Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/44566

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Title
Characteristic visual complexity: fractal dimensions in the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier
Author/Creator
Ostwald, Michael J.;  Vaughan, Josephine;  Tucker, Chris
Institution
The University of Newcastle. Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment, School of Architecture and Built Environment
Description
In the late 1970s Mandelbrot argued that natural systems frequently possess characteristic geometric or visual complexity over multiple scales of observation, suggesting that systems which have evolved over time may exhibit certain local visual qualities that also possess deep structural resonance. In mathematics this realization, founded on seemingly irrational or "monstrous" numbers, lead to the formulation of fractal geometry and was central to the rise of the sciences of non-linearity and complexity. During the last decade this concept was developed in relation to architectural design and urban planning, and more recently architectural scholars have suggested that such approaches might be used in the analysis of historic buildings. At the heart of this approach, in both its theoretical and computational forms, is a set of rules for analyzing buildings. However, the assumptions implicit in this method have never been adequately questioned. The present paper returns to the origins of the conventional "box counting" method of fractal analysis for historic buildings to reconsider the initial interpretations of the architecture of Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. This new analysis uses "Archimage" software, developed by the authors, to undertake a multi-dimensional review of the fractal dimension of the houses of Wright and Le Corbusier and, in doing so, to develop a more consistent method for the application of such mathematical tools to the analysis of historic buildings.
Relation
Nexus VII: Architecture and Mathematics p. 217-231
Relation
http://www.kimwilliamsbooks.com/NexusVII.htm
Date
2008
Publisher
Kim Williams Books
Keyword(s)
architecture;  mathematics;  architectural design;  urban planning
Resource Type
book chapter
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/44566
Identifier
ISBN:9788888479187
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Subject
"Characteristic visual complexity: fractal dimensions in the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier"
 
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