The A to Z of building a new home... G

Architecture and GeometryThe relationship between architecture and geometry are discussed numerous times between architects and how they combine with each other to create better spaces for buildings. Geometry is the fundamental science of forms and their order. The history of architecture has geometric rules based on different ideas of symmetries and proportions for the design. According to Pythagoras, there were general principles for harmony which were also applied in architecture which they found a further development especially in the renaissance period. According to Leon Battista Alberti, who was very passionate about using Geometry in his architectural process, he believed that another main principal within architecture is the 'Golden Section'.Golden Section/ Golden RatioThe ancient Greeks knew of a rectangle whose sides are in the golden proportion which is usually believed to be (1 : 1.618 which is the same as 0.618 : 1). It occurs naturally in some of the proportions of the Five Platonic Solids. A construction for the Golden Section point is found in Euclids Elements. Many architects believe that the golden rectangle is supposed to appear in many of the proportions of the following designs; The Parthenon & The Acropolis in Athens, however there is no original documentary or any evidence that this had used the Golden Ratio formula.The Eden Project in St Austell, has some wonderfully impressive greenhouses based on geodesic domes (called biomes) built in an old quarry. It has recently introduced a £15 million pound Education Centre called The Core which has been specifically designed using Fibonacci and Golden Ratio to reflect the nature of the site.The college of Engineering at the California Polytechnic State University has been built based predominantly on Fibonacci numbers and several geometric diagrams. Former student Jeffrey Gordon Smith who is an architectural landscape designer, stated that as a guiding element, they selected the Fibonacci series spiral, or the golden mean as it is sometimes known to represent the engineering knowledge and design.