Title: The Geometry of Muqarnas 

Speaker: Asli Agirbas

Date:  February 8th, 2024 (Thursday), 12:00-1pm  (Topeka, Kansas,  time)

Link: Sent to registered participants by e-mail one hour before the talk.

Abstract: Muqarnas can be defined as a three-dimensional ornamental element mainly used in traditional Islamic architecture. This element can be found in various building parts such as main gates, column heads, mihrabs, lower parts of minaret balconies, and dome transition elements. Although this building ornamental element appears to have a complex pattern when viewed from the outside, it is actually shaped by various three dimensional geometrical cells. The star patterns, which are also seen in the ornaments called Islamic geometric patterns, can be found on the layouts of the muqarnas projection plans. In this talk, we will discuss 2D and 3D geometrical features of muqarnas geometry trough the buildings of Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan (Architect Sinan). 

About the speaker: Dr. Asli Agirbas is an architect with computational design expertise. Her research area includes parametric design, generative design and architectural design. Dr. Agirbas received her PhD from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Architectural Design program in 2017, and her Master of Science in Architecture degree from Pratt Institute, New York in 2013. After graduating from Pratt Institute with the "Excellence in Academic Achievement" award, she worked as a Parametric Design graduate course assistant at Pratt. Agirbas received her other master's degree from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Architectural Design program in 2012. She was awarded with Erasmus scholarship and worked on her thesis at Politecnico di Bari (Italy) and UCLA. She received her undergraduate architecture degree from Yeditepe University, Istanbul and she worked at Zvi Hecker Architecture in Berlin. Since 2014, she has taught architectural design studios and parametric design courses at various universities. She was awarded with research scholarship by DAAD in 2019. She was a visiting professor at digital and experimental design department, Berlin Fine Arts University (Universität der Künste Berlin). Agirbas has articles published in the international journals and awards of the competition projects.

Webpages:

https://www.ozyegin.edu.tr/en/faculty/asliagirbas

http://www.asliagirbas.com/

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