Research Article

What are Tilings and Tessellations

and how are they used in
Architecture?
Jaspreet Khaira
King Edward VI High School for Girls, Edgbaston, Birmingham. Email: [email protected]

What are Tilings and Tessellations and which means ‘to pave’ or ‘tessella’, which means a
small, square stone. Tessellations have been found
how are they used in Architecture? in many ancient civilizations across the world. They
often have specific characteristics depending on
Tilings and tessellations are an important area of where they are from. Tessellations have been traced
mathematics because they can be manipulated for all the way back to the Sumerian civilizations (around
use in art and architecture. One artist in particular, MC 4000 BC). Tessellations were used by the Greeks, as
Escher, a Dutch artist, incorporated many complex small quadrilaterals used in games and in making
tessellations into his artwork. mosaics [Figure 2]. Muslim architecture shows
evidence of tessellations and an example of this is the
Tilings and tessellations are used extensively in everyday Alhambra Palace at Granada, in the south of Spain
items, especially in buildings and walls. They are part [Figure 4]. The Fatehpur Sikri [Figure 3] also shows
of an area of mathematics that often appears simple to tessellations used in architecture.
understand. However, research and investigation show
that tilings and tessellations are in fact complex. Nowadays tessellations are used in the floors, walls
and ceilings of buildings. They are also used in art,
What are Tilings and Tessellations? designs for clothing, ceramics and stained glass
windows.
A tessellation is any repeating pattern of symmetrical
and interlocking shapes. Therefore tessellations must Mauritus Cornelius Escher had no higher knowledge
have no gaps or overlapping spaces. Tessellations are of mathematics, yet he contributed to the mathematics
sometimes referred to as “tilings”. Strictly, however, of tessellations significantly. He was the youngest son
the word tilings refers to a pattern of polygons of a hydraulics engineer and was born in Leeuwarden
(shapes with straight sides) only. Tessellations can be in the Netherlands in 1898. At high school he was an
formed from regular and irregular polygons, making indifferent student and the only part of school that
the patterns they produce yet more interesting.

Tessellations of squares, triangles and hexagons

are the simplest and are frequently seen in everyday
life, for example in chessboards and beehives
[Figure 1]. Tessellating other polygons, particularly
irregular ones, is more difficult, as discussed later on.

History of Tessellations
The Latin root of the word tessellations is tessellare, Figure 1: Tessellations of hexagons and squares

Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7 35

 Figure 3: Fatehpur Sikri (palace), India, Tessellations can be seen on
the balconies
Figure 2: Mosaic using tessellations, dining room floor, Chedworth
Roman villa
interested him was art. After leaving school, Escher
briefly studied under an architect before leaving to
study ‘decorative arts’. He then began using graphic
techniques in his own sketches.

Although Escher had no deep knowledge of

mathematics his meticulous research into tilings
of the plane was extensive and showed thorough
mathematical research. In fact he once said,
“Although I am absolutely innocent of training or
knowledge in the exact sciences, I often seem to
have more in common with mathematicians than with
my fellow artists.” (The Graphic Work of MC Escher,
New York, 1967, p.9). Mathematicians have been
fascinated by Escher’s work [Figure 5].

The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain with its ceilings

Figure 4: Alhambra palace, Granada

Figure 5: Examples of Escher’s work

36 Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7

and walls covered with beautiful ornamentation, to work out the interior angle of a regular polygon is:
sparked Escher’s interest in tessellating patterns. a = 180 - 360/n, where a is the interior angle of the
During his lifetime Escher created and designed polygon and n is the number of sides of the polygon.
over 100 tessellated patterns, many of which are still This is because 360 divided by the number of sides
admired today. of the polygon gives the exterior angle, and when
the exterior angle is subtracted from 180, we get the
Mathematics Behind Tessellations interior angle of the polygon.

Which Shapes can Tessellate and Why To determine how many polygons are needed to fill
The simplest type of tessellation is formed from regular the space around a vertex and allow the polygon to
polygons. Regular tessellations are tessellations that tessellate, another formula is used: k(n)= 360/a = 2n/
are made up of only one kind of regular polygon. (n-2), where k(n) is the number of polygons needed.
After some experimentation it can be deduced that
equilateral triangles, squares and regular hexagons Therefore, it can be deduced that regular polygons
form regular tessellations. However, pentagons and that can fill the space around a vertex can tessellate. In
heptagons cannot do this without leaving gaps or more mathematical terms, regular polygons with interior
producing overlaps. angles that are a factor of 360, can tessellate. Because
of this, only regular polygons with 3, 4 or 6 sides –
In order for a shape to tessellate, the interior angles equilateral triangles, squares and regular hexagons
must fill all of the space around a vertex (i.e., their – can perfectly fill 360° and tessellate by themselves.
angles must add up to 360°). It is therefore important
for us to work out the interior angles of a shape. In Symmetry and Transformations
order to do this we must know that the exterior angles
Symmetry is the process of taking a shape and
of any polygon will add up to 360°. From this we can
through certain movements, matching it exactly to
deduce the interior angles of the polygon and check
another shape. A tessellation is created through this,
to see if they are factors of 360. If they are, we know
that they will completely fill the space around a point, by repeating the same motion a number of times. For
called a vertex. A vertex is the point at which adjacent example, the straight section of a railway line forms a
sides of polygons meet. If this space is filled, the tessellation as it uses the simplest type of symmetry.
shape will tessellate. The same shape is repeated, moving a same fixed
distance in the same fixed direction each time a
An algebraic formula summarizes this. The formula movement is made.

