Manuel Martínez Vela Bücher

The palaces of the Alhambra offer a superb lesson in geometry as an art form, especially in the plasterwork and tiling that cover its walls. For centuries, visitors have been amazed by the complexity of the forms and the beautiful colours of the countless designs that emerged from the medieval workshops of the Nasrid Court. This book, conceived as a "step-by-step" manual, attempts to unveil the underlying structure behind many of these compositions as well as the methods necessary to be able to draw them. The process requires nothing more than following a few clear and simple instructions with the assistance of tools as modest as a ruler and a compass. The contents are ordered in a sequence that follows the normal walking tour of the monument, allowing the book to also function as a complementary or alternative guide to traditional guidebooks. Nearly 700 illustrations, including drawings, photographs and maps, turn "The Alhambra with a Ruler and Compass" into a fundamentally visual and instructional work.