Architecture & Mathematics

Our second project for the second year class was based on mathematical principles and how they could be used as methods for design. Shinkre sir had an interesting way of looking at it:
A building goes through mathematical operations at all stages and levels of its realization. Right from anthropometrics (measure of human body proportions) to the number of people who occupy the space, to areas, and finally the structural logic (along with many other things).

One can work out a lot of ideas to manifest the building through maths. To me, the most interesting relationship between architecture and mathematics is the translation of numbers into shapes. The relation between algebra and geometry. Saurabh Vaidya very nicely elaborates on this idea on his blogpost as follows:

According to Foucault, the relationship between thought and language is that of geometry and algebra, where all the geometric shapes spontaneously pre-exist in nature waiting to be drawn and discovered but it is the algebraic expression that provides the shape a meaning that is precise to its nature, where the spontaneity of the shapes' existence gets tuned in a mathematical meaning that when played will become that shape. And sometimes it is formulation of an algebric expression that could lead us to an undiscovered shape.

What interests me is that equations become shapes on the Cartesian space. An expression like x^2+y^2=1 becomes a circle or a locus becomes a sine wave...of how patterns happen and how ratios work towards beauty. There are so many things to think of with numbers and architecture.

However, I am still to see the final output of the students on Friday...