Triangle – The three exterior angles must

add to make 360°. Therefore each one
must be (360/3) 120°. The interior
angles are (180-120) 60°.

60 is a factor of 360 and so the

equilateral triangle will tessellate.

Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7 37

 Square – The four exterior
angles must add to make 360°.
Therefore each one must be
(360/4) 90°. The interior angles
are (180-90) 90°.

90 is a factor of 360 and so a

square will tessellate.

Pentagon – The five exterior

angles must add to make 360°.
Therefore each one must be
(360/5) 72°. The interior angles
are (180-72) 108°.

108 is not a factor of 360 and so

a pentagon will not tessellate.

Hexagon – The six exterior

angles must add to make 360°.
Therefore each one must be
(360/6) 60°. The interior angles
are (180-60) 120°.

120 is a factor of 360 and so a

hexagon will tessellate.

Heptagon – The seven exterior

angles must add to make 360°.
Therefore each one must be
(360/7) 51.4°. The interior angles
angles are (180-51.4) 128.6°.

128.6 is not a factor of 360 and

so a heptagon will not tessellate.

38 Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7

The diagram shows the original point is moved in a certain direction. In
this case, it is the angle shown. It is also moved a certain magnitude.
This shows how far it has been moved from the original point.

This show the translation of whole shapes, not just one point. This is
one of the main principals of how tessellations are formed, once the
basic pattern is known

The techniques of forming symmetry are called

transformations. These include translations, rotations,
reflections and glide reflections.

One of the simplest types of symmetry is translational

symmetry. A translation is simply a vertical, horizontal
or diagonal slide. The shape must be moved a certain
magnitude in a certain direction.

If a shape is marked on a square grid, vectors can

be used to state a translation. Vectors appear as two
numbers inside brackets e.g. . These numbers refer
5

to the movement of the shape along the x and y axis. once rotated and translated, fit together to produce
Therefore the vector tells us to move the shape five
5

4
rectangles. These rectangles have interior angles of
units along the x-axis and four units up the y-axis. 90° and so four of them (4 × 90) will completely fill
Vectors can also have negative values, to show the
the space around a vertex, producing a tessellation.
shape is being moved in the opposite direction.
If a tessellation has rotational symmetry it means that the
Another type of symmetry is rotational symmetry.
This is where a shape is moved a certain number of tessellation can be rotated a certain number of degrees
degrees around a central point, called the centre of (other than 360°) to produce the same tessellation.
rotation. The amount that the shape is turned is called
the angle of rotation. The most familiar type of symmetry is reflective
symmetry. Reflections occur across a line called an
Rotations are used in tessellations to make shapes axis. The distance of a point from this axis must be
fit together. For example, the trapeziums above, the same in the reflection. Therefore corresponding

Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7 39

 tessellations when the basic, repeating unit pattern
is known. They are also used to make shapes fit into
one another in a tessellation of non-regular polygons.

Polygon Arrangement Around A Vertex

In order to understand the polygon arrangement
around a vertex, we need to be able to specify exactly
which polygons are found around the particular
vertex. To do this, each tessellation is given a code
which shows the number of sides of each polygon
around the vertex. A triangle, for example, is a 3-sided
shape and would therefore have the number 3.

The tessellation on the right has When writing the polygon configuration around a
reflective symmetry. vertex, we begin with the shape with the least sides
and proceed clockwise around the vertex.

points should be the same distance away from the Example:

axis of reflection.
Pick a vertex.
The last type of symmetry is glide reflection. A Find the polygon with the
glide reflection is a reflection and a translation smallest number of sides.
combined together. It does not matter which of
the transformations happens first. The shape that Write down the number of
sides that it has.
emerges as a result of a reflection and translation is
simply called the glide reflection of the original Figure.
Above are the regular
In order for a glide reflection to take place an axis
tessellations of equilateral
is needed to perform the reflection, and magnitude
triangles, squares and regular hexagons. They
and direction are needed to perform the translation.
contain only one type of shape and are often referred
to as periodic tessellations or tilings.
In this example of a glide reflection, the reflection
is performed first and the translation is performed
second. Semi-regular Tessellations and Tilings
All of the above transformations are used to produce Semi-regular tessellations are non-periodic i.e., they

