Cairo

Cairo takes its name from the Cairo pentagonal tiling, an unusual geometric system built entirely from five sided forms. It has the logic of a traditional tessellation, although it never feels quite as predictable.

Pentagons are slightly awkward shapes. Unlike squares or hexagons, they do not immediately suggest an obvious way of covering a surface. That limitation is also what makes them so useful for pattern.

The Cairo tiling solves the problem by bringing different pentagons together into a continuous arrangement. The result has order, but not the rigid regularity we normally associate with a geometric grid.

I like that balance. You can sense an underlying system without immediately understanding how everything fits together. The geometry feels organised and slightly unruly at the same time.

Cairo also shows how much can come from working within a restriction. Five sides do not offer the easiest route to repetition. However, that difficulty produces something far less predictable than a conventional tile grid.

For me, that is the real character of Cairo. It follows a clear geometric rule, while never looking too obedient to it.