Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future: Volume I: Antiquity to the 1500s - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3319001361 ISBN 13: 9783319001364

Publisher: Birkhäuser, 2015

Synopsis

Every age and every culture has relied on the incorporation of mathematics in their works of architecture to imbue the built environment with meaning and order. Mathematics is also central to the production of architecture, to its methods of measurement, fabrication and analysis. This two-volume edited collection presents a detailed portrait of the ways in which two seemingly different disciplines are interconnected. Over almost 100 chapters it illustrates and examines the relationship between architecture and mathematics. Contributors of these chapters come from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds: architects, mathematicians, historians, theoreticians, scientists and educators. Through this work, architecture may be seen and understood in a new light, by professionals as well as non-professionals.

Volume I covers architecture from antiquity through Egyptian, Mayan, Greek, Roman, Medieval, Inkan, Gothic and early Renaissance eras and styles. The themes that are covered range from symbolism and proportion to measurement and structural stability. From Europe to Africa, Asia and South America, the chapters span different countries, cultures and practices.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The aim of this collection of essays is to present a broad portrait of the ways in which two seemingly different disciplines are interconnected. The diversity and varied texture of the essays richly illustrates the affinity between architecture and mathematics. As the almost 100 papers presented in this two-volume publication show, every age and every culture has relied on principles of mathematics incorporated in their works of architecture to imbue their built environment with meaning and order. Included are discussions of geometry, proportional systems, linear algebra, periodic and aperiodic tilings, fractals, perspective, computer science and mechanics. Western architecture of every period is examined: Egyptian, Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Enlightenment, twentieth-century and beyond, as is the architecture of Turkey, China, India, Japan, Australia and Islam. The mathematical nature of the architecture of Leon Battista Alberti, Andrea Palladio and Frank Lloyd Wright is examined, and the philosophical background behind Renaissance architecture is explored. Contributors come from a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds: architects, mathematicians, historians, theoreticians, scientists and educators from the world over. Architecture may be seen and understood in a new light, by professionals as well as non-professionals.

Review:

“It presents several alternative historical and theoretical contexts of the relationship between architecture and mathematics which has been pushed to the foreground during the past decades with the increasing use of computer-aided design in their profession ... . Historians of mathematics, too, will no doubt find useful material here for their research, especially if they are interested in the more practical concerns that have shaped the development of their field ... .” (Yelda Nasifoglu, BSHM Bulletin, Vol. 31 (3), October, 2016)

“The study of connections between mathematics and the arts has grown considerably in recent decades, influenced by the work of Doris Schattschneider, Jay Kappraff, and Michele Emmer, among others. The use of mathematics is particularly a necessity in architecture, so the present set is welcome. ... This is a valuable resource for mathematics, architecture, and the arts in general. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.” (C. A. Gorini, Choice, Vol. 53 (2), October, 2015)

“The ambitious goal is to describe both the intimate relation but also the alienation between mathematics and architecture and between mathematicians and architects. ... It is an important and highly inspiring collection of papers that will be of interest to researchers from as many disciplines as illustrated by the diversity of the background of the authors. ... Highly recommended for readers who do not want to drown or hide in their own abyss of specialization.” (Adhemar Bultheel, euro-math-soc.eu, June, 2015)

About this edition

• Publisher: Birkhäuser
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 3319001361
• ISBN 13: 9783319001364
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 754
• Editor: Williams Kim, Ostwald Michael J.