40 Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7

contain more than one type of polygon. In a semi-
To prove that this is a semi-regular
regular tessellation the arrangement of polygons tessellation, we must look at the
polygon arrangement at more than
around a vertex must be the same at all vertices. one vertex.
1
However, only certain polygon arrangements will form The configuration at vertex 1 is
semi-regular tessellations. This is because the interior 3.6.3.6, and the configuration at
vertex 2 is also 3.6.3.6. This proves
angles of the polygons must fill 360°. 2
that it is a semi-regular tessellation.

If two convex polygons met at a vertex, then the

sum of their interior angles must be 360°. This would
assume that one of the angles was 180° or more. This
is impossible, however, leading to the conclusion that
3.3.3.4.4
there must be at least 3 different types of polygon 3.3.4.3.4

around a vertex.

In conclusion, semi-regular tessellations are more require various transformations before they fit into a
complex tessellations, with the same configuration shape that will tessellate automatically. Non-regular
of at least 3 polygons at each vertex. tessellations are those in which there is no restriction
on the order of the polygons around vertices.
Examples of semi-regular tessellations:
Other types of tessellation are demi-regular All triangles and quadrilaterals will tessellate, but not
tessellations. These are similar to semi-regular
all pentagons and hexagons will. When tessellating,
tessellations, except there can be more than one
different polygon arrangement at a vertex. we must remember that we are trying to find a polygon
arrangement that will fill the 360° around a vertex.
Tilings and Tessellations of Non-Regular
Polygons Triangles
Non-regular polygons are those in which the interior All interior angles of all triangles, whether equilateral,
angles are not the same, nor are the sides of the isosceles or scalene, will add up to 180°. Therefore
polygon of equal length. Non-regular polygons we can fill the space around a vertex, if we use two
are slightly more difficult to tessellate, as they first of each of the angles of the triangle.

Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7 41

 These three angles sum to 360 degrees
(540 - 180 = 360).

There are many different ways to arrange the angles

of a triangle around a point to fill 360 degrees. Note the angles will not fill the space around a vertex.
that around each vertex, there are two copies of angle However it is possible to tessellate pentagons, under
1, two copies of angle 2, and two copies of angle 3. certain conditions. If we think of the interior angles
of a pentagon as 180° + 360°, rather than 540°, we
The above examples can tessellate some pentagons.
will not tessellate
because the sides are There are three techniques of tessellating a pentagon.
not lined up. If we line The first method requires the pentagon to contain 2
the sides up, however, adjacent angles that add up to 180°. This method
we can tessellate any uses translations, rotations and reflections to extend
type of triangle. In the the pentagon into a tessellation.
diagram below, two copies of each angle are still
used, to fill the space around the vertex. As the two adjacent
These two angles sum to 180 degrees.
angles add up to make
There is another 180°, we can translate
At this point, however, the triangles
method that can be the two angles to form a
are reflected (flipped)
used to tessellate any straight line, along the
type of triangle. This tops of the pentagons.
method is fairly similar
to the one described As the remaining three angles sum to 360°, they can
above, except that be rotated and translated to fill the space around a
after three triangles are vertex.
arranged to form a
180° angle, the pattern
is reflected, producing a slightly different tessellation.

Quadrilaterals
The method used to tessellate quadrilaterals is very
similar to the method of tessellating triangles. We Now, to extend the pattern, we can
must first take into account that the interior angles either translate (move) the pattern:
of a quadrilateral add up to 360°. Therefore, we only
need one of each angle to fill the space around a
vertex. Again there are many possibilities that will In order to form a tessellation, the pattern can then
not tessellate. We need therefore need to line up the be translated or reflected.
sides to create a pattern that will tessellate.
The second method requires the pentagon to contain
Pentagons two non-adjacent right angles, as well as two pairs
Pentagons, as seen before, become much more of sides of equal length (as shown in the diagram).
difficult to tessellate because the sum of the interior
angles of a pentagon is 540°, not 360°. Therefore, This method ensures that all of
the right angles meet at a vertex,
Note the arrangement of angles
around the central vertex
in order to fill the 360°. This
method uses multiple reflections,
and takes advantage of the sides
of equal length, to tessellate the
Rotatiing the quadrilateral around the midpoints of its sides pentagon.
produces an arrangement that will tessellate.

42 Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7

The final technique of tessellating a pentagon begins
with a triangle. One side of this triangle is broken up
and two new sides are created from this, as shown
in the diagram.

