Re: Garden Design

Deborah Lindsay wrote:

>
> I believe you are mixing up two different but interesting observations.
> The first one being the "Golden Rectangle" with proportions you listed
> above,and the second being a study (the posters and such you see around are
> reproductions of this drawing)by Leonardo da Vinci showing that the length of a
> person's outstretched arms is approximately the same as their height, in other
> words a square is formed. He used this information and other proportions of the
> human body to develop modular systems of design.
>

Hi Deborah:

Thanks for your response. Of course, you are correct in pointing out my confusion
with the spread-eagle human by da Vinci. What I really should have refered to was
the drawing of the walking human by Doryphorus, Roman copy of Greek original by
Polyclitus. This has the golden section relationships drawn over several parts of
the body as well as the whole.

>
> I think that some people derive serenity and contentment from perceived
> order.Plane Geometry is simply one kind of order.The Golden Rectangle came to be
> considered the basis of the "right" way to design by certain peoples at certain
> times. Other peoples at other times have used different systems. For example,
> much Japanese architecture is based on the module of the tatami, a
> multi-functional woven mat, a rectangle approximately 3ft x 6ft, and people
> there will refer to a space as some number of tatamis in size. Who is to say
> that a rectangle
> 3units x 5units (a "Golden" rectangle) is more right or more proportionally
> perfect than a rectangle 3units x 6units?

The "tatami mat" proportion is most interesting, and I am glad to learn of it. I
will lay both the Golden Rectangle and the Tatami Mat proportions out side by side
to see if I am attracted to one over the other.
I think Laura Cooper pointed out recently that we are all heavily influenced by our
past associations and aculturations in our likes and dislikes. And others have
observed that the  G.R. is built into much that we commonly use in our western
culture, from paper to the TV screen.

> The "Golden Rectangle" is certainly still discussed in design courses but
> in my experience as *a* way to define spatial proportions, not as *the*
> way.Certainly one can't really grasp Renaissance architecture without an
> understanding of its mathematics and the people who found these mathematics
> pleasing.
>
> Do I use it? Rarely. I believe that form should follow function, not vice versa.
> I do find the Fibonacci series and geometrical forms using it interesting
> and pleasing, and I am intrigued (as a spectator) by the mysticism that some
> people have historically drawn from it.

I guess my question is, should form +always+ follow function, (be dictated by it?)
Or can some design have value simply because it is pleasing or beautiful. Yes,
these ideas are old; not only the G.R., but also the perfect square as a symbol of
heaven brought to earth, the quadripartite garden as symbol of paradise, the square
half-turned within a square. But does this make them outdated, no longer beautiful
to modern designers?
    I always love your answers, they are informative and well-reasoned.  Hope you
don't mind that I quote you often.
    And thanks to all who responded to my little foray into design in order to
please Steve French who wishes for less plants and more design!   Jan


> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Jan Smithen,
> Upland, California
>
> jansmithen@earthlink.net
> Sunset zone : 19
> USDA zone   : 10
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~jansmithen/
>
> Visit the Los Angeles County Arboretum
> Victorian Rose Garden website at:
> http://victorian-rose.org/
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
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--
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jan Smithen,
Upland, California

jansmithen@earthlink.net
Sunset zone : 19
USDA zone   : 10

http://home.earthlink.net/~jansmithen/

Visit the Los Angeles County Arboretum
Victorian Rose Garden website at:
http://victorian-rose.org/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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