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

Crossed-arch vaults in late-gothic and early Renaissance vaulting: a problem in building technology transfer

Crossed-arch vaults are a particular type of ribbed vaults. Their main feature is that the ribs that form the vault are intertwined, forming polygons or stars and leaving an empty space in the middle. The firsts appear in Córdoba in the second half of the 10th Century. Afterwards, the type diffused through Spain and North Africa, 11th_13th Centuries. These vaults reappear in Armenia in the 13th Century. In the 14th and 15th Century a few examples are found both in England (Durham, Raby) and Central Europe (Prague, Landshut, Vienna). At about the same time, Leonardo da Vinci produced designs for the Tiburio (Ciborium) of Milan cathedral with a cross-arched structure and proposed tests to assess the strength; he also, made use of the same pattern of vault for Renaissance centralized churches. Eventually, the type can be tracked through the 17th (Guarini) and 18th (Vittone) Centuries, until Spanish post war architecture in the 1940-60s (Moya). Some questions arose, which so far, have not been answered. How was it possible that a particular type of vault had such enormous geographical spread? How was it transmitted from Córdoba to the Caucasus? The matter is one of transfer of knowledge, ideas, and technology; it relates both aesthetics and construction

Science, Art and Geometrical Imagination

From the geocentric, closed world model of Antiquity to the wraparound universe models of relativistic cosmology, the parallel history of space representations in science and art illustrates the fundamental role of geometric imagination in innovative findings. Through the analysis of works of various artists and scientists like Plato, Durer, Kepler, Escher, Grisey or the present author, it is shown how the process of creation in science and in the arts rests on aesthetical principles such as symmetry, regular polyhedra, laws of harmonic proportion, tessellations, group theory, etc., as well as beauty, conciseness and emotional approach of the world.Comment: 22 pages, 28 figures, invited talk at the IAU Symposium 260 "The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture", UNESCO, 19-23 January 2009, Paris, Proceedings to be publishe

Attempted reconstruction of design procedures and concepts during the reign of Sultan Qaytbay (872/1468-901/1496) in Jerusalem and Cairo: with special reference to the Madrasa Al-Ashrafiyya and the Minbar in the Khanaqah of Farag Ibn Barquq

Scholars in all areas of Islamic study are fascinated by and are often at pains to underline the unity inherent in Islam. This can be manifested in a multitude of ways, it can be demonstrated against the theological background established by the ,ur'an, or, it may be seen as transcending the barriers enclosing the various arts and sciences of Islam.If it is seen in terms of art and architecture, it can be explained on the grand scale by trading connections built up in times of peace and stability or by forced population movements in the face of conflict, both forces that can transfer from one geographical location to another the artistic traditions, expertise, and techniques previously reserved to the former location but which through their transference are unified with other Islamic traditions.I can see that the nature of unity can be visually expressed by, and is found within, the three broad categories noted by Grabar; but there are others in the field of Islamic art who maintain that a meaning can be attached to a specific design and that this meaning can be verbalised_. I find that I cannot accept that a verbalised meaning can be conveyed by each and every decorative composition, but I find I cannot deny the likeliehood of a visualised one. In fact my hypothesis is that in the notable examples of high cuality iriamluk architecture a visualised meaning does exist. But, just as the expression cf the nuances and form of a piece of music have a greater clarity when in an expos use is main of a musical instrument to illustrate them, rather than an excessive reliance on words to provide the meaning, I believe that architectural experiences are often best expressed in visual terms. For example, later in this Dissertation the stone mi.nbar presented by Sultan tb.y to the Khanaq h of Farag b. Barqúq is analysed in great detail, to my eyes it offers a statement not only on its own symmetry, which is normal for a minbar, but much more it concerns itself with a statement about the symmetry of the Iihtinagah; orally to present my findings and the reasons behind them takes tens of pages compared to a graphical presentation of only five figures.In one sense I admit to this being a final statement, but in another sense it should be the beginning of Islamic architectural appreciation and investigation leading into areas where it may be possible theoretically to reconstitute Islamic works of art from criteria deduced from other known and existing works of art. Those of us who are fortunate enough to work on the evidence at first hand as a job, or, those who have time from other interests for such diversions, must strive to understand and show precisely what was in the minds of the craftsmen and how they detailed their architectural contributions to make a statement. An efficacious route is to choose a high period in the architectural arts sustained either by one bowerful patron or by one atelier over a reasonable ueriod of years. Having thoroughly investigated the period it would then be advantageous to use this fund of knowledge by applying it to the periods immediately before and after the chosen one. However, in my case the first stage has still years of basic cataloguing to do and so I have not embarked on the second stage, nor have I had the opportunity to trace the antecedents of the many decorative elements current at the time of Sultan jytbay.The methods I have used to reach my conclusions are, for the architecture accurate surveys drawn-up at a scale not smaller than 1:50, and for the architectural decoration paper squeezes. (See Appendix A). But I have also consciously developed my own natural visual sequence into a chronology of 'Appreciation Levels'.The method using Appreciation Level is n attempt at recording the precise order in which an initiate assimilates the numerous elements of a design +. design with continual reference back to previous visual exrperiences and mental stimuli. I suggest that in the elements a natural order can be found which, in general terms, assists the efforts of the uninitiated as well as those initiates who can apperceive the visual compatibilities and conflicts reflected in the desin. iith these activities in mind I originally chose the term '?ecognition Levels' before discarding it on the grounds that it implied the item is 'known again' or 'identified as known before', thus I saw the term to be restrictive. On the other hand the word 'Appreciation' is apposite, it may be defined as: estimation; judgement; percebtion; critique. o value; adequate recognition; rise in o each of the words chosen to qualify and define the word 'Appreciation' can be ascribed a function to be attempted by a person when confronted by an object for the first time. This, therefore, is a more accurate term to apply to the ordering of elements.There is, I think, a general thought process connected to :appreciation Levels regardless of the size and type of artifact. The first level is the recognition of the material(s) used in the artifact's construction, assuming that there does exist between the observer and the observed a satisfactory proximity. The second level in this chronology can involve an appreciation of size, of scale and of the architectonic qualities and purposes of the object, leading on perhaps to an appreciation of the over -all shape, and then on to the substructures or repetitious elements which may then lead back to a fuller appreciation of the over -all shape by emphasising it. At this stage in the chronological ordering of the Appreciation Levels a slight change can occur in the type of information perceived, the object's main visual elements come into focus allowing the component parts to be determined and classified, e.g. a geometric skeleton with nodes or the softer curving lines of vegetal patterns.This last Appreciation Level is likely to be the final level attained by the observer and thus it is here that the judgements concerning the beauty and the interest of the artifact are made based on the design content seen in this and the preceding levels. I like to think that as the medieval craftsmen realised the limited visual abilities of the average casual observer so he strived to present the major design elements with the strength, clarity, and meaning which might be com- prehended without excessive mental exertions. _'he prizes await those with more developed powers of observation and perce_,tion in the guise of further appreciation Levels hidden in the subtle End complex relationships of the smaller repetitive elements and whose exploration creates new rythms and harmonies