This is a late update for my 2012 study on Cairo Pentagonal Tiling (or Cairo Tessellation). Originally, it was an exercise of dual tessellations. Because this tiling is the dual of the famous semi-regular tessellation of Snub Square. After coding the Snub Square tiling, I attempted to generate the dual of it. However, that created an inefficient result. This latest version generates the original Snub Square and Cario Pentagonal Tilings. Moreover, it is possible to play with the inputs to generate more interesting designs. The legend says that the name of this tiling comes from a special covering on the streets of Cairo. However, this doesn’t explain the origins of this very interesting pentagonal tessellation. There are an infinite number of pentagons that can tile a plane, obeying the same placement rule. This Grasshopper definition can be used to generate them.

This Grasshopper definition generates variations of pentagonal mono tilings, including the famous Cairo Pentagonal Tiling. The input parameters are the rotation angle of the Snub Square base and the thickness of the resulting lattice. The output of the definition is the single-line tessellation and the closed polylines of the lattice. Therefore, the output is ready for manual cutting or laser cutting. The code is using native Grasshopper components. Thus, no add-ons are necessary for it to work.

You can rebuild the Grasshopper definition by looking at the image above. However, would you consider being my Patreon if you want to support this website by downloading my working file? Here is the link to my Patreon page, including the Cairo Pentagonal Tiling and more. Thank you.