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Lecture5
TheUniversalQuestforHarmonyandUnityPartII:Geometry,Mathematics,andtheOldWayof
Seeing

TheUniversalQuestforHarmonyandUnity
PartII:Geometry,Mathematics,andtheOldWayofSeeing
Reading:
TheOldWayofSeeing,p.4566
...itisthemarkofaneducatedmantolookforprecisionineachclassofthingsjustsofarasthenatureof
thesubjectadmits...
Aristotle,NicomacheanEthics,BookI,para.iii.,astranslatedbyW.D.Ross.
Theprinciplesthatunderlieharmoniousdesignarefoundeverywhereandineverytimebeforeourown
theyarethehistoricnorm.TheyarethesameintheeighteenthcenturyhousesofNewburyport,
Massachusetts,inthebuildingsofoldJapan,inItalianvillages,inthecathedralsofFrance,intheruinsof
theYucatn.ThesamekindsofpatternsorganizeFrankLloydWrightsRobieHouseandMichelangelos
Capitol.Thedisharmonyweseearoundusistheexception.
JonathanHale,TheOldWayofSeeing:HowArchitectureLostitsMagic(Boston:Houghton
Mifflin,1995),p.2
Kepler's"CrystalSpheres"whichhetheorizedasthegeometryoftheuniverse

Kepler'sPlatonicsolidmodelofthesolarsystemfromMysteriumCosmographicum(1596).
TheQuestforHarmonyandUnitythatwelookedatlasttimerevealedavirtuallyuniversalsensethatifsomethingwe
dochangesnatureinsomeway,itshouldbedoneinaccordancewithsomesortofnaturalorder.ThemythicalFuXi,
youllrecall,inventedtheprimaryideogramsofChinesewritingusingnatureasparadigm.TessieNaraniooftheSanta
ClaraPueblotoldofhealingceremoniesfortheirvillagestobringthehumanandcosmicforcestogether.And
ancientRomansplowedafurrowaroundwhatwouldbetheircitywallinthefoundingceremonyofacastrumto
establishasacreddomainwithin,onlyliftingtheplowfromtheearthastheypassedwhatwouldbethecitysgates.
These,andcountlessotheracts,recognizedthemanmadeaspartofnature.
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Geometricandmathematicalrelationshipshavebeenimportanttothenotionofharmonylongbeforethemodern
era.Regulatinglinesespeciallysquaresandgoldensectionrectangleshavelongbeenusedtoensurevisual
harmony.
ProportionalrelationshipsinAndreaPalladiosvillaMaser

ImagesbyNormanCrowe,courtesyofMITPress.
Whilehumanvisualperceptionisrelativelyconstantfromonepersontoanother,theideaofgoodproportionsand
beautynecessarilyvaries,basedonexperienceandknowledge.Therearesomeconstantshowever,suchasasenseof
visualbalancederivedfrombodyrelatedproportions(seeexplanationintextfromlastweeksreading),buteventhese
varyaccordingtoculturalandotherexperientialcircumstances.Expressioninarchitecturevaries:Compare,for
instance,highVictorianwithGothic,orGothicwithRenaissanceclassicism,orChineseBuddhistarchitecturewith
theWestshighGothic.
Soisthistosaythatallsuchthingsarerelativeandthereforerulestoensurebeautyandproportionsareessentially
arbitraryandthereforefutile?Anotherwaytoapproachtheproblemisthroughtheinternallogicofagivenorder.
ImaginingahighGothicwindowonaClassicalfaade,oracurvingChineseroofonacrispModernistglassboxofa
building.Thismayprovideaclue.Familiesofelementsandproportionsprovidethekey.Allthingswithinafamily
arederivedfromthesameproportionalrelationshipsandgeneralaestheticcharacterthatincludesmaterials,color,
texture,rhythmorrepetitionoflikeelements,andsoon.

TheGoldenRatio
AccordingtoEuclid,Astraightlineissaidtohavebeencutinextremeandmeanratiowhen,asthewholelineisto
thegreatersegment,soisthegreatertothelesser.

