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Proportional design in L. B. Alberti's Tempio Malatestiano, Rimini

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2008

Lionel March
Lionel March
Affiliation:
Center for Medieval and Renaissance StudiesUniversity of CaliforniaLos AngelesCalifornia 90095-1485USA
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Abstract

Systems of proportion provoked much controversy in the 1950s. Recent research has moved away from the study of musical theory, to that of number. Applying Classical arithmetic techniques to analyze Alberti's Tempio Malatestiano, this paper demonstrates that its design corresponds to Alberti's system based on geometrical features of the cube depicting ‘natural relationships that cannot be defined as numbers’. For today's practitioners, the paper asserts that architectural works are geometric constructs and reminds them that CAD is based on the arithmeticization of geometry.

Type
Theory
Information
arq: Architectural Research Quarterly , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 1999 , pp. 259 - 270
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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