Girih
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Girih'' ( fa, گره, "knot", also written ''gereh'') are decorative
Islamic geometric patterns Islamic geometric patterns are one of the major forms of Islamic ornament, which tends to avoid using figurative images, as it is forbidden to create a representation of an important Islamic figure according to many holy scriptures. The geom ...
used in
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
and handicraft objects, consisting of angled lines that form an
interlaced Interlaced video (also known as interlaced scan) is a technique for doubling the perceived frame rate of a video display without consuming extra bandwidth. The interlaced signal contains two fields of a video frame captured consecutively. This ...
strapwork In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather straps, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings, and often interwoven in ...
pattern. ''Girih'' decoration is believed to have been inspired by Syrian Roman knotwork patterns from the second century. The earliest ''girih'' dates from around 1000 CE, and the artform flourished until the 15th century. ''Girih'' patterns can be created in a variety of ways, including the traditional
straightedge and compass construction In geometry, straightedge-and-compass construction – also known as ruler-and-compass construction, Euclidean construction, or classical construction – is the construction of lengths, angles, and other geometric figures using only an ideali ...
; the construction of a grid of polygons; and the use of a set of ''girih'' tiles with lines drawn on them: the lines form the pattern. Patterns may be elaborated by the use of two levels of design, as at the 1453
Darb-e Imam The shrine of Darb-e Imam ( fa, امامزاده درب امام), located in the Dardasht quarter of Isfahan, Iran, is a funerary complex, with a cemetery, shrine structures, and courtyards belonging to different construction periods and styles. ...
shrine. Square repeating units of known patterns can be copied as
templates Template may refer to: Tools * Die (manufacturing), used to cut or shape material * Mold, in a molding process * Stencil, a pattern or overlay used in graphic arts (drawing, painting, etc.) and sewing to replicate letters, shapes or designs Co ...
, and historic pattern books may have been intended for use in this way. The 15th century
Topkapı Scroll The Topkapı Scroll ( tr, Topkapı Parşömeni) is a Timurid dynasty pattern scroll in the collection of the Topkapı Palace museum. The scroll is a valuable source of information, consisting of 114 patterns that may have been used both indirec ...
explicitly shows girih patterns together with the tilings used to create them. A set of tiles consisting of a dart and a kite shape can be used to create aperiodic
Penrose tiling A Penrose tiling is an example of an aperiodic tiling. Here, a ''tiling'' is a covering of the plane by non-overlapping polygons or other shapes, and ''aperiodic'' means that shifting any tiling with these shapes by any finite distance, without r ...
s, though there is no evidence that such a set was used in medieval times. Girih patterns have been used to decorate varied materials including stone screens, as at
Fatehpur Sikri Fatehpur Sikri () is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Situated 35.7 kilometres from the district headquarters of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving th ...
; plasterwork, as at
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s and
madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
s such as the
Hunat Hatun Complex The Hunat Hatun Complex is a historic Islamic religious complex in Kayseri, Turkey. Early in the 13th century, Kayqubad I, Sultan of the Anatolian Selçuks (1219–1237), captured the Alanya fortress (then called Kalon Oros, later renamed Al ...
in
Kayseri Kayseri (; el, Καισάρεια) is a large Industrialisation, industrialised List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. The Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality area is comp ...
; metal, as at
Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan The Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan ( ar, مسجد ومدرسة السلطان حسن ) is a monumental mosque and madrasa located in Salah al-Din Square in the historic district of Cairo, Egypt. It was built between 1356 and 1363 during the Bahri ...
in
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
; and in wood, as at the
Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba ( es, Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba), officially known by its ecclesiastical name, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption ( es, Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción), is the cathedral of the Roman ...
.


