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How to Make Islamic Geometric Patterns

Arts & Culture

Duration:6min

How do you make islamic geometric patters? In 2015 AramcoWorld editor Richard Doughty joined a workshop in Fez, Morocco to learn firsthand from the city’s great works, starting with a straightedge, a compass, a pencil and paper. (And an eraser.)

During the week-long workshop some 25 students learned the art of Islamic geometry through the inspiration of the of the walls, windows, door and art patterns in the madinah, or walled old city.

Nestled in a valley crowned by gentle hills, Fez is one of the Islamic world’s great historic centers of the art of geometrically based patterns executed in tile, plaster, stone, wood and metal. Like all such patterns, those that adorn the mosques, madrassahs (schools) and sabeels (fountains) of Fez have their origins in simple, universal geometry that— through practice and elaboration—artists and craft workers developed into celestially intricate masterpieces. These adorn Fez in such numbers that the entire madinah is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Read the story here.

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