This new pentagon is then rotated around the

midpoint, producing a parallelogram. This can be
expanded as a quadrilateral (see earlier section) to
form a tessellation.

Hexagons and other non-regular polygons can also

form tessellations after various reflections, rotations
and translations, which produce new shapes that can
easily form tessellations.

The mathematics behind tessellations requires

the space around a vertex to be filled completely
without gaps or overlaps and in more complex
shapes (pentagons etc.), this can be achieved by
manipulating the shape.

Tessellations in Nature
Tessellations can be found everywhere we look.
Nature contains many different tessellations, some
being arrangements of polygons. Figure 6 shows
some examples of tessellations found in nature.

Tessellations in Architecture
Tessellations are used extensively in architecture,
both two-dimensional and three-dimensional.
Tessellations are easy to use in architecture,
especially in two-dimensional, because even the
simplest repeating pattern can look astonishing
when it covers a large area. Tessellations are used
in Islamic architecture, for example the Taj Mahal
[Figure 7], Agra and Fatehpur Sikri (a palace in India)
[Figure 7]. Tessellations were also used by the Greeks
and Romans in mosaics.

The top pictures in Figure 8 are of Hagia Sophia in

Istanbul. They are examples of Islamic tessellations
and tilings. The dome uses a three-dimensional
tessellation of rectangles to cover it. There are further Figure 6: Turtle shell, honeycomb, pineapple, spider web, giraffe
markings and fish scales-examples of tessellations in nature

Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7 43

Figure 7: (Left to right) Mosaic at Chedworth Rooman villa, decorative panel at Fatehpur Sikri, Patterns on the Taj Mahal

Figure 8: (Above) Hagia Sophia, Istanbul and (below) the Blue Mosque,
Istanbul

Figure 9: Federation Square, Melbourne – this building is made up of

a range of right-angled triangles. As can be seen, it is a very complex
structure and is made out of many different materials.

Figure 11: Louvre, Paris – Again the Louvre projects a 2-D tessellation
Figure 10: London City Hall – This building projects a 2-D tessellation onto a 3-D structure. Each separate face of the pyramid contains a
onto a ring. Each ring of the building is then slightly displaced section of a 2-D tessellation. A rhombus is used as the main shape

44 Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7

 Figure 13: British Museum. Ceiling of Great Hall. The grand court of
the British Museum, London contains this beautiful, glass, tessellated
Figure 12: London Swiss Re Building. This building looks like a giant roof. It uses triangles to fill the curved roof. This three-dimensional
gherkin. It was made using computer modelling and without the use tessellation, like the one above, is very complex as it is not simply a
of complex computer models, buildings like this would not be possible. projection of a two-dimensional tessellation onto a three-dimensional
The gherkin uses rhombus shapes, which are manipulated to curve object. The question that arises from studying such a complex structure
around the shape of the building is: How can we manipulate a triangular tessellation to form a curve?

examples of Islamic tiling inside the building. Acknowledgments

The beautiful tilings shown in Figure 8 are more The following diagrams were taken from the ‘Totally
examples of Islamic tilings at the Blue Mosque, also Tessellated’ website and were not the author’s own:
in Istanbul. The tilings are extremely intricate and The source of the figures are as in the biography
delicate, covering the walls and ceiling. section.

The above examples are all of two-dimensional Bibliography

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using rectangular building blocks, the basic shape regular.2.html
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http://www.jmu.edu/~taal/CVstuff/simplicity.pdf
catching. However, extensive planning and the use Pictures (in order of appearance in article)
of complex computer models are required. Chessboard [Figure 1]: http://www.glue-it.com/houses/general-

Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7 45

information/glossary/c_summ.htm Decorative panel at Fatehpur Sikri [Figure 7]: www.anistor.gr/english/
Honeycomb [Figure 1]: http://worldbridgermedia.com/blog/wp- enback/swastika7/jpg
content/uploads/2007/04/honey-comb.gif Taj Mahal [Figure 7]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/1/2974929_
Chedworth Roman Villa [Figure 2] and Fatehpur Sikri [Figure 3]: J. a7f26616df.jpg?v=0
Khaira Chedworth Roman Villa [Figure 7]: J. Khaira
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wp-content/uploads/2008/04/louvre-glass-pyramid-paris-prlouve3.
background/symmetry.1.html (trapeziums by J. Khaira)
jpg
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tessellations: http://librarythinkquest.org/16661/simple.of.regular. architecture/
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Turtle Shell [Figure 6]: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com “The Golden Ratio” by Mario Livio
Giraffe [Figure 6]: www.roskraska.ru/book/img/giraffe-01.jpg “The Changing Shape of Geometry” edited by Chris Pritchard
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web-OhrC_r.jpg Series and David Wright.

46 Young Scientists Journal | 2009 | Issue 7