History


Origins

The girih style of ornamentation is thought to have been inspired by 2nd century AD Syrian Roman knotwork patterns. These had curvilinear interlaced strapwork with three-fold rotational symmetry. The
Umayyad Mosque The Umayyad Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأموي, al-Jāmiʿ al-Umawī), also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus ( ar, الجامع الدمشق, al-Jāmiʿ al-Damishq), located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the ...
(709–715) in Damascus, Syria has window screens made of interlacing undulating strapwork in the form of six-pointed stars. Early examples of
Islamic geometric patterns Islamic geometric patterns are one of the major forms of Islamic ornament, which tends to avoid using figurative images, as it is forbidden to create a representation of an important Islamic figure according to many holy scriptures. The geom ...
made of straight strap lines can be seen in the architecture of the surviving gateway of the Ribat-i Malik caravanserai, Uzbekistan, built in 1078. The wild application of girih on architectures should credit to the close relationship between Islamic architecture, geometry, and craft. Architecture was classified in the field of practical geometry in the early Islamic period, and building projects always involve a muhandis (geometer). In addition, no clear border was established between science and craft; thus, the craftsmen usually followed the mathematicians’ principles and guidelines directly.


Early Islamic forms

The earliest form of girih on a book is seen in the frontispiece of a
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
manuscript from the year 1000, found in
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. It is illuminated with interlacing octagons and
thuluth ''Thuluth'' ( ar, ثُلُث, ' or ar, خَطُّ الثُّلُثِ, '; fa, ثلث, ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is a script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new scr ...
calligraphy. In woodwork, one of the earliest surviving examples of Islamic geometric art is the 13th-century
minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...
(pulpit) of the
Mosque of Ibn Tulun The Mosque of Ibn Tulun ( ar, مسجد إبن طولون, Masjid Ibn Ṭūlūn) is located in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the oldest mosques in Egypt as well as the whole of Africa surviving in its full original form, and is the largest mosque in ...
, Cairo. Girih patterns can be created in woodwork in two different ways. In one, a wooden grille with polygons and stars is created; the holes can be left as they are, or filled with some material. In the other, called ''gereh-chini'' small wooden panels of geometric shapes are created individually, and combined to create an elaborate design. In 10th century a systematic investigation of geometric patterns was conducted by Persian mathematician and astronomer
Abu al-Wafa' Buzjani Abū al-Wafāʾ, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ismāʿīl ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Būzjānī or Abū al-Wafā Būzhjānī ( fa, ابوالوفا بوزجانی or بوژگانی) (10 June 940 – 15 July 998) was a Persian mathematician ...
in the
House of Wisdom The House of Wisdom ( ar, بيت الحكمة, Bayt al-Ḥikmah), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, refers to either a major Abbasid public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad or to a large private library belonging to the Abba ...
. In his treatise ''A Book on Those Geometric Constructions Which Are Necessary for a Craftsman'', he explained the geometric structure and illustrates the methods of drawing polygons within other shapes (mostly circles) for craftsmen and artisans. This book laid the groundwork for designing girih by explaining fundamental grammar for construction girih patterns. The term "girih" was used in Turkish for polygonal strap patterns in architecture as early as the late 15th century. In the same period, artisans compiled girih pattern books such as the
Topkapı Scroll The Topkapı Scroll ( tr, Topkapı Parşömeni) is a Timurid dynasty pattern scroll in the collection of the Topkapı Palace museum. The scroll is a valuable source of information, consisting of 114 patterns that may have been used both indirec ...
. While curvilinear precedents of girih were seen in the 10th century, fully developed girih patterns were not seen before the 11th century in Iran. It became a dominant design element in the 11th and 12th centuries, as in the carved
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
panels with interlaced girih of the Kharraqan towers (1067) near Qazvin, Iran. Stylized plant decorations were sometimes co-ordinated with girih. After the Safavid period, the use of girih continued in the
Seljuq dynasty The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...
and the
Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
. In the 14th century, girih became a minor element in the decorative arts; it was largely replaced by vegetal patterns during the
Timurid dynasty The Timurid dynasty ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani ( chg, , translit=Küregen, fa, , translit=Gūrkāniyān), was a Sunni Muslim dynasty or clan of Turco-Mongol originB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, O ...
, but continued to be important in decorative arts in
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
n monuments after that time.


