. From the geometrical examinations made according to the shape grammar theory, it was concluded that the muqarnas plans were created using spider-web grid and square grid layouts. It was also concluded that these grid types cause some of the star edge lengths to be unequal

Contemplative Space: Design for Generative Parametric Tessellations Applied to a Shell Structure

This thesis focuses on surface articulation of a shell structure constructed through a generative, parametric, modular design process. The shell form uses vault topology that adapts to varying site conditions such as topography and shape and that serves as contemplative space. Contemplative and aesthetic qualities have been achieved by analyzing aspects of spatial vernacular muqarnas and emulating aspects of their geometry within new surface ornament. By abstracting muqarnas, and exploring aniconic character informed by both vernacular precedent and contemporary parametric design methods, the design offers a specialized new interpretation of this historical type of ornament. The design proposes an expandable master system. Two strategies based on this system are illustrated, both organized with similar components: columns (load-bearing modules) and bridges (modules for covering spans). Different behaviours are exhibited: first, symmetrical and homogeneous form and, second, non-symmetrical and heterogeneous form. The second layer of this complex system uses the topology of a vault system. A decoration system proposed for articulating interior-oriented surfaces is based on algorithmic geometry. This system offers two different characters, first inspired by muqarnas as a specific vernacular ornament, primarily from traditional Persian architecture, and second as a non-cultural, neutral ornament originating from computational design and achieved by deformation of mesh division. Software tool use is illustrated, demonstrating how scripted Grasshopper software components hosting custom C# code passages are used within a multi-layer design process. Research informing this design focuses on historical and contemporary architecture. Contemporary precedents, “Arabesque Wall,” by Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer, and “La Voûte de LeFevre” by Brandon Clifford and Wes McGee are described. An analysis of these precedents explores how emerging digital technologies informed by history, can create a new design ecology and culture. Additional discussion considers cultural and phenomenological observations and aesthetics of the design in its physical and psychological aspects, considered in contexts that range from topology of the form to visual perception of the internal “contemplative space.” This investigation indicates points of contact between arabesque art as vernacular ornament and contemporary, computer-based art. Computational and parametric design is considered with regards to its effect on contemporary design culture. Parametric strategies, software, and C# coding used in the thesis are illustrated. The spatial ornament known as muqarnas is analyzed as one example of algorithmic ornament, illustrated through a contemporary “art of the knot” designed using parametric tools. In the last part of the research, features of the vault system are demonstrated historically and through individual examples of each kind. In parallel, contemporary shell structure and form optimization by means of computational simulation and morphogenesis are investigated. The parametric system developed in the thesis design provides an opportunity to design a complex geometrical system that can be applied to shell-like envelopes. Design studies included within the thesis feature free-standing shelters capable of hosting a variety of public or private activities. Emphasizing visual and decorative qualities, visualizations of the applied design system are developed and positioned within sites in different locations

Questioning the “classical” in Persian painting: models and problems of definition

In scholarship on Persian book arts, paintings have tended to be organized according to a rise-and-fall model. Within this overarching framework, the Ilkhanid period represents the birth of painting and the Qajar era its supposed decline, while Timurid and Safavid painting mark a high point for the development of pictorial arts in Iran. As a result, scholars have used the term ‘classical’ to describe both Timurid and Safavid painting. The many definitions of ‘classical’ – which alternatively engage with aesthetic criteria, time periods, numerical output, systems of patronage, artistic models, and stylistic imitations – raise a number of significant questions, however. This study highlights the problematic uses of the term in scholarship on Persian manuscript painting. Moreover, by examining a series of interrelated Ilkhanid, Timurid, and Safavid paintings of the Prophet Muhammad in particular, it seeks to explore alternative models for studying the history of Persian manuscript painting, itself too diverse and self-referential to be confined to a linear account

