ISLAMIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE – PATTERN, LIGHT AND STRUCTURE

CULTURAL KIOSK

The Middle East is considered by many to be the cradle of civilisation, from Greece and Egypt in the west, through the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia and Levant to the Indus Valley and on to China in the East. The tradition of learning and culture as endured in these areas for millennia. The scientists and philosophers of the Islamic, like the Classical world, were deeply involved with the study of maths, geometry and science. Indeed it is the Arabic world that developed the numbering system we all use today.

Throughout their history, Islamic Artists have developed simple geometry into a complex layering of patterns with subtle use of colours, tones and positive/negative space to create sophisticated optical effects. This Art form shows a preoccupation with repetition, rotation, symmetry, and infinite extendable patterns. These patterns are often framed but repeated at different scales throughout buildings, visually consolidating the whole. This approach…

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