ARCHITECTS USE MATHEMATICS FOR SEVERAL REASONS:

Firstly, they use geometry because it defines spatial forms.

Secondly, they use mathematics to design forms that are considered
beautifulor harmonious.
From the time of thePythagoreanswith their religious philosophy of
number,architects inAncient Greece,Ancient Rome, theIslamic worldand
theItalian Renaissancehave chosen theproportionsof the built environment
buildings and their designed surroundings according to mathematical as well
as aesthetic and sometimes religious principles.
Thirdly, they may use mathematical objects such as tessellationsto decorate
buildings.

THEORY OF VITRUVIUS:
The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned
drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around
the year 1487. It is accompanied by notes
based on the work of Vitruvius. The drawing
and text are sometimes called the Canon of
Proportions or, less often, Proportions of Man.
The influential Ancient Roman architect
Vitruvius argued that the design of a building
such as a temple depended on two
qualities,symmetriaand proportion.
o Proportion ensures that each part of a building
relates harmoniously to every other part.
o Symmetriain Vitruvius's usage means
something closer to the English term
THE VITRUVIAN MAN
modularity than mirror symmetry, as again it
relates
assembling
(modular) parts
In his Basilica at Fano, he uses
ratiosto
ofthe
small
integers, of
especially
the whole
building. the structure
thetriangular numbers(1, 3,into
6, 10,...)
to proportion

VASTU PURUSHAMANDALA

INSTANCES OF MATHEMATICAL
ANALOGIES IN ARCHITECTURE:
Inancient Egypt,ancient Greece, India,
and the
Islamic world
buildings including pyramids, temples,
mosques, palaces and mausoleums were
laid out with specific proportions for
USE OF GOLDEN RATIO
religious reasons.
InIslamic architecture,geometricshapes and geometric tiling
patternsare used to decorate buildings, both inside and outside.
Some Hindu temples have afractal-like structure where parts resemble
the whole, conveying a message aboutHindu cosmology.
In the 21st century, mathematical ornamentation is again being used to
cover public buildings

into(Vitruvian) modules. Thus the Basilica's width to length is 1:2; the aisle
around it is as high as it is wide, 1:1; the columns are five feet thick and fifty
feet high, 1:10
Vitruvius described the human figure as being the principal source of
proportion among theClassical ordersof architecture.

PROPORTIONS IN CONSTRUCTION
OF PYRAMIDS

Fractals are self-similar sets whose

patterns are composed of smallerscales copied of themselves,
possessing self-similarity across
scales. This means that they repeat
the patterns to an infinitely small
scale

FIBONACCI NUMBERS
the term Fibonacci numbers refers to a sequence of numbers studied by a man named Leonardo of Pisa.
Fibonacci was the nickname given to him. he did not create the sequence, but he introduced it to Europe.

the sequence is 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,etc.

SIMPLE RULE OF FIBONACCI SERIES

This sequence follows a simple rule. in order to get the value of the next number you need to add the two
preceding Fibonacci numbers. for example, the first to numbers are 0 and 1. the 0 plus the 1 equals 1
which is the next number in the sequence.

APPLICATION OF FIBONACCI SEQUENCE IN

ARCHITECTURE
GOLDEN
RECTANGLES

WIDTH
HEIGHT AND WIDTH OF THIS
RECTANGLE ARE TWO
CONSECUTIVE FIBONACCI
NUMBERS; HENCE IT IS A
GOLDEN RECTANGLE

A golden rectangle is a rectangle with the length and width being two consecutive Fibonacci
numbers. for example, a rectangle with 34 as its length and 21 as its width would be a golden
rectangle. the golden proportion is 1:1.618 or 0.618:1.
HEIGHT

Many of the ancient Greek buildings, like the Parthenon, had golden rectangles. the national gallery
in London, England also had golden rectangles. there are many other famous buildings that have
golden rectangles in them.

EIFFEL TOWER

FIBONACCI SEQUANCE IN
PARTHENON

FIBONACCI SEQUANCE IN California

Polytechnic Engineering Plaza

GOLDEN RECTANGLES IN
UNITED NATIONS
BUILDING,NEWYORK

LE CORBUSIER MODULOR

Charles edouard Jeanerette , known as le Corbusier , was a French architect of 20 th century famous all around the world.
passionate for the golden section, he invented the modular( module dor or golden modue)
it's a stylized human figure, standing proudly and square-shouldered, sometimes with one arm raised: this is modular man, the mascot of le Corbusier's
system for re-ordering the universe.
the modular was meant as a universal system of proportions.
the ambition was vast: it was devised to reconcile maths, the human form, architecture and beauty into a single system. this system could then be used to
provide the measurements for all aspects of design from door handles to cities, and Corbusier believed that it could be further applied to industry and
mechanics.

the modular is a special metric scale that sets specific measurements based in golden section.
to define the measurements, Corbusier started with a human figure with an extended arm with a height
of 2,26 metres. the navel height was set to 1,13 metres. so, the ratio of the total height of the figure to
the height to the figure's navel is 1.61.
these proportions can be scaled up or down to infinity using a Fibonacci progression

APPLICATION IN HIS WORKS:

1. UNIT DHABITATION IN MARSEILLES - the
modular governs: the plan, section and elevations;
thebrise-soleil; the roof; the supporting columns and the
plan and section of the apartments. it was also used for
the dimensions of the commemorative stone laid on 14
october 1947. a version of the modulor man wascast
inconcretenear the entrance.

