Generative design is concerned with the definition and exploration
of design spaces, and it has been suggested that emergence plays
a key role in this process. In this paper, the impact of emergence on a
design space is explored via consideration of different methods used to
generate designs in a particular style. Three distinct methods of generating
Islamic geometric patterns have been investigated and the extent to
which emergence is employed in these methods has been explored. This
research supports a discussion on the role of emergence in generative
design, and an investigation into how design spaces are affected by the
type of emergence employed in a generative process.