Fractal Geometry in Architecture and Design - (Design Science Collection) by Carl Bovill (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

na broad sense Design Science is the grammar of a language of images Irather than of words. Modern communication techniques enable us to transmit and reconstitute images without needing to know a specific verbal sequence language such as the Morse code or Hungarian. International traffic signs use international image symbols which are not specific to any particular verbal language. An image language differs from a verbal one in that the latter uses a linear string of symbols, whereas the former is multi- dimensional. Architectural renderings commonly show projections onto three mutual- ly perpendicular planes, or consist of cross sections at different altitudes capa- ble of being stacked and representing different floor plans. Such renderings make it difficult to imagine buildings comprising ramps and other features which disguise the separation between floors, and consequently limit the cre- ative process of the architect. Analogously, we tend to analyze natural struc- tures as if nature had used similar stacked renderings, rather than, for instance, a system of packed spheres, with the result that we fail to perceive the system of organization determining the form of such structures. Perception is a complex process. Our senses record; they are analogous to audio or video devices. We cannot, however, claim that such devices perceive.

About the Author

Carl Bovill is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland at College Park. He has taught at California State University in San Luis Obispo and at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He has received from the American Institute of Architects both an Education Honors Award, for technical systems integration in design instruction, and the AIA School Medal for excellence in the study of architecture.