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A pointed arch on deep lapis with alternating gold and bone voussoirs, drawn over its construction: the springing line, the two compass centres, their arcs and the radii that meet at the apex, with smaller lancet, equilateral and drop arches set beside it on the longer formats.
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The Pattern Atlas

The Pointed Arch

No. 37 of 100 · free · 300 dpi

What you seeA pointed arch on deep lapis with alternating gold and bone voussoirs, drawn over its construction: the springing line, the two compass centres, their arcs and the radii that meet at the apex, with smaller lancet, equilateral and drop arches set beside it on the longer formats.

What it meansThe two-centred pointed arch, built in the Islamic world from the eighth century, is drawn with a compass from two centres on its springing line. Centres at the springing points give an equilateral arch; centres outside give a lancet, and centres inside a lower drop arch.

Where it worksAn architectural plate for a hallway, a study or an architect's office.

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2:3 · 7200 × 10800 px4×6 · 8×12 · 12×18 · 16×24 · 20×30 · 24×36 in
3:4 · 5400 × 7200 px6×8 · 9×12 · 12×16 · 18×24 in
4:5 · 7200 × 9000 px4×5 · 8×10 · 16×20 · 24×30 in
11:14 · 3300 × 4200 px11×14 in
A-series · 7023 × 9933 pxA5 · A4 · A3 · A2 · A1

Everything is one ZIP: every shape and size, the phone wallpaper, the SVGs and a printing guide.

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All 100 prints
Four circles in gold line on ink, each divided by compass and straightedge and shown with its construction and the star it gives: into six by stepping the radius, into eight by bisecting right angles, into ten by Ptolemy's construction of the decagon side, and into twelve by arcs from four points.Dividing the CircleNo. 38
A field of eight-fold star pattern on terracotta: cream straps weave over and under round large sand stars, each filled with a finer pattern of small navy stars and dark four-pointed stars, among green and navy shapes.Stars within StarsNo. 39
Two diagrams in burgundy, blue and gold on soft rose: a square with four rectangles along its sides, labelled x² and 2½x, and the same figure completed into a larger square by four small corner squares of 6¼, with the equations beneath.Completing the SquareNo. 40
An iwan drawn in elevation and plan on terracotta: a pointed arch in a tiled frame opens into a deep vaulted hall with a doorway and grille at the back, flanked by two storeys of niches, with the plan below showing the hall open to the courtyard.IwanNo. 41
The plan of a four-iwan mosque in deep green on sage: a paved courtyard with a central pool, an iwan opening at the middle of each side, domed bays on a grid of piers all round, and a domed chamber behind the iwan on the qibla side.Four-Iwan PlanNo. 42
An arcade of the double-arched type known from the Great Mosque of Córdoba: marble columns with gilded capitals carry horseshoe arches, piers above them carry round arches, and both are built of alternating red brick and white stone voussoirs, with the plan of a column forest below in taller formats.Hypostyle HallNo. 43
A tiled portal on deep blue: a tall rectangular frame in turquoise and buff brick surrounds a pointed arch filled with muqarnas, with roundels in the spandrels, a doorway below and two slender minarets on top, flanked in wider formats by two storeys of arched niches.PishtaqNo. 44
Four minarets drawn side by side on pale blue: the brick spiral of Samarra with its ramp winding round a tapering tower, a Mamluk minaret of square, octagonal and round stages, a slender Ottoman pencil minaret with three balconies and a conical cap, and a square Maghrebi tower with a lantern.Minaret FormsNo. 45

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