Construction


Compass and straight edge

Girih consists of geometric designs, often of stars and polygons, which can be constructed in a variety of ways. Girih star and polygon patterns with 5- and 10-fold rotational symmetry are known to have been made as early as the 13th century. Such figures can be drawn by
compass and straightedge In geometry, straightedge-and-compass construction – also known as ruler-and-compass construction, Euclidean construction, or classical construction – is the construction of lengths, angles, and other geometric figures using only an ideali ...
. The first girih patterns were made by copying a pattern template on a
regular grid A regular grid is a tessellation of ''n''-dimensional Euclidean space by congruent parallelotopes (e.g. bricks). Its opposite is irregular grid. Grids of this type appear on graph paper and may be used in finite element analysis, finite volume ...
; the pattern was drawn with
compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
and
straightedge A straightedge or straight edge is a tool used for drawing straight lines, or checking their straightness. If it has equally spaced markings along its length, it is usually called a ruler. Straightedges are used in the automotive service and ma ...
. Today, artisans using traditional techniques use a pair of
dividers A caliper (British spelling also calliper, or in plurale tantum sense a pair of calipers) is a device used to measure the dimensions of an object. Many types of calipers permit reading out a measurement on a ruled scale, a dial, or a digital dis ...
to leave an incision mark on a paper sheet that has been left in the sun to make it brittle. Straight lines are drawn with a pencil and an unmarked straightedge. Girih patterns made this way are based on
tessellation A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane (mathematics), plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to high-dimensional ...
s, tiling the plane with a unit cell and leaving no gaps. Because the tiling makes use of
translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
and
rotation Rotation, or spin, is the circular movement of an object around a '' central axis''. A two-dimensional rotating object has only one possible central axis and can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A three-dimensional ...
operations, the unit cells need to have 2-, 3-, 4- or 6-fold
rotational symmetry Rotational symmetry, also known as radial symmetry in geometry, is the property a shape has when it looks the same after some rotation by a partial turn. An object's degree of rotational symmetry is the number of distinct orientations in which i ...
.


Polygons in contact

One of the early Western students of Islamic patterns,
Ernest Hanbury Hankin Ernest Hanbury Hankin (4 February 1865 – 29 March 1939) was an English bacteriologist, aeronautical theorist and naturalist. Working mainly in India, he studied malaria, cholera and other diseases. He is often considered as among the first to ...
, defined a "geometrical arabesque" as a pattern formed "with the help of construction lines consisting of polygons in contact." He observed that many different combinations of polygons can be used as long as the residual spaces between the polygons are reasonably symmetrical. For example, a grid of octagons in contact has squares (of the same side as the octagons) as the residual spaces. Every octagon is the basis for an 8-point star, as seen at
Akbar's tomb Akbar's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was built in 1605–1613 by his son, Jahangir and is situated on 119 acres of grounds in Sikandra, a sub of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Location It is located at Sikandra, in the suburb ...
in Agra (1605–1613). Hankin considered the "skill of the Arabian artists in discovering suitable combinations of polygons ... almost astounding."


Girih tiles

By the 15th century, some girih patterns were no longer periodic, and may have been constructed using
girih tiles ''Girih'' tiles are a set of five tiles that were used in the creation of Islamic geometric patterns using strapwork (''girih'') for decoration of buildings in Islamic architecture. They have been used since about the year 1200 and their arrange ...
. This method is based on a set of five tiles with lines drawn on them; when used to tile the plane with no gaps, the lines on the tiles form a girih pattern. It is not yet known when girih tiles were first used for architectural decoration instead of compass and straightedge, but it was probably at the start of the 13th century. Methods of ornamentation were extremely diverse, however, and the idea that one method was used for all of them has been criticised as anachronistic.


Two-level design

The girih patterns on the
Darb-e Imam The shrine of Darb-e Imam ( fa, امامزاده درب امام), located in the Dardasht quarter of Isfahan, Iran, is a funerary complex, with a cemetery, shrine structures, and courtyards belonging to different construction periods and styles. ...
shrine built in 1453 at
Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
had a much more complex pattern than any previously seen. The details of the pattern indicate that girih tiles, rather than compass and straightedge, were used for decorating the shrine. The patterns appear
aperiodic A periodic function is a function that repeats its values at regular intervals. For example, the trigonometric functions, which repeat at intervals of 2\pi radians, are periodic functions. Periodic functions are used throughout science to desc ...
; within the area on the wall where they are displayed, they do not form a regularly repeating pattern; and they are drawn at two different scales. A large-scale pattern is discernible when the building is viewed from a distance, and a smaller-scale pattern forming part of the larger one can be seen from closer up. Although there is evidence that some ancient girih tilings used a subdivision rule to draw a two-level pattern, there are no known historic examples that can be repeated an infinite level of times. For example, the pattern used in the spandrel of the Darb-i Imam shrine (see figure) consists only of decagons and bowties, while the subdivision rule uses an elongated hexagon tile alongside these two shapes. Therefore, this design lacks self-similarity between the two levels.


