Edges and transitions
Claim
The edge of the wall is a solved problem in the source book: three transition profiles, and a scale-change piece drawn at 1:3.
Construction
A tessellation has no edge. A room does. Where the pattern meets a wall, a doorway or another pattern, something has to close it, and the source book treats this as a named problem rather than a detail.
Three transition profiles are drawn and labelled. One is flat, and sits against a wall. The other two are curved, and break between one pattern and another.
A second piece handles a change of scale. It is drawn in two profiles at a ratio of 1:3, with the stated use case of one room set in 2-inch tiles joining a room set in 6-inch tiles — or a transition from outside to inside, large concrete giving way to decorative wooden flooring.
What is actually drawn
These are worked geometry rather than intentions. The pages carry the pieces themselves, with tessellation swatches alongside and a seam diagram showing how the join reads.
That makes this the one applied topic in the library with real material behind it. It is still drawing rather than fabrication — nothing on file has been cut — but the shapes answer a question a fitter would actually ask.
The same pages reproduce a monotype by Philip Taaffe as an analogy for the seam. The analogy is the book's; it is another artist's work and it is not evidence about the tile.
Note
The edge problem is where pattern meets building. Your account of noticing it belongs here.
Open questions
- No dimensions, tolerances or materials are attached to the three profiles. They are shapes, not specifications.
- The 1:3 piece assumes two tile sizes in a fixed ratio. Whether a general scale-change piece exists — any ratio, any pair of grids — is unasked.
- Nothing on file tests a transition piece against an actual installed field.
Checks
| What | How | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Three transition profiles | Drawn and labelled: one flat against a wall, two curved between patterns | A New Shape, p. 76 |
| Scale-change piece | Two profiles at 1:3, with the 2-inch to 6-inch use case stated | A New Shape, p. 77 |
| Seam treatment | Tessellation swatches and a seam diagram on the same page | A New Shape, p. 77 |
| The analogy | A Philip Taaffe monotype, reproduced as comparison — not evidence | A New Shape, p. 76 |