Persian Decagonal Geometric Pattern Design
FROM KUKELDASH MADRASAH IN BUKHARA TO HAKIM MOSQUE IN ISFAHAN
A fifteen-week online course on geometric pattern design offered by the Istanbul Design Center School of Geometric Patterns in Islamic Arts
Course data in brief
• Instructor: Prof. Dr. Miroslaw Majewski
• Course duration: 15 weeks, 2 hours per week + discussion time, with 2 weeks break for Christmas and New Year
• Course timing: Fridays
6:00 PM GMT, UK Time, 7:00 PM Cairo Time, 8:00 PM Istanbul Time, 9:30 PM Tehran Time
• Course starting day: October 2, 2020
• Language: English and no translation (sorry)
• Group size: 25-30 persons,
Essential features of the course:
• International group
• Free of charge – there is no fee for this course
• All coursework in Geometer’s Sketchpad - a basic software for teaching school geometry
• Focusing on concepts and understanding of pattern design
• Strict assessment
What should you expect?
This course will be focusing on geometric aspects of decagonal patterns from various places in Central Asia and Iran. Numerous designs from this region will be used as an illustration of geometric concepts.
We will use the traditional gereh method that was used in XV-XVIII centuries by Persian architects and craftsmen.
For each example, we will start by finding proportions of the template, then we will create the geometry of the pattern, and finally, we will add to it its decoration - the pattern.
No pain, no gain
The course will be demanding and you will be expected to demonstrate your progress in the form of finished designs. You will have to submit them always before the next class.
Feel free to ask questions and discuss with us anything related to this course. There are no silly questions. Each question may lead to an exciting discussion and forming a valuable knowledge.
Geometry goes first
The focus of this course will be on the geometry of patterns - not on particular designs. Understanding and creating geometry for a pattern or group of patterns will always be the two main tasks. Patterns will be treated as a decoration for geometry.
Geometry and technology
Through each class of the course, we will use Geometer’s Sketchpad. You can download it from link
The license for it, you will get during the first class. Before starting the course, you have to figure out how you can handle on your computer screen two tasks at the same time – listening and watching the course and at the same time drawing on your screen. This will be the tricky part. Of course, you can forget about Sketchpad and draw by hand on the paper. But this is the only course where you can learn how to use Sketchpad to draw patterns. If you know GeoGebra and you want to stick to it. This is OK. But you are on your own. I will not be able to help you with using GG.
After geometry comes art
We will discuss forms of artistic interpretations of patterns. Thus we will talk about patterns made out of ceramic tiles, carving patterns in wood and stone, Persian kundekari designs, geometric art made out of mirrors, etc.
If time permits, we may have short virtual excursions to some places in Central Asia.
Possible topics
1. Learning how to use Geometer’s Sketchpad
2. Basic geometric constructions (of course with Sketchpad) esp. constructions related to decagonal geometry
3. Basic styles of decagonal patterns
4. Patterns on decagonal grids
5. Exploring proportions of decagonal designs
6. Introduction to decagonal structural methods and Isfahani inflation technique
Participants: Anybody ready to work hard and learn the theory of pattern design, will be welcome. This is an academic level course, and it fits nicely into some university programs – graphics design, architecture, mathematics education.
If you are interested only in drawing a few simple patterns (just to impress your friends), then find yourself another course. There are a few of them around.
Before starting the course
You may consider looking at the book
You will find there some important fundamentals useful for this course.
Announcement - Saturday, 19/09/2020
We selected 60 people from a list of 170 applicants. The complete list is attached below. We hope that you will survive the 15 weeks with us. As it was said in the past - this will be a very demanding course but you will learn a lot.
The course will be held online using ZOOM software. You do not need to install anything on your computer. Just a web browser will be enough. Zoom requires a password for each session. Depending on the situation IDC will create a password for each session separately, or one password for all sessions.
We wish you a joyful course and hopefully we will see you online on
October 2, 2020
All best for you,
Mirek Majewski on behalf of the IDC team
PS. For the purpose of this course we created a new email account:
If you have any problems you can communicate with me through this account.
The complete list of accepted course students
Afrein Nasir
Aland Yousif Aziz
Amina Smits Akilma
Antara Biswas
Aseel Al-Azi
Aysen Saner
Christina Plett
Cihan Aksu
Dominic Oliver Cort
Durbah Salahuddin
Elif Abacı
Elif Nur Dönmezgüç
Elif Zeynep Atçıl
Fakhra Mahmood
Fatima Malik
Fayeza Hussain
Fazila Patel
Ferhan Endo
Feyzanur
Ghazaleh Khayat
Gihan Bayoumi Attia
Halimah Denney
Hanaa Yahia Abdelmawgoud Sayed Awad
Iqra Arshad
İsmail Kaplan
Jasmine Alvarado
K.Karthiga Shruthi
Leyla Betül Küçük
Lubna Shabbir
Maaida Noor
Mahdi Hamedani
Mariam Lodin
Maryam Shaikh
Maryem Sulaiman Alasfoor
Mashael Ahmad Al Tarabulsi
Meryem Betül Yılmaz
Meryem Lutin
Mohammed Noman
Mona El-Taher
Muazzamkhon
Nilüfer Sinanoğlu
Noura Saif
Nubia Sofia Chavez Vera
Osman Raşit Işık
Richa Dilip Raut
Robyn Clark
Selim AKAR
Şerife Satoğlu
Shadma Shafique
Shana Hussayn
Sibel Anamur
Syeda Kinza Kazim
Tanvi Thakkar
Uzma Mahmood
Vishakha Chaplot
Yara Hossam Eldin
Yasmin Sethi
Zahra Khan
Zakia Waheed
Zarei Fatemeh
Zeynep Erkoç
Miroslaw Majewski
(Prof. Dr) is a former Professor of the New York Institute of Technology. Currently, Professor Emeritus of NYIT. Many years of research in the geometry of art and technology for mathematics. Author of numerous books and publications (many of them related to the geometry of patterns). Designer of many geometric patterns – some are reconstructions of well-known patterns, and some of them are entirely new.