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Goldenratioline.ImagecourtesyofEIsnel.

Or,theratioofthewholelinetoitslargersegmentisthesameastheratioofthelargersegmenttothesmaller.This
ratioisapproximately1.61803:1.ArectanglewithsidesinthisproportionisaGoldenRectangle:

CourtesyofAlexanderHahn

Theserelationshipshavebeenarguedforcenturies.Theyemergeintreatisesongeometry,inreligiousdogma,andin
practicalmeanstoensureharmoniousvisualproportionsforthings,andinvariousmysticalphilosophies.
TheSufitraditioninIslam
PythagoreanandPlatonicgeometries
RenaissanceandneoRenaissanceartandarchitecture
Examples:

SufiGeometry

ImagebyNormanCrowe,courtesyofMITPress.

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Renaissanceapplicationofcolumndiametersto
coordinateproportionalrelationships

ImagebyNormanCrowe,courtesyofMITPress.

AneoRenaissancebuildingwithgeometry
basedonsquaresandrectanglesderivedfrom
thesquare

ImagescourtesyofNormanCrowe.

Victorianresidence,carefullyproportioned
accordingtosquaresandrectanglesderived
fromthesquare,understoodbyitscarpenter
builder.

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PhotocourtesyofNormanCrowe.
Thesamegeometricandmathematicalrelationshipsmaybeexpandedtoproducethelogarithmic,orgolden
spiral,apentagraminwhichsegmentsofa,b,c,dinorderofdecreasinglengthsareinaratioof1.618or.
Correspondingorrelatedgeometricratiosmaybefoundinthemanychamberednautilus,inthegrowth
patternsofflowers,reproductionratesforrabbitsandbees,thespiralofpineapples,theDNAspiral
IsthisproofthatEuclid,Pythagoras,Plato,aswellasFibonacci,Kepler,LeonardodaVinci,Michelangelo,Le
Corbusier,WilliamBlake,andothers,understoodthegeometryofthecosmos?Whatarewetomakeofthis?
Selectedthingsfromnatureseemtofit,butothersdonot.
Theworld,harmoniouslyconfused,
Whereorderinvarietywesee,
Andwhere,thoughallthingsdiffer,allagree.
AlexanderPope,WindsorForest,l.1416
Nature,themysteriousforcesthatcreatetheworldwelivein,isanexperienceofsuchbeautyand
awesomecomplexitythatitissimplyamazingtostumbleacrosspatternsthatwecanrecognizeandreduce
tonumbersandwrittenrules.Andyetithappens.Aswepeerdeeplyintothesmallestpartsofwhat
makesupthewhole,wefindendlessreflectionsofaproportionthatdescribessoperfectlyourplaceinit
allaperfectharmonyofdynamicsandbalance,ofknownandunknown,ofwhoweareandwhat
possibilitieswehold.
PriyaHemenway,DivineProportion:(Phi)InArt,Nature,andScience(NewYork:Sterling
Publishing,2005),p.141

PhotoscourtesyofNormanCrowe
Doesitmakeanydifferencewhethertheseratiosandtheirgeometricandmathematicalpropertiesarethekey
totheuniverseornot?Mightitbesaidthattheyareallpartofabeautifulaesthetic,onethatencompasses
relatedmathematicalandgeometricpuzzles,thehistoryofhumandiscovery(anditdoessoinaverycross
culturalway)andtheycanbefoundasmanifestinbothhumanartifactsandnaturalobjectsacrosstimeand
space?

DiscussionSession
Forthissession,eachstudentshoulddraworreproduceinaseriesofphotocopies,thefacadeandfloorplanofa
building,andoverlayininklines,proportionalrelationships.(Forexamplesofthistypeofdrawing,seeArchitecture
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andGeometryintheAgeoftheBaroquebyGeorgeHersey,andArchitecturalPrinciplesintheAgeofHumanismby
RudolfWittkower.BothareonthereserveshelfintheArchitectureLibrary.

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