Body . space . generative forms.

Abstract

The human cognitive preference for the Golden section (ratio) proportion is evident through out history. Man has employed this rule as a geometric principle when he seeks to construct forms of beauty. The human body and its proportions are often used as blueprint of measurements for constructing regulating lines and division of spaces. As such, the aesthetic and practical relationship between these entities is undisputed.

Using the Fibonacci sequence as a mathematical model, the Grasshopper plug-in was advantageous in visualizing peculiarly free and appealing forms. Seen within the initial segment of the computation, these geometric configurations were not constrained by the Golden ratio principle. The aesthetic qualities of these forms were primarily empirical.

When juxtaposed with the human figure, they transformed the relational characteristics of the body’s structural contours by introducing and emphasizing a new approach for visual interpretation. The physicality of the body subsequently became augmented, diluted of its natural disposition, but not the proportioning attributes. When contested with the Golden section (ratio) principle, the ensemble presented a visual language that is almost identical to an architectural program.

Hence, while our cognitive judgment towards visual aesthetics is largely empirical and independent, the Vitruvius canon and the Golden section (ratio) of proportioning is undisputed when defining the relational qualities and aesthetic sensibilities between the human body and the larger scheme of things.