Comments on: Tiles, Tiles, Tiles!

Tiles, Tiles, Tiles!

vacapinta — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:13:17 -0800

The Tiling Database. Browse some random patterns. Or narrow down your search here.
Looking for an ornament in the Alhambra? Or a spiral tiling? Or perhaps a Topkapi scroll?

By: bjrn

bjrn — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:33:22 -0800

Neat stuff. About the Topkapi Scroll, it's a bit of a shame that they don't mention that it's a pattern made out of Girih tiles, and that the shapes you see aren't the actual tiles that make the pattern (which is an interesting part of girih patterns). So for instance there isn't a ten pointed star, but a decagon with lines on it that will make the shape of that star. The wikipedia article has some basic information (go ahead and read it, Girih tiles are fantastic).

By: vronsky

vronsky — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:16:14 -0800

I like these math magical tiles featured on click opera.

By: turbodog

turbodog — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:27:54 -0800

As somewhat of a desktop background junkie, this is awesome.

By: Fiasco da Gama

Fiasco da Gama — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:28:21 -0800

Favourited, flagged as fantastic, applauded, marriage to this post proposed.

By: mike_bling

mike_bling — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:36:34 -0800

This is excellent, although I wish I could turn the colors down a bit.

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:48:36 -0800

Neat! Bookmarked. Fascinating info about Girih tiles, too. If I ever take up quilting, I will eschew log cabins and 9-patches in favor of awesomely esoteric tilings like these. Quilting for dorks!

By: jouke

jouke — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:34:51 -0800

I couldn't find Penrose tiling aong the non-repeating tilings.

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:04:55 -0800

The manual mentions that the site can't search patterns (such as Penrose tiles) which are derived from substitution rules. It's got more than the semi-regulars but certainly not every possibility. Not clear what the overall symmetry group is here (exactly which patterns are included?)

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:22:55 -0800

These are beautiful and mesmerizing, especially in higher qualities. Thanks!

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:00:40 -0800

As chance has it, I got an email this morning to forward to my department; but if anyone still reading way down here is in the Cambridge, MA, area, they may be interested, too, in this talk being given today (Jan 15) in a few hours. The site linked to in the announcement complements this post very well.

Dr. Edmund Harris (Imperial College London) speaking on self-similar puzzles January 15, 2009, 2:00 PM Museum of Comparative Zoology, Room 101 26 Oxford St. (Cambridge, MA) All are welcome to attend. Abstract: Take four squares. They can be put together to form a larger square. Four of these larger squares make huge square and so on. We use self-similar structures like this from Physics (renormalisation) to Numerical methods (for variable precision), even our number system is based on this idea. As a picture though, a square tiling is a little boring, we see it every morning in the shower. Can we think of other shapes, and collections of shapes that are more interesting both visually and mathematically? The answer is yes! The discussion will include the Penrose tiling http://tilings.math.uni-bielefeld.de/substitution_rules/penrose_rhomb) and the Nautilus and Conch tilings shown below (these will be available to play with at the talk). These tiles are laser cut from wood. The laser cutter is fed directly the edges of the tiles and we will consider how this is constructed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Edmund Harriss Imperial College London http://www.mathematicians.org.uk/eoh