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Thanks to a simple rope on which they made a knot at every " cubit " cathedral builders drew their plans on the ground making wonderful figures to definie and create the whole architecture and its decor according to ideal proportions. Their constructions are beautiful and deeply moving. By using a ruler and compasses only, to replace the rope, Robert Vincent reveals to us the secrets of those builders in the art of line drawing, as well as in the establishment of " divine proportions " thanks to the Golden Section. Robert Vincent's drawings do not need any mathematical knowledge and sweep us away into a universe of emblematic figures, or into that of the Glden Section in human achievement, from the ^yramid of Cheops to that of the Louvre, or from Le Corbusier, to the Marseille's Tarot, or the official soccer ball… Thus he shows us the marvels of geometry and offers ancient designs that are still relevant for present day artists or crafstmen in all the fields where the creation if lines and shapes in harmonious proportions can be found. The author also shows us some geometric curiosities such as the duplication of a cube, mandalas, drawing trisections, the squaring of yhe circle or Leonardo Da Vinci's canon of proportion. He makes them all so easy for us !
Encouraged by the success of the french original, this revised and extended english edition of the beautifully illustrated book presents the fundamental concepts of artwork and geometric design. It reveals the secrets of how readers from various fields and with different backgrounds apply these concepts and thus create beautiful harmonies.
Without requiring any mathematics knowledge, only with a ruler and a pair of compasses, the author Robert Vincent illustrates how divine proportions emerge from a magic number, called the Golden Section (PHI).
The book contains more than 100 geometric layouts, many of them taken from historic monuments, each with easily followed step-by-step instructions how to recreate them. It supports architects, artists, and designers in creating objects which are esthetically attractive, because they are based on natural harmonies. Kept secret to outsiders by the masters, throughout the ages the design fundamentals remained absolutely identical.
In the preface Albert LeCoff, director of the Wood Turning Center, an artists' association whose members create harmonious artwork, illustrates how geometry establishes a universal and timeless relation between the present and the past.
Sparking the imagination, the reader easily enters into fields of science by passing through the doorway of geometry.
Those who appreciate the true essence of geometry, the beauty of pattern, sacred art, symbolic figures and outlines will love this book.
CONTENTS :
- Preface by Albert LeCoff
- Foreword by the author
- The golden section or the "divine proportion"
- What is the golden section - its history - its presence - Geometrical line-tracing
1. BASIC FIGURES DRAWN WITH ONLY RULER AND COMPASSES
- A few elementary drawings made by the Romanesque builders with a rope
2. GRAPHICAL DETERMINATION OF PHI AND ITS MEASUREMENT
- Geometric constructions of the golden section
- Measurements and instruments
3. PENTAGONS AND THE DYNAMICS OF FIVE
- The golden section is ever present
4. GEOMETRICAL FIGURES IN WHICH PHI PLAYS A PART
- Polygons, spirals, stars, rose windows and other emblematic figures
5. PLATONIC SOLIDS
- The five Platonic solids and their relation to the golden section
6. THE GOLDEN SECTION IN HUMAN ACHIEVEMENTS
- From the Cheops pyramid to that of the Louvre, passing by Le Corbusier's "Cité Radieuse", the Marseilles Tarot or the official football of the Football Association (FIFA)
7. GEOMETRICAL CURIOSITIES
- From the duplication of a cube to mandalas passing by the drawing of trisectors or of the quadrature of the circle
- Conclusion
CREDITS
INDEX
127 Pages
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