Another three quickies, this time about the iconic sculpture “Wave” by Santiago Calatrava. (1) Is this sculpture curved or straight? (2) Is it symmetric? (3) How did Calatrava get each one of the copper beams to stay at the particular angle it sits at? Again, it’s best to give participants time to chew on these […]
The dome of Dallas Hall at Southern Methodist University is one of the most beautiful, striking, and symmetric structures on the entire campus.The entire structure has 16-fold rotational symmetry: if you stand at the center of the rotunda, look up at the dome, and then turn one-sixteenth of a full rotation, you will get exactly […]
The study in symmetry continues inside the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, this time providing an excellent illustration of another important type, rotational symmetry. Check out the central gallery of the building. If you stand in the center of the room (right on top of the ubiquitous stallion), pick any direction and memorize what you see, and […]
Many mathematical concepts are important in architecture, and a particularly important one is symmetry. Rarely will you see a building so carefully displaying mirror symmetry as the lovely, neo-Classical Hughes-Trigg Student Center on the campus of Southern Methodist University. If you imagine a vertical line running from the highest point of the building straight down […]