Eric Broug discovered his passion for Islamic geometry in the late 1980s, when he was studying international relations and Middle Eastern politics in his native Holland.
By chance, Broug came across a book on Islamic geometrical design. The intricate patterns and combination of science and artistry immediately captured his imagination and he soon felt compelled to recreate their apparent complexity. "I started to try and draw the patterns in the book and realised that I found it fascinating," he says.
Broug was, he admits, "looking for something that I could be passionate about for the rest of my life", and it wasn't long before he realised he'd found it. "There's a creative component that allows you to develop patterns and embellish them in a certain way, and a scientific aspect that has to do with geometry, rules and with history," he says.
It was the start of an unwavering obsession that continues to this day - one that led Broug to sell his home and relocate to England. One that has brought him internet fame and resulted in the creation of Broug Ateliers, a company that creates bespoke Islamic geometry for domestic and commercial clients around the world.
Broug is a busy man, dividing his time between the atelier, his job as the Middle East and North Africa region manager for an academic publishing house in the UK and the manuscript for his latest book - a sumptuously illustrated, 300-page coffee table book on Islamic geometrical design. It's the first of its type, and is due to be published by Thames & Hudson next year.
A looming deadline means Broug spends his lunch hours working to get the book's manuscript completed in time for the various editors who need to prepare it for its international launch. This is a long way from Broug's early hobbyist days, when he used a ruler and a pair of compasses to produce watercolour compositions of Islamic geometrical design in his spare time.
Now he uses professional architectural drafting and modelling software to create his clients' designs. The finished products include stained glass windows, interior and exterior ornamental screens, mashrabiya, shutters and gates, as well as smaller decorative objects and conversation pieces.
The choice of construction materials and techniques is determined by the project and its budget. External security panels can be made in laser-cut mild steel, or interior panels in computer-numerical-control-routered, medium-density fibreboard, while finer pieces meant to be seen close-up are handmade by master craftsmen using fine woods and traditional joinery techniques. Broug actually discovered one of his craftsman collaborators after he uploaded photos of his work onto the Broug Ateliers Facebook page.
"Most of the people who joined were people who had read my first book and wanted to share photos of the things they'd made using the patterns from it. The quality of one gentleman's work in particular was so fantastic that I started working with him for clients who wanted something special."
Broug's first book was a how-to guide complete with a CD-Rom called Islamic Geometric Patterns. "When I started, there were no books that showed you how to make the patterns. They only showed the end result. This just makes it all the more difficult when you see these wonderful patterns but [don't know] how to make them. I thought I would make a book that shows you how to do it in six to eight steps using a compass and a ruler. I still get quite a bit of fan mail," Broug says, with an awkward mixture of embarrassment and pride. But he's clearly not alone in his obsession since the book has been published in Dutch, English, Farsi and even Turkish. Given the source of so much of his inspiration, Broug would also like there to be an Arabic translation.
To make the leap from watercolourist to designer and author, Broug decided to leave the Netherlands, using the proceeds from the sale of his house to fund further study in Islamic architecture and design in the UK. It was a huge risk. "I felt I was at a stage where I wanted my work to be critically assessed. I felt that if I wanted to get better at it I needed to make that move."
Broug spent a year studying the history of Islamic architecture and design at London's School of Oriental and African Studies and another year at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts, part of the foundation established by Prince Charles for the teaching of practical skills associated with the traditional arts, especially of Islam. "It was good because I had one year of academic rigour and another of making things with my hands," Broug says.
Despite all his studying, the success of his book and the foundation of his atelier, Broug enjoys nothing more than sharing his passion for Islamic geometrical design by showing people how to create the patterns for themselves in public workshops. Broug claims "there's no substitute" for using a pair of compasses and a ruler to produce the beautiful and seemingly complex patterns in six to eight steps.
Ultimately, for Broug, the real excitement about Islamic geometric design lies in its future, not in its past, and in the variety of contemporary uses to which it can be applied, "not just as something that is historically interesting but as something that appeals to people who are interested in modern homes".
His other ambition is to expand the repertoire of patterns that are currently in use, particularly in architecture. "I would be delighted if people would be able to use my books to make a greater variety of geometrical patterns. Quite often you just see the usual suspects, a handful of patterns. Typically only 10 to 20 per cent of available patterns are being used and the rest are being consigned to history. They don't need to be."
For more information, visit www.broug.com. Small desktop Broug Ateliers screens are also available from Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/Qaytbay
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
AL%20BOOM
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
India team for Sri Lanka series
Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Austrian Grand Prix race timings
Weekend schedule for Austrian Grand Prix - all timings UAE
Friday
Noon-1.30pm First practice
4-5.30pm Second practice
Saturday
1-2pm Final practice
4pm Qualifying
Sunday
4pm Austrian Grand Prix (71 laps)
PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA
Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
