On the Kond style of Islamic tiling: a study in practical Islamic geometry

This paper is a contribution to the studies of practical Islamic geometry. The Kond style is one of the principal Islamic tiling styles in Anatolia, Iran and Central Asia. Its fundamental features are described and discussed as a basis of the decagonal quasiperiodic tiling in Maragha (Iran) and its follow-ups. It was richly employed in the stone carved reliefs of central Anatolia. Construction principles of non-decagonal Kond tiling are derived in the paper and examples from Iran and Uzbekistan described and illustrated. Interpretation of the Persian construction principles for the Kond patterns as well as a tentative explanation of rare curvilinear Kond patterns is given.