Generating Square Kufic Patterns Using Cellular Automata

Abstract

This paper investigates square Kufic scripts, a type of architectural decorative art in Islamic culture, as a visual pattern. Considerable research has been carried out previously on the subject, treating the square Kufic scripts as text. In contrast, the visual approach of this paper proposes that the pattern generation in Kufic scripts needs to be investigated. The main contribution of this research is presenting a novel algorithm to create square Kufic patterns that can totally cover a planar shape. In traditional definitions, such a pattern is called mushkil (‘complicated’) being special because of the “readability” of both black and white words, by its own criteria. The design principles implemented in the algorithm are adopted from original written sources. Also, some new principles are proposed here to make up for the limited availability of sources. In comparison to other methods, the proposed method is much simpler and more effective in terms of formal analysis and generation.