Aperiodicity

A periodic tiling of the plane is the regular repetition of a "unit cell", in the manner of a wallpaper, without any gaps. Such tilings can be seen as a two-dimensional crystal, and because of the
crystallographic restriction theorem The crystallographic restriction theorem in its basic form was based on the observation that the rotational symmetries of a crystal are usually limited to 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold, and 6-fold. However, quasicrystals can occur with other diffraction ...
, the unit cell is restricted to a rotational symmetry of 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold, and 6-fold. It is therefore impossible to tile the plane periodically with a figure that has five-fold rotational symmetry, such as a five-pointed star or a decagon. Patterns with infinite perfect quasi-periodic translational order can have crystallographically forbidden rotational symmetries such as pentagonal or decagonal shapes. These
quasicrystal A quasiperiodic crystal, or quasicrystal, is a structure that is ordered but not periodic. A quasicrystalline pattern can continuously fill all available space, but it lacks translational symmetry. While crystals, according to the classical cr ...
tilings contain shapes with five-fold symmetry that repeat periodically inbetween other shapes that do not repeat. One way to create quasi-periodic patterns is to create a
Penrose tiling A Penrose tiling is an example of an aperiodic tiling. Here, a ''tiling'' is a covering of the plane by non-overlapping polygons or other shapes, and ''aperiodic'' means that shifting any tiling with these shapes by any finite distance, without r ...
. Girih tiles can be subdivided into Penrose tiles called "dart" and "kite", but there is no evidence that this approach was used by medieval artisans. Another way to create quasiperiodic patterns is by subdividing girih tiles repeatedly into smaller tiles using a subdivision rule. In the limit the plane would be divided into girih tiles that repeat with frequencies that are aperiodic. The use of such a subdivision rule would serve as evidence that Islamic artisans of the 15th century were aware that girih tiles can produce complex patterns that never exactly repeat themselves. However, no known patterns made with girih tiles have more than a two-level design. There would have been no practical need for a girih pattern with more than two levels of design, as a third level would be either too large or too small to be perceived. It appears that medieval Islamic artisans were using a tool that had the potential of creating highly complex patterns, but they never realized it. As E. Makovicky argues,


The Topkapı Scroll

The
Topkapı Scroll The Topkapı Scroll ( tr, Topkapı Parşömeni) is a Timurid dynasty pattern scroll in the collection of the Topkapı Palace museum. The scroll is a valuable source of information, consisting of 114 patterns that may have been used both indirec ...
, from the late 15th century, documents the use of girih tiles to create girih patterns. The drawings in this pattern book show the girih lines superimposed on the tiles used to generate the pattern, making the construction fully evident.


Templates

Once a repeating pattern has been constructed, regardless of the method used, the pattern can be recreated by copying a repeating unit of it, like the pattern of a wallpaper, as a paper
template Template may refer to: Tools * Die (manufacturing), used to cut or shape material * Mold, in a molding process * Stencil, a pattern or overlay used in graphic arts (drawing, painting, etc.) and sewing to replicate letters, shapes or designs Co ...
. The pattern can then simply be pricked through on to the surface to be decorated. The Topkapı Scroll grids may well have been meant for use as such templates. The ''Anonymous Compendium'' contains square repeat units for many girih patterns. Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari's ''Compendium of Science and Useful Practice in the Mechanical Arts'' contains explicit templates for special purposes such as cast bronze doors.


