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Contra Divinam Proportionem

In: Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Frascari

    (Carleton University)

  • Livio G. Volpi Ghirardini

    (Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana)

Abstract

Are architectural proportions metric, numeric, geometric or golden? Which ones among the many in a building are the markers that should be considered reference points for the proportioning of its parts? A golden or divine magnifying glass that distorts rather than clarifies has been applied to everything in the name of aesthetic and mystical impulses. A proportion called the Golden Mean has long been the only explanation for a successive melange of proportions in all the visual arts. This Golden Mean (also called the Divine Proportion) has been found repeatedly in the pictures of growth patterns embodied in natural events or in the pictures of human products. Since the last century it has so fascinated mathematicians and artists that is proposed by many as the absolute aesthetic value. Here the falsity behind many of the claims for the use of the Golden Mean is revealed.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Frascari & Livio G. Volpi Ghirardini, 2015. "Contra Divinam Proportionem," Springer Books, in: Kim Williams & Michael J. Ostwald (ed.), Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 619-626, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-319-00137-1_41
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-00137-1_41
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