Algorithmic investigation of the actual and virtual design space of historic hexagonal-based Islamic patterns

Abstract

This research challenges the long-standing paradigm that considers compositional analysis to be the key to researching historical Islamic geometric patterns. Adopting a mathematical description shows that the historical focus on existing forms has left the relevant structural similarities between historical Islamic geometric patterns understudied. The research focused on the hexagonal-based Islamic geometric patterns and found that historical designs correlate to each other beyond just the formal dimension and that deep, morphological connections exist in the structures of historical singularities. Using historical evidence, this article identifies these connections and presents a categorization system that groups designs together based on their “morphogenetic” characteristics.