Girih Tiles for Interactive Islamic Designs

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Human: Create your own classic Islamic-style artwork by using Girih tiles to build intricate woven strapwork! The tiling pattern in the photo is rotationally symmetric. On the left are colorful tile shapes that form the basis for all subsequent patterns. Towards the middle we have started to add strapwork, which is completely determined by the tiles themselves. On the right, gray mosaic tiles obscure the original tiles and reveal the intricate strapwork pattern. Girih tiles have been used in Islamic art and architecture to create complex woven strapwork patterns. The underlying periodic patterns that create these designs are related to Penrose tilings and predate such formal mathematical discoveries by at least 500 years. Photo by Guy Sie To make an interactive model, we printed the tiles, strapwork lines, and mosaic pieces separately in different colors, allowing for Girih patterns to be assembled using three steps outlined below. How to Make Girih Patterns You can create your own Girih designs with 3D-printable tiles, strapwork lines, and mosaic pieces in just three easy steps. Step 1: Create a tesselating pattern using the five basic tile shapes - pentagons, decagons, rhombi, bowties, and irregular hexagons. Step 2: Each tile determines a unique strapwork pattern that passes through the midpoints of its edges. These strapwork patterns match up across all tiles to create a beautiful woven design. Step 3: Cover up the original tiling by placing mosaic pieces between the strapwork lines to reveal a stunning Girih design. Twitter: twitter.com/mathgrrl Hacktastic blog: www.mathgrrl.com/hacktastic Shapeways geekhaus store: www.shapeways.com/shops/mathgr... This design and all associated pictures and files are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. If you want to use designs, images, or files outside of this license's terms, please email request@mathgrrl.com.