Pratt Islamic Studies – Masjid I Jami Mosque – Isfahan

Section through Dome & Geometric Analysis of
the Masjid I Jami Mosque

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The most significant work Of Islamic Architecture that survives is the Masjid-i-Jami in Isfahan Iran. This mosque was initially built by the early Muslims who arrived in the first century after the Hijra. The Abbasids rebuilt it in 840-41 CE . The Buyids, who established the first local dynasty, enlarged it between 908-32 CE.

Above is my drawing of a cross section through the dome with three geometric sketches illustrating the proportion of parts and below are sketches studying the geometric proportional systems that delineate the proportion of it’s parts. Also, using the proportions of the different parts to each other, I prove mathematically that the golden ratio was the organizing principle.

Sketches – Understanding the Underlying Geometric Proportional Systems
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The Masjid I Jami Isfahan

Related to my Islamic studies were explorations of my own geometric ideas influenced by what I was learning about in the Islamic creative tradition. The following are studies of patterns I created using and rotating the square. They were done on a Hewlett Packard main frame computer using an early CAD software program.

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Barry Bergdoll In Editorial Opinion in the New York Times Asks, “What is the Bauhaus”

The Bauhaus has been a great influence, on first my architecture and then my art. This month marks the centennial of its founding; a good time to revisit it’s influence over the last century.

Barry Bergdoll, professor of art history at Columbia University and chief curator of architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, opinions in an editorial in the New York Times, that the legacy of the Bauhaus has been turned into a kind of a trademark slogan; turned into style and fashion. The legacy of the Bauhaus has much more complexity, and as often been misunderstood, as Bergdoll so intelligently considers.

The building that housed the Bauhaus art school from 1925 to 1932 in Dessau, Germany, is today a museum. The founder of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius, designed the structure. CreditSean Gallup/Getty Images


At its worst, Bauhaus has been reduced to mere style, a superficial sensibility informing labels, brands and fashion. Gropius and his acolytes recognized and deplored the idea, claiming that their designs arose from a pure functionalist embrace of modern materials, and in response to the demands of modern living — nothing more. “No Bauhaus Style and No Bauhaus Fashion,” a writer warned in the pages of the house organ, also calledBauhaus“Such facile stylistic labeling of the modern must be emphatically rejected.”

Barry Bergdoll

Click here to read the editorial

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Sun Art Aired on CBS Sunday Morning

A few weeks ago I submitted suns to CBS Sunday Morning (click here to see post). The sun above was selected and aired on the March 31, 2019 broadcast of the show.
Jessica Frank, the person at CBS who curates the selection of suns that air on the program, wrote me the following about airing my sun:

“I’m writing to let you know that one of your GORGEOUS suns will be on our Sunday Morning broadcast tomorrow. Steve Hartman is doing a really moving piece on a former convict/talented artist, and your sun is absolutely perfect at the end.”

Jessica Frank

The piece she is referring to is a moving story about wrongfully convicted artist Richard Phillips who created art in prison for decades. It was his way of surviving it knowing that he was innocent. This offered freedom that could not be taken away. Humbled that my sun was chosen to follow this story.

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Quadrataluxe I – Working With New Media

Embarking on a new series of geometric artworks that will be printed on rigid substrates (acrylic, aluminum) and shaped by CNC Router.

Printed in reverse on clear acrylic on a UV printer where the inks are hardened and cured by UV light as it’s being printed. A PVC film and composite aluminum panel covers and protects the printed surface. After its’s all put together, the work is cut to the shape of the piece on a CNC Router.

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Quadrataluxe I, 2019
UV Inkjet on shaped composite Acrylic/Aluminum Panel
dimensions variable, overall dimension 24 x 24 inches, edition of 3

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