The evolution of muqarnas in Iran from pre-seljuk to ilkhanid period

Muqarnas has always been one of the most complex decorative elements of worlds monumental architecture. In muqarnas, niche–like components are combined together and arranged in successive tiers to produce a three–dimensional geometric shape, enclosing and embellishing features such as ceiling, soffit, portal, and vault. This unique structure has been intensely studied from various aspects by many scholars. Nevertheless, there is still lack of clarification about the structures origin and path of evolution. There are some theories indicating that the structure is originated from squinches in Iran, but no further explanation is provided to fill the huge gap between the two, i.e. muqarnas and squinch, and to clarify the quality of the gradual development. This study assumes that the missing link between muqarnas and squinch should be sought in another undefined form in traditional architecture of Iran, named patkaneh. In this research, the main effort is to investigate the possibility of differentiating this ornament from muqarnas and to introduce it as a different structure, which is the missing link between squinch and muqarnas. This thesis employs a qualitative approach that strives to demonstrate the steps of gradual deformation of muqarnas from squinch by defining the characteristics of the linking ornament, using an inductive approach. For that, 20 critical samples of muqarnas and pseudo-muqarnas were selected out of a collection of 100 structures, by considering three main perspectives, i.e. chronology, form and structure, and construction techniques, with specific attention to the structure?s constituent elements and number of tiers as an indicator of the ornaments complexity. The differences and similarities identified among the selected samples lead to demonstrating the structures path of evolution. The results show there is another type (patkaneh) of ornamental structures with different characteristics in comparison with muqarnas. Therefore, this study contributes patkaneh as the connecting link between muqarnas and squinch, which is misinterpreted in many texts as muqarnas and thereafter shall be appropriately referred to none other than patkaneh

Reproduction of Architecture in Modernizing Local Architecture: The Case of Muqarnas

The present study aims to investigate the cultural identity concept and its relation to cultural heritage within a conservation framework under the threat of unfettered interventions for modernity and its requirements by analyzing the reproduced architectural works. Furthermore, the study focused on clarifying and tracking the effects of architectural reproduction on society and individuals, as well as on the local way of thinking and local culture in a specific region known as the "Levant." The research method is developed in two interconnected ways: qualitative 'interpretive' research methods are used to explain the pure concept of cultural heritage, while a 'simulation strategy' is used between traditional and historical architectural elements to create new architectural elements with historical origins and contemporary touches. Construct logic is a method of "modernizing local architecture”, in that it controls modern architecture and uses it to develop local architecture rather than obliterating and distorting it. "Muqarnas," one of the Islamic architectural decorative elements widely used in the Levant and surrounding geography, is chosen as the simulation case study for developing new contemporary architectural elements used both structurally and decoratively. The simulation approach used in the study is limited to several traditional architectural elements from the study's historical and cultural context, which were documented with architectural and technical data as well as illustrative drawings. It may be possible to raise conservation awareness by simulating some traditional architectural elements and developing them in a highly technical environment. Furthermore, it can provide the opportunity to obtain new architectural elements of a contemporary cultural nature that resist architectural reproduction in a variety of internal and external fields, as well as structural solutions

Computational Approaches in 21st Century Architectural Design: Defining Digital Representation Methods

The studies on design and design methods increased towards the end of the twentieth century in industrialized societies, however, the act of design started to be carried out with different auxiliary tools. The digital and algorithmic structure behind the computer has begun to provide the designer with different possibilities outside of the traditional drawing environment. After this period, the queries and discussions on the content of the design, its components, the intellectual process of the designer, and similar issues gradually increased. Within this scope, new theories and methods have emerged. In today's design, especially with digital technologies, transformations in theory and practice in the design process have brought new methods with them. Architects and designers have now become design tool developers rather than using use of the design tool. Based on this, the assistive tools that determine the current architectural design style is aimed to be explored in this paper. The study contributes to the field by (i) exploring these tools and their latent features, (ii) assessing the pros and cons of these tools, and (iii) last, implementing these design tools on the case studies

Sperimentazione di una procedura per la creazione di un atlante digitale per la documentazione dei soffitti lignei dipinti di Sicilia

the naves of churches and the halls of noble palaces. The paintings that decorate these ceilings are precious evidence of the wide cultural connections that linked Sicily to Europe and to the Mediterranean area. The paper reports the results of research aiming at the development of a workflow for the creation of a digital atlas of these ceilings. Digital representation overcomes one of the main obstacles to the study, the preservation and the dissemination of these works of art, i.e. the traditional dichotomy between photographic images and drawings. The chosen case study is the ceiling that covers the main hall of the Steri in Palermo, a 14th-century palace that today hosts the offices of the local university’s rector. The first step of the study, dedicated to laser scanning and SfM photogrammetric surveying, produced a textured mesh model of the ceiling. The following step was addressed to the development of a web-based application that allows a wide range of users to visualize the 3D model of the ceiling and the orthophotos of the paintings; in order to make 3D visualization easier, the 3D textured model was subdivided into base units; the pages dedicated to the orthophotos are linked to an editable database that stores information data