1.61803,Alhambra,Phi, and the Golden Mean....does it really all add up to 42?

[martolod]

OK as some of you may know i like Art Nouveau, and Douglas Adams as well as an organic approach to life the universe ..and everything.
so when i saw Les post a picture of the Lions Court at the Alhambra it reminded me of something:

1.61803.
phi
the golden mean
and the alhambra
and how does it impact on Photography i hear you ask?
well......
first we look at the alhambra
an apparent hodge podge design BUT looking closer there is an incredible harmony and order in everything from the floorplan to the decorations.
1.61803....or thereabouts.
the design utilises the ratio of Phi (incidentally so does the Parthenon) and a progression of golden rectangles to allocate the height of walls,niches,decorative friezes etc....

now here is a paper describing the golden Mean
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt669/student.folders/frietag.mark/homepage/goldenratio/image19.gif&imgrefurl=http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt669/student.folders/frietag.mark/homepage/goldenratio/goldenratio.html&usg=__Kgdd53GZUzRa2cmgKYh9Mhg6mPE=&h=296&w=432&sz=5&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=0mhKXMuWJFB28M:&tbnh=86&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bgolden%2Bmean%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbs%3Disch:1
have quick scan through it...very technical and lots of math (even the URL is the size of an encyclopeadia)...but remember the snail looking diagram
here it is in more detail
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GoldenRectangle.html

we all know about the rule thirds? yes?
RUBBISH! cheap and like buying an imitation rubiks cube...lookes similar,does similar job but it's not quite real.....you know what i mean.

now here things get interesting when you apply said golden triangle to composition instead of rule of thirds

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://jakegarn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/lilian-24.jpg&imgrefurl=http://jakegarn.com/tag/rule-of-thirds/&h=500&w=750&sz=259&tbnid=vYmdBxml_MXE7M:&tbnh=94&tbnw=141&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bgolden%2Bmean%2Bphotography&hl=en&usg=__L9UVW466z8RbNyH7MXv1n_uYt78=&ei=AEjuS5OjCYTYsQODybHFDw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=6&ct=image&ved=0CCwQ9QEwBQ

another huge link....but there ya go

but i am glad for the links.....save me a whole lot of typing....

again it comes to how you look at the universe ...the golden mean i feel is easier applied
than the rule of thirds.but that is how i see the world ..
i also thought i was weird when i 'saw' music...until i found out about synesthesia...

[LarryD]

The theory of everything needs a few theories just to explain why someone would think that everything can be explained by man. I for one am happy not knowing many things.

[martolod]

I for one am happy not knowing many things.

amen to that bro'.
and there is a lot things i wish that i did not know.....i would be a happier and i would be more innocent. i envy you.

[LarryD]

Problem is I know things I wish I did not know so don't envy me as I have discovered things that would make you think you were nuts for believing them and they are the truth.

[lesged]

Kalle,

Thanks for posting the wonderful links

Let's not forget the third missing mathematical musketeer ----Fibonacci!

http://www.goldennumber.net/pi-phi-fibonacci.htm

When I taught art back in the '70s, I tried to get my high school students excited
about the golden mean and to give examples of how much of architecture and art
through the ages used its proportion in the buildings and two dimensional art they
produced.

[martolod]

yes of course there is fibonacci
(i had not worried about him as the fibbonaci numbers follow the the golden mean numbers very closely..for the visual composition side it is for all intents and purposes identical)
Le Corbusier is another Architect i like, he used the GM to design his houses.walking into a corbusier bulding is like putting on a tailor made coat,so i have been told by one who had experience with him.