2. CHURCH OF SAINTE MARIE

DE LA TOURETTE - in the
church ofsainte marie de la
tourettele corbusier floors the
majority of the church in pale
concrete panels set to modulor
dimensions. also, the
engineerapplied the modulor
system to the design of the
exterior vertical ventilators.

3. CARPENTER CENTRE FOR

THE VISUAL ARTS- in
thecarpenter centerthe
modulor system was used for
the brise-soleil distances, the
floor to floor heights, the bay
distances and the column
thicknesses. le corbusier
conceived that the
dimensioning of the entrance
ramp would be "visible essay
on the mathematics of the
human body"

4.
CHANDIGARH
CITY, le
corbusier
planned the
entire city and
used the
modular in
many buildings
like the
secretariat.

GREEK ORDERS
DORIC ORDER
IONIC ORDER

The greek architecture was based on geometrical progression, the so-called golden mean.

The ratio is similar to the growth patterns of many spiral forms that occur in nature such as rams' horns,
nautilus shells, fern fronds etc. and these were a source of decorative motifs employed by ancient greek
architects particularly in the volutes of capitals of the ionic and corinthian orders.
The architects calculated for perspective, for the
optical illusions that make edges of objects appear
concave .

CORINTHIAN ORDER

The fact that columns that are viewed against the sky
look different to those adjacent that are viewed against
a shadowed wall. because of these factors, the
architects adjusted the plans so that the major lines of
any significant building are rarely straight.
THE MOST OBVIOUS ADJUSTMENT IS TO THE PROFILE
OF COLUMNS IS Narrowig from base to top. however, the narrowing is
not regular, but gently curved so that each columns
appears to have a slight swelling, called entasis below
the middle.

The doric order is the earliest of the three

classical orders of architecture.
The doric order is characterized by a plain,
unadorned column capital and a column that
rests directly on the stylobate of the temple
without a base.
The doric entablature includes a frieze
composed of trigylphs (vertical plaques with
three divisions) and metopes (square spaces
for either painted or sculpted decoration). the
columns are fluted and are of sturdy, if not
stocky, proportions.

Ionicshaftswere taller than doric

ones. this makes the columns look
slender.
They also hadflutes, which are
lines carved into them from top to
bottom.
The shafts also had a special
characteristic:entasis, which is a
little bulge in the columns make the
columns look straight.
Thefriezeis plain. thebaseswere
large and looked like a set of
stacked rings.
ioniccapitalsconsist of a scrolls
above the shaft. the ionic style is a
little more decorative than the
doric.

The corinthian order is the most

decorative and is usually the one
most modern people like best.
Corinthian also uses entasis to make
the shafts look straight. the
corinthian capitals have flowers and
leaves below a small scroll. the shaft
has flutes and the base is like the
ionian. unlike the doric and ionian
cornices, which are at a slant, the
corinthian roofs are flat.

The entasis is never sufficiently pronounced as to make

the swelling wider than the base; it is controlled by a
slight reduction in the rate of decrease of diameter.

vstupurusa-mandala

Is both the body of the Cosmic Being and a bodily device

The square is the mark of order, the finality to the expanding life, life's form and the
perfection beyond life and death. From the square all requisite forms can be derived: the
triangle, hexagon, octagon, circle etc. The architect calls this square the vastu-purushamandala-vastu, the manifest, purusha, the Cosmic Being, and mandala.

The vstupurusa-mandala, has governed the construction of

residences, palaces, temples and even entire cities in India since
ancient times.

Those who have the requisite knowledge of vstupurusa-mandala

attain the best results in building.

The vstupurusa-mandala is rendered not as a circle as one

might suspect from the term mandala but rather as a square
symbolizing the earth as the residence (vast) of the
primordial male giant whose body originally filled the
entire universe.

The grid, usually of 64 or 81 squares, is in fact a mandala, a

model of the cosmos, with each square belonging to a deity.

The ground floor plan according to

Vastu Shastra is a symbolic,
miniature representation of the
cosmos.

An important aspect of the

design of the ground plan is that
it is intended to lead from the
temporal world to the eternal.

The principal shrine should face

the rising sun and so should
have its entrance to the east.

Movement towards the

sanctuary, along the east-west
axis and through a series of
increasingly sacred spaces is of
great importance and is reflected
in the architecture.

Example - Sun Temple, Konark

The position of the squares is in accordance with

the importance attached to each of the deities,
with the square in the center representing the
temple deity; the outer squares cover the gods of
lower rank.

FRACTALS

each entity is simultaneously a part and a whole. In a fractals system,

each entity is a whole and at the same time is part of some larger whole.

an entrance, often
with a porch

one or more
attached or
detached
mandalpas or halls;

the inner sanctum

called the
garbagriha,
literally womb
chamber

the tower build

directly above the
garbagriha

In order to establish order in the chaos of homogeneity, human beings have always sought to have
a fixed reference point to acquire some kind of orientation.

In many societies, it is considered to be a sacred spot and also corresponds to the center of the
world- axis mundi

The mathematics of fractals can

be used to show that the reason
why existing buildings have visual
appeal and are visually satisfying is
because they provide the viewer
with a sense of scale at
different viewing distances

Use of Fractals in temple architecture