Under Siege: The Golden Mean in Architecture

Michael Ostwald briefly describes the Golden Mean and its history before examining the stance taken by a number of recent authors investigating the Golden Mean in architecture. He addresses the theories of Husserl, Derrida and Ingraham, who separately affirm that tacit assumptions about the relationship between geometric forms and other forms – say geometry and architecture – must be constantly questioned if they are to retain any validity.     

R-Tiles

The square root of the Golden Section, , is at times not given its due in discussions regarding the Golden Section. This is an unfortunate situation because its geometric properties provide us with a unique and rarely applied design tool. In this column, geometer Mark Reynolds focuses on the rectangle and its abilities to create an exciting tiling, R-Tiles.     

Spirals and the Golden Section

The author examines different types of spirals and their relationships to the Golden Section in order to provide the necessary background so that logic rather than intuition can be followed, correct value judgments be made, and new ideas can be developed.     

Four Approximations for Finding the Golden Section of a Circle’s Circumference from the Square Root Two Rectangle

Geometer Mark Reynolds discusses four approximatons for finding the Golden Section of the circumference of a circle from the root-2 rectangle.     

More True Applications of the Golden Number

The authors try to provide a positive answer to the question that the Golden Section corresponds to an optimal solution. It is but a college-level rephrasing exercise, but it could reboot the mathematical career of the Golden Section. An extension to the related silver section is given as well. The authors begin their examination with the definition of the golden number, then proceed to its applications to architecture, grey-tone mixing, colour mixing and bicycle gears.     

数学传统与乌托邦主义:柯布西埃的“模数”理论

法国著名的现代主义建筑家柯布西埃曾经创造出一种"模数"理论,它旨在将人体中体现出来的黄金分割比例与斐波纳契数列运用到建筑设计中。这个理论体系无疑体现出柯布西埃的雄心壮志,他追随西方建筑史上的数学传统与人文主义传统,但实际效果却充满了争议。在很大程度上,"模数"理论不过是一个带有更强象征色彩的乌托邦想象。     

基于大集中模式的省级地税系统网络架构设计

全国税务系统正在进行金税三期工程,本文对省级地税系统的整体网络架构进行分析和设计,对全省地税系统广域网的架构和省级局域网架构分别进行设计,在设计中突出了高性能、高可靠性和高稳定性的设计思路,能够满足省级地税大集中模式的应用需求。     

The Indefinite Dyad and the Golden Section: Uncovering Plato’s Second Principle

Scott Olsen examines the philosophy of Plato to bring to light the nature of Plato’s Second Principle, known as the Indefinite Dyad, sometimes called the Greater and the Lesser, and its relation to the Golden Section, ϕ . He responds to the challenge posed in 1983 by Kenneth Sayre, and explains how the the Indefinite Dyad can be used to derive the square roots of 2 and 3.     

Palladio’s Villa Emo:The Golden Proportion Hypothesis Defended

At Nexus 2000, Rachel Fletcher argued that Palladio may well have made use of the ‘golden section’, or extreme and mean ratio, in the design of the Villa Emo at Fanzolo. In this issue of Nexus Network Journal, Lionel March argued that the Golden Section is nowhere to be found in the Villa Emo as described in I quattro libri dell’archittetura. In the present paper, Rachel Fletcher defends her original thesis, comparing the Villa Emo as actually built to the project for it that Palladio published in his book.     

On the Triple Square and the Diagonal of the Golden Section

Geometer Mark Reynolds demonstrates the use of an ancient system for new ways of thinking and seeing: on the triple square and the diagonal of the Golden Section.