Università di Roma Tre, 1995-2005: Architecture and Mathematics (original) (raw)

Teaching Mathematics in Architecture

Nexus Network Journal, 2005

offers a course entitled 'Mathematics in Architecture' for the third year students. In the beginning of the term, students are forced to imagine themselves as twodimensional creatures living in a two-dimensional space. At this point, fundamentals of architectural geometry are introduced first in the plane, simply by employing the set concept; mapping as a general tool is then introduced and students are asked to use mapping in their design to correlate the project requirements and geometry. Following that, the principles of isometries and isometric constructions are introduced. In the second part of the term, students are allowed to think in terms of three-dimensional space and topics related with the principles of similarities and proportions and symmetry are presented. In the final part of the course, students are forced to think themselves as three-dimensional creatures living in a four-dimensional space and this fourth dimension is sought. The last topic of the course is related with biomimicry in architecture and mathematics inherent in bioforms and man-made structures

Mathematics for Architecture: Some European Experiences

Nexus Network Journal, 2001

Abstract. Orietta Pedemonte studies how mathematics in taught in faculties or schools of architecture in Belgium, Portugal, France, Switzerland and Spain, comparing course organizations, subjects offered and entrance requirements. Which and how much ...

A critical evaluation of mathematics courses in architectural education and practice

International Journal of Technology and Design …, 2010

Mathematics courses are integral part of architectural education. The content and objectives of these courses were determined in the Age of Enlightenment. Although conditions have changed since then, they still exist without being subjected to a radical revision. This study aims to introduce the necessary information for upgrading the content of mathematics courses to contemporary conditions. On these grounds, the historical conditions when these courses were first considered within architectural education are classified and then the content of existing mathematics courses are examined. Finally, the effects of mathematics and mathematics courses on the epistemology of the profession are scrutinized.

Mathematics and Architecture: Importance of Geometry

Intentionally or unintentionally, from ages, architects, builders and construction experts have used mathematics as a very basic yet important tool for the soulful purpose of design, execution and finalization of building projects. In the history, architects were mathematicians and also some mathematicians were architect too. Vitruvius was a very well-known architect as well as famous mathematician. Mathematical readings of Pythagoras were later used in building proportions. Well known worker and user of golden ratio Leonardo Da Vinci along with many achievements was an architect too. The approach of this research paper is to come up with findings on importance of mathematics in architecture, as in geometry, from very important site analysis to final design of elevation or façade. Aim of the whole research is to come up with mathematical functions related to mensuration of building construction and Architectural Engineering. This paper is an initial part of the same research.

Art and Literature as a Teaching / Learning Interface of Mathematics for Students of Architecture

2009

This paper discusses an educational approach emphasizing the changing role of mathematics and potentials of mathematical thinking in architectural education on the course of changing design paradigm: from designing the product to designing the process. In this context, randomly selected samples of student works, realized within the context of an elective undergraduate course, Arch 333 “Mathematics in Architecture” at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkiye are presented. It is shown that mathematical thinking provide not only to science people a solid ground for further explorations, but also new inspirations to people involving art and design and help them to overcome prejudices and fears related with mathematics in their minds. It is believed that this approach encourages them to discuss complex problems with meta language of mathematics and develop ability to consider the design process as a whole.

Nexus 2002 Round Table Discussion: Mathematics in the Architecture Curriculum

Nexus Network Journal, 2002

The round table discussion on mathematics in the architecture curriculum took place at the Nexus 2002 conference, 17 June 2002. Moderated by Judith Flagg Moran, panel members discussed issues pertinent to teaching mathematics to architecture students. This paper is the transcription of the audio tapes made of the discussion. JUDY MORAN: The questions [for the round table] address the role of mathematics in architecture education. We originally had four questions: Is mathematics a necessary part of the education of an architect? What effect does the increasing use of computers have on the mathematics that an architect needs to know? What kind of skills are required at the secondary level to prepare students adequately to prepare students to do architectural work at university? What role can architecture play in mathematics education? The fourth question, What role can architecture play in mathematics education?, we have actually sort of shelved as maybe not as fertile, although I think that Steve Wassell is going to address that a tiny bit. And one other question suddenly seemed very paramount, and that was the assumption that we knew what we meant when we said "mathematics" and that's what I would like to talk about a little bit and then the panelists will each take about 5 or 6 minutes to talk about address one specific area of those questions. We'll have a little conversation among ourselves and then jump in with both feet and have a bigger conversation. I am not only not an architect, Trinity College has no architecture program, I'm not involved in the education of architects, but I've been listening real hard for two days and what I have heard, I really enjoyed Lionel [March]'s paper so much of course, as a mathematician, but what I'm hearing is lots of mathematics involved but not so much what we have traditionally have thought of, or what I have come to the meeting thinking of, proportion, although that's certainly still very important, in lots of papers we talked about that; geometry (I am a geometer, by the way, I work in filling space, tiling, so I guess that's my tie to this group); calculus; number and relationships of number, and we've heard papers, some very wonderful paper, addressing those ideas, but we've also heard of branches of mathematics that we might not have thought of: graph theory, because that's the branch of mathematics that describes connections, so if you want to know how to connect all the parts of your building, graph theory can be very useful in modeling. Combinatorics, which Lionel used to enumerate all the possibilities of solutions; group theory, to distinguish the different kinds of configurations, that could be very useful; topology, a fairly new branch of mathematics, only about a century old, which talks about distorting spaces while maintaining their connections, and

The Role of Mathematics in Architecture and Fine Arts: A Historical Overview, Problems and Prospects

Civil Engineering and Architecture, 2020

In this paper, the author investigates the role and contribution of pure and applied mathematics to architecture and fine arts in a unified manner. To this end, a thorough and explanatory historical overview of this diachronic and interdisciplinary topic, from the ages of ancient Mediterranean cultures to the so-called western civilization of the late twentieth century is presented. In this framework, the author first examines the fundamental role of traditional mathematics (e.g. Descriptive and Projective Geometry) in architectural design and fine arts, and in the sequel the discussion extends to the outstanding contribution of modern and computational mathematics (NURBS, Fractals, Boolean matrices, Graph Theory, etc.) to these issues. Besides, the important role of computer-aided design (CAD) is mentioned and emphasized. Indeed, CAD is an exceptional scientific and technological achievement, the scientific background of which is essentially a combination of Informatics, Discrete Mathematics and Descriptive Geometry. In addition, various existing problems that sometimes hinder the application of the science of mathematics to architecture and the fine arts are highlighted and demonstrated. Finally, given that the most appropriate mathematical background for the graduate studies in architectural schools along with the schools of fine arts is a very difficult and rather questionable issue, some suggestions are made in order to encourage and strengthen the relationship among applied mathematics, architecture and fine arts.