Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition (Paperback)

by Kimberly Elam (Author) "Within the context of the man-made environment and the natural world there is a documented human cognitive preference for golden section proportions throughout recorded history..." (more)
Key Phrases: golden section triangle, golden section rectangle, harmonic subdivisions, Josef Müller-Brockmann, Max Bill, Adolphe Mouron (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A fantastically interesting look at the role proportion has played in all manner of design projects...informative and insightful..." -- Design Issues, Summer 2002

"It's a great little book, one that all teachers and students should see." -- The Ballast Quarterly Review

"This small eye-opening paperback is a ‘rare gem’!" -- Choice

Product Description
At last, a mathematical explanation of how art works presented in a manner we can all understand. Kimberly Elam takes the reader on a geometrical journey, lending insight and coherence to the design process by exploring the visual relationships that have foundations in mathematics as well as the essential qualities of life.

Geometry of Design-the first book in our new Design Briefs Series-takes a close look at a broad range of twentieth-century examples of design, architecture, and illustration (from the Barcelona chair to the Musica Viva poster, from the Braun handblender to the Conico kettle), revealing underlying geometric structures in their compositions. Explanations and techniques of visual analysis make the inherent mathematical relationships evident and a must-have for anyone involved in graphic arts. The book focuses not only on the classic systems of proportioning, such as the golden section and root rectangles, but also on less well known proportioning systems such as the Fibonacci Series. Through detailed diagrams these geometric systems are brought to life giving an effective insight into the design process.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568982496
• ISBN-13: 978-1568982496
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,699 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

121 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classical Principals, Modern Design., October 2, 2001

By	Mark Wieczorek (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

I've been looking for this book for years now. I would wander the aisles of book stores looking for a concise treatise on the geometric elements of design. I open book after book in the design, architecture and art sections looking for a description of this "Sacred Geometry" passed down from master to student, used by Leonardo DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Greek sculptors, the Parthenon, and countless other masters and imitators, but which is sadly missing from many of the fine art and design curricula throughout the country.

Judging from the title, I thought this book would be wordy and academic. Or on the opposite end, written by ... a protractor, a compass and little else. I couldn't be more wrong. What I found is, after a section describing how certain geometric relationships exist in nature, and what their mathematical properties are, page after page of designs analyzed.

First the design is reproduced for you to see, unadorned. Then the author shows you the same picture, but with red grids, circles, diagonals, stars, etc. covering it to show you the precise geometric relationship, of say, the Clestory Window in the Cathedral at Notre Dame to the building as a whole. Or how the Eames Chair conforms to the geometry of the Golden Section. Breif text accompanies each picture.

The text "The typography of the poster forms a triangle which serves to anchor it to the format and enhance visual interest" is found next to a small reproduction of the poster with a red triangle drawn on it. Some pages even have translucent overlays so you can see the picture with a grid, or circles, or both - "an overlay comparison... reveals that the... proportions in both drawings... are almost identical."

This book gives you the tools to evaluate design. It strikes the perfect balance between showing and telling. I read the whole thing (and I mean read, not just skimmed) during two one-hour subway commutes (2 hours) and plan on referencing it time and again in the future.

99.99% of the books on design I see ignore the fundamental geometry in favor of the flashy graphics that are available to our computer inundated culture. If you feel classical design principals can help you become a better designer, artist, person, etc. buy this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Concise Overview of Geometry's Role in Design Beauty, June 25, 2005

By	David P. Kadavy "kadavy.net" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kimberly Elam presents a simple yet comprehensive overview of the role of geometry in the beauty of design and nature. Elam first explores the prevalence of the Golden Section in nature, art, and architecture, and supports the storied beauty of its proportions with an overview of the cognitive proportion preference studies of both Gustav Fechner and Lalo. Red-highlighted illustrations illuminate Elam's clear explanations of how to construct Golden Section (or Fibonacci Series) rectangles, ellipses, and triangles.

Geometry of Design doesn't only cover the Golden Section. Elam also explores the root 2, root 3, root 4, and root 5 rectangles and explains their role in the more familiar European DIN system (root 2), and the construction of hexagons (root 3).

After introducing these common geometric proportions, Elam reveals the geometric structure of historically significant works such as Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Chair, A.M. Cassandre's Wagon-Bar Poster, and Jan Tschichold's Konstruktivisten Poster, as well as contemporary industrial designs such as the Braun Aromaster Coffee Maker and the modern Volkswagon Beetle. Her analyses are concisely written and aptly accompanied by translucent overlays which reveal geometric structures that range from the astonishingly deliberate to the seemingly unintentional.

Kimberly Elam's Geometry of Design is a flawless introduction to the role of design's least visible, yet most powerful, methods of achieving aesthetic beauty. It is a must-read for anyone curious about geometry's role in design.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!, July 5, 2002

By	Dr.Daphne Lange-Rosenzweig (Sarasota, FL USA) - See all my reviews

Why do we instinctively admire the 1997 update of the Volkswagon Beetle? Why are Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona chairs of 1929 still relevant in twenty-first century interior design? Why have everyday Braun kitchen products achieved iconic status in museum settings?

In her pithy (101 page) essay, GEOMETRY OF DESIGN: STUDIES IN PROPORTION AND COMPOSITION, Kimberly Elam admirably succeeds in illuminating fundamental concepts underlying successful modern design. Through the elegance of Elam's arguments, readers are painlessly introduced to a set of mathematically-based compositional elements developed in classical antiquity and reflected in acknowledged masterpieces of later design. From the Parthenon and Notre Dame de Paris to Mies van der Rohe's Chapel at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and from Leonardo's "Man Inscribed in a Circle" and a chambered nautilus to Le Courbusier's "Chaise Lounge", selected works succumb to Elam's acute analysis of successful proportioning and composition. Her exploration of these fundamentals, including the dynamic rectangles exemplified by the Golden Section and the European DIN Root 2 system (so different from the sectioning system used in American design), is aided by the excellent vellum overlay diagrams.

So much of our response to art and design is intuitive, and we categorize as outstanding those works from which we derive intense aesthetic pleasure. The efficiency, the very orderliness which form their basis is a revelation. Elam's book is a classic and very readable summation of the foundation of successful design.