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Work together as a team with the artist to build giant polyhedral structures from bamboo. Then decorate the interior with smaller more complex models.
In this live experience, you will have the opportunity build a series of sculptures at different scales from intricate individual projects to giant collective polyhedral spheres up to 8 meters in height!
Together, we will explore pattern and number within the natural world, investigating the geometry of plants, crystals, and other natural forms and how they inspired classical Islamic patterns and decorative arts. We will also experiment with a range of 3-dimensional structures to understand how patterns behave on a curved surface while building a dome large enough to house all participants.
This experience highlights the primary family of natural proportions, including the “Golden Ratio,” which forms the foundation of Islamic architecture from around the world. Geometry is present in the arts and crafts of various cultures throughout human history, drawing inspiration from the rhythms and structures of life itself, with principles that transcend time and place.
In this experience, participants will explore the principles of symmetry and tessellation. These universal principles govern the growth of structures and are found in both crystalline and botanical nature. We will discuss geometry in symbolism and planetary movements. Additionally, there will be a live demonstration through detailed structural models showcasing the connections between the patterns found in nature and those in Islamic art.
There are only five regular three-dimensional shapes, known as the Platonic solids. Sets of these structures have been found at ancient sites dating back to the Neolithic period, approximately 2000 years before Plato. For the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, each of these shapes held special symbolism and was collectively viewed as the building blocks of the universe. In this intensive workshop, families and children will work in teams to build models of solids and explore the fundamentals of numbers and patterns within the grand space of the great hall.
This event is lead by Art of Islamic Pattern, who have experience curating these workshops for NYU & Spotify, USA, The British Museum, The British Library, The MIA Museum Doha, The Victoria & Albert Museum, The Royal Society, Asia House, Cambridge University.
Facilitator
Adam Williamson
Adam Williamson has a passion to share the remarkable world of Islamic Pattern. He has spent a lifetime training in pattern making and ornamental decoration from masters around the world from Malaysia to Morocco. He has written multiple books on the subject and run international study trips taking people to
Adam has been commissioned by clients that includes,
HRH the Prince of Wales, NYU, Spotify USA, Oxford University, Shakespeare’s Globe London, Kew Gardens, Westminster Abbey, the British Council, the Foreign Office in Vienna.
He has also carried out a series of permanent public art works around the UK; you can view a project for Sustrans in Wales here. Adam has been a sessional lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London and given workshops and public lectures at many leading cultural institutions in the UK and beyond, including the The British Museum, Cambridge University, The British Library, The V&A Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, New York University, Spotify (NY), and MIA (Doha, Qatar).
