The Plastic Number
The plastic number is of interest primarily for its method of genesis. Its creator, Hans van der Laan, performed experiments on human subjects to attempt to discover the limits of human beings ability to perceive relationships between objects. From these discovered limits he extrapolated a system of proportions (the particular set he chose are quite close to the Pythagorean divisions of the octave). The range of scales over which the plastic number is considered functional is limited, so it is possible to construct a set of all proportional forms within it. The plastic number has not been widely adopted by practicing architects.
Read more about this topic: Proportion (architecture)
Famous quotes containing the words plastic and/or number:
“What a wonderful faculty is memory!—the most mysterious and inexplicable in the great riddle of life; that plastic tablet on which the Almighty registers with unerring fidelity the records of being, making it the depository of all our words, thoughts and deeds—this faithful witness against us for good or evil.”
—Susanna Moodie (1803–1885)
“You are the majority—in number and intelligence; therefore you are the force—which is justice. Some are scholars, others are owners; a glorious day will come when the scholars will be owners and the owners scholars. Then your power will be complete, and no man will protest against it.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)