Interesting to see this come up on Hacker News. The Islamic Art has been mesmerizing and amazing to me ever since I've started taking note of the skill on display.

Arabic Calligraphy is central to Islamic Art, and usually verses from Qur'an are intricately carved out on the walls and doors. Islamic architecture also has subtle hints-- like 5 windows might represent the infallible 5 of Shi'a Islam; or a 100 pillars might represent the 100 exalted names of God. There's a lot of thought that goes into those patterns as well as choice of Qur'anic verses, and placement of decorations.

My favourite books on the topic are analysis of two Grand Mosques built in Fatimid Architectural style, by an Indian scholar:

1 A Living Testimony to the Fatemiyeen: https://amzn.com/0953927008

2 A Vision of the Fatemiyeen: https://amzn.com/0953927016

Since the article doesn't link to it, you can see more of his work here: http://gravity.ir/

I've been fascinated by mosque architecture for the last few years - and have been fortunate enough to visit each one photographed in the the article, and others in the Turkey, UAE, Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, etc.

So far, Iranian mosques take the cake for me - often inside they make their mosaics from mirrors. The effect is startling - the reflections are nothing short of dazzling, you have the feeling to be in an Escher arrangement. The 'best' part, is that in photographs, the effect is totally lost.

Very recently, I traveled across China, and specifically to its muslim regions. What was fascinating was the variety and beauty of their mosques. It's totally crazy to see minarets built in a Chinese temple style.

For those interested: http://imgur.com/a/AXhma

Can someone who is knowledgeable on the topic enlighten me?

I was under the impression (very possibly mistaken) that you couldn't depict human or animal forms in Islamic Art/Architecture and hence the prevalence of amazingly intricate geometry and calligraphy adorning Mosques.

However I see some elaborate murals with human and animal depictions in the 5th and 9th photos in the article.

Am I mistaken in my assumption? Are there restrictions on what can or cannot be depicted in Islamic Art?

If you like this, you might find an interesting read in these papers on generating Islamic star designs via computer:

http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/csk/projects/starpatterns/

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Every time I see something like this posted it deeply saddens me that, as an American, I will never be able to safely visit Iran.