Philosophical significance for Islamic geometric design and it's effect on architectural pottery vocabularies

Abstract

Islamic art is one of the applied arts which reflects the philosophy the Islamic culture and provides it with unique and distinguished character among other cultures. The most relevant feature of Islamic art is its integrated relationship between the aesthetic and functional values. The Islamic mosques represent an evidence for such integration of its spiritual and material elements. This led to the emergence of a unity in design with slight variation due to the cultural heritage and aesthetic values of each country. The paper emphasizes on the relevance of the theoretical foundation of the Islamic architecture and considers this as the most relevant academic goal. Beside the mathematical and geometric rules, there are some values and symbolic significances which led to the integration between the essence of Islamic faith and the architectural conception. The paper deals with the study of Islamic geometric design as an approach to the philosophy of Islamic art. The tendency towards abstract such as arabesque, unit and variety, interlocked decoration are some aspects of that philosophy in architecture. The paper is provided with an analytical study for some Islamic ceramic architectural elements to reveal their aesthetic and functional values. The study deals also with the production and ceramic decorative techniques used. The study covers some examples from Egypt, Turkey Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Keywords

• philosophical concept – islamic art and architecture; geometric design- ceramic architectural units