Moroccan ornamental quasiperiodic patterns constructed by the multigrid method

Abstract

The similarity between the structure of Islamic decorative patterns and quasicrystals has aroused the interest of several crystallographers. Many of these patterns have been analysed by different approaches, including various kinds of ornamental quasiperiodic patterns encountered in Morocco and the Alhambra (Andalusia), as well as those in the eastern Islamic world. In the present work, the interest is in the quasiperiodic patterns found in several Moroccan historical buildings constructed in the 14th century. First, thezelligepanels (fine mosaics) decorating the Madrasas (schools) Attarine and Bou Inania in Fez are described in terms of Penrose tiling, to confirm that both panels have a quasiperiodic structure. The multigrid method developed by De Bruijn [Proc. K. Ned. Akad. Wet. Ser. A Math. Sci.(1981),43, 39–66] and reformulated by Gratias [Tangente(2002),85, 34–36] to obtain a quasiperiodic paving is then used to construct known quasiperiodic patterns from periodic patterns extracted from the Madrasas Bou Inania and Ben Youssef (Marrakech). Finally, a method of construction of heptagonal, enneagonal, tetradecagonal and octadecagonal quasiperiodic patterns, not encountered in Moroccan ornamental art, is proposed. They are built from tilings (skeletons) generated by the multigrid method and decorated by motifs obtained by craftsmen.