Beauty and geometry in Alhambra mosaics

The mosaics of the Alhambra are beautiful examples of tessellation of the plane, most of the time with a star of six, eight or twelve points as the central motif. In this talk I will discuss the geometric basis of Alhambra mosaics, their symmetries and the formation of the central star or polygon. I will also show the step-by-step graphical construction of the mosaics using the "mosaic" program code.

 

In addition to the Alhambra mosaics, I will also show the construction of other Arab mosaics from the Alcazar of Seville, the Mosque of Cordoba, Morocco or India, as well as Roman mosaics from Empúries and modernist tiles from Barcelona.