Domes and fractals

This is the artwork we were supposed to do with the five graphs on it. Here, I've chosen a square on the graph paper drawing only that small area where all of the graphs have common points. Then outside the square the lines squiggle away and have their equations written on the side. To make it more interesting, I pleated various mountain and valley folds in areas outside of the square to give it large, rough crinkles while keeping the square in the middle clean and smooth. The pleats raised the smooth part up as well emphasising the contrast between the surfaces.


Now fast forward to today. Once again I had a near death experience from pure boredom. I know what I'm saying is harsh and mean, but if I didn't say anything does it change the truth? If I packaged it into softer words it's still saying the same thing: It was incredibly boring.

Nonetheless, a very rare few instances in the lecture actually talked about things that I liked. For example, curves in architecture and fractals.

For curves in architecture an example we talked about was the beautiful Gaudi Cathedral in Barcelona.

Figure 1: Gaudi Cathedral in Barcelona, an unfinished work of architect Antoni Gaudi. (Source: Telegraph, 2008)

My favourite examples of curves though has to be in Roman architecture. Their domes in their cathedrals, their amazing aqueducts and of course the Colosseum. They're huge, strong, impressive, and last for a long time. In my view, there's no point in building anything impressive if it's not going to last, which is why I really like their architectural work. I think they stand this long because circles are really strong, which is one reason why they're my favourite shape.

Here you can read about interesting techniques the Romans used in building which we still use today. (Flinn, 2011) A few of them do have strong curves in them such as the dome, the Roman aqueducts, and the Cloaca Maxima, their sewerage system.

I think I've talked about fractals before in previous blogs, if not I've definitely mentioned them on several other instances for studio work and Intro to Creative Tech paper.

Anyway, fractals are absolutely beautiful. There's not way to deny that it's math and it can't be denied that it's art either. What I love about them is how you take one simple thing, and repeat it over and over to create one complex whole. The small parts then look exactly the same as the whole, which is really beautiful as well. My favourite place for finding fractals is on DeviantArt. Sometimes the artists give you their parameters in the artist's comments should you want to create a similar fractal yourself. I'd like to try making a fractal some time, once I figure out how to get started with a program.


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Flinn, G. (2011). 10 Coon Engineering Tricks the Romans Taught Us. Retrieved August 20, 2011, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/10-roman-engineering-tricks.htm

Telegraph. (2008). The time is right for buzzy Barcelona. Retrieved August 29, 2011, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/spain/barcelona/737542/The-time-is-right-for-buzzy-Barcelona.html