Girih in varied materials

File:Salim Chishti Tomb-2.jpg, Girih stone screens at the
tomb of Salim Chishti The Tomb of Salim Chishti is famed as one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture in India, built during the years 1580 and 1581, along with the imperial complex at Fatehpur Sikri near Zenana Rauza and facing south towards Buland Darwaza, ...
,
Fatehpur Sikri Fatehpur Sikri () is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Situated 35.7 kilometres from the district headquarters of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving th ...
, 16th century File:Kayseri Hunat Hatun Complex3-Verity Cridland.jpg, Girih in plasterwork of Iwan of Hunat Hatun medersa,
Kayseri Kayseri (; el, Καισάρεια) is a large Industrialisation, industrialised List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. The Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality area is comp ...
File:Flickr - HuTect ShOts - Pattern of The Tomb Gate - Masjid of Sultan Hassan مسجد ومدرسة السلطان حسن - Cairo - Egypt - 28 05 2010.jpg, Girih in metal: 12-pointed star on gate at Sultan Hassan's mosque, Cairo File:Lacería.jpg, Girih in wood: grille in the
Great Mosque of Cordoba Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...


Girih on various surfaces


Girih on windows

Girih has been widely applied on the architecture. The patterns on the Persian geometric windows meet the need of the
Persian architecture Iranian architecture or Persian architecture (Persian: معمارى ایرانی, ''Memāri e Irāni'') is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BC w ...
, as the ornateness of windows indicated the social and economic status of the owner. A good example is Azad Koliji, a Dowlatabad Garden in Iran. With the girih patterns on its window, the architects manage to demonstrate multiple layers. The first layer is the actual garden which people can see when they open the window. And the second layer is the artificial garden as the girih patterns are on the outside of the window is the carved pattern and a colorful glass is below it which creates an illusion of a beautiful garden. The multi-colour layer create a sense of a mass of flowers. The artificial layer is abstract which forms a clear contradiction with the real layer outside the window and gives the audience enough space of imagination.


Girih on domes

In addition to plain platforms like the windows, girih patterns on the domes are very popular as well. However, due to the curve shapes of the domes, they need special techniques. One of the most important techniques is called “Dast-Garden” method. This method refers to that the number of star polygons applied to the pattern are highly dependent on the change of the dome curvature. Decreasing the curvature of a dome surface leads to the decreasing of the number of points on a star polygon. Thus, the shapes of the girih pattern are heavily relying on the dome. The same method can be applied to other surfaces, even irregular surface.


Girih on walls

Girih patterns are very likely to be all over the walls of some
Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ar ...
s. The decorating lines connect to each other and form a continuous network across the entire tiling with edges combine together. In addition, girih patterns vary a lot on the surface, with different geometric shapes including
decagon In geometry, a decagon (from the Greek δέκα ''déka'' and γωνία ''gonía,'' "ten angles") is a ten-sided polygon or 10-gon.. The total sum of the interior angles of a simple decagon is 1440°. A self-intersecting ''regular decagon'' i ...
s,
hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Ancient Greek, Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple polygon, simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexa ...
s, bowties and
rhombus In plane Euclidean geometry, a rhombus (plural rhombi or rhombuses) is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length. The ...
es. Among all these patterns, a special technique is shared: "self-similar transformation". The mapping is completed by using this freedom to eliminate the edge difference of these patterns and reduce the edge mismatches to the lowest degree. The extensive use of Girih for interior decoration corresponds to Islam belief. The repetitive patterns of Girih are capable of expanding in every direction, thus Girih has an indefinite nature. This characteristic resembles Muslim's belief that human, who is not the measure of the world, can never comprehend the "infinite meaning of the world" created by the un-definable god. The Girih patterns also have visual function of helping viewers to transcend the
monocular vision In human species Monocular vision vision is known as seeing and using only one eye in the human species. Depth perception in monocular vision is reduced compared to binocular vision, but still is active primarily due to accommodation of the eye a ...
as the viewers shifting their views according to the underlying schemes.


See also

*
Islamic interlace patterns Islamic ornament is the use of decorative patterns in Islamic art and Islamic architecture. Its elements can be broadly divided into the arabesque, using curving plant-based elements, geometric patterns with straight lines or regular curves, and ...
*
Muqarnas Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of I ...
* Topkapi Scroll


References


Notes


Citations

{{Good article Islamic art Iranian art Arabic art Architecture in Iran Arabic architecture Islamic architectural elements Compass and straightedge constructions Persian words and phrases Ornaments (architecture) Visual motifs Ornaments