Testo presentato per la prima volta al Symmetry Festival di  DELFT in Olanda, il 4 agosto 2013

Biagio Di Carlo

Architect, (b. Pescara, Italy 1950).

Address: Via Berlino 2, Villa Raspa, Spoltore, Pescara 65010, Italy .  E-mail: biagiodicarlo@gmail.com.

Fields of interest: Ancient geometry, symmetry, polyhedra, geodesics, tensegrities, reciprocal frames, bioarchitecture, graphic design, design science, golden section, sacred geometry, (music)

Awards:  Good Karma Dome award 2003, Oklahoma city, USA.  First Prize in the 2003 GoodKarmaDomes Model Contest by James Lynch   http://www.goodkarmadomes.com/

Main publications:

Biagio Di Carlo (2008) The wooden roof of Leonardo and the new structural research,  Nexus Network Journal  Vol. 10,1 Williams, Kim (Ed.)  Birkhäuser

Biagio Di Carlo (2010/2013) Strutture reciproche e geometria sinergetica,  foreword by Olga Popovic Larsen, lulu.com editions  Raleigh 

Biagio Di Carlo (2012) Strutture e scienza del design  ilmiolibro.it, Roma

Biagio Di Carlo - Claudio Lanzi (2012) Le cupole geodetiche di Adriano Graziotti, Simmetria Edizioni, Roma

Biagio Di Carlo, Claudio Lanzi e Silvio Maracchia (2012) Polyhedra by  Graziotti  Simmetria Edizioni, Roma

Biagio Di Carlo (2013)  Poliedri,  lulu.com editions, Raleigh

Biagio Di Carlo (2013) Poliedri e sezione aurea,  lulu.com editions, Raleigh

Biagio Di Carlo (2013) Strutture geodetiche,  lulu.com editions, Raleigh

Biagio Di Carlo (2013),  Strutture geodetiche ellissoidiche,   lulu.com editions, Raleigh

Biagio Di Carlo (2013) Tensegrity world, foreword by Kenneth Snelson, lulu.com editions, Raleigh

Exhibition: Aurum  Pescara  (Italy),  dec.  11-15  2012,  'STRUTTURE E SCIENZA DEL DESIGN'

Abstract: In this synthesis topics will be referred to the following four structural families  with  the sacred geometry and the golden section as a common denominator: 1. Platonic and  archimedean solids  2. the geodesic structures by Richard Buckminster Fuller  3. the tensegrity structures by  Kenneth Snelson  4. the reciprocal frames by Leonardo Da Vinci.   The polyhedral space modules  related to design science represent the starting point for a correct artistic and scientific design. When  we follow the rules existing at  the micro- medium - macro scale,  we are in front of the natural method that characterizes the design science.  Leonardo da Vinci writes: 'Learn first patience and then the science that comes from it, and then the art that comes from that  science and that patience

Keywords: polyhedra, geodesic domes, reciprocal frames, tensegrity, golden section, sacred geometry, design science.

Figure 1:  Design science structures

1. INTRODUCTION

Today, more than ever we live in an age of images and designs. Images encourage the development of insights and intuitions. As the grammar of music consists of harmony, counterpoint and form  also spatial structures have their own grammar which consists of: symmetry, proportion, connectivity, stability and  shape optimization. As says Arthur Loeb:” Space is not a passive empty  but exhibits the properties which border and define all the structures that inhabit it. So space therefore is not a big nothing but a big everything”.

1.1 Design Science

Design Science can be considered as the geometric bridge between art and science. Geometry becomes an intermediary between harmony and unity of the natural world. The geometry is not human invention but creation of nature, man has learned from nature itself.  All natural forms, says Fuller, tend toward the curvilinear shape. Nature does not use the pi greek and even the coordinate axes, but makes constant reference to the value of the golden section. In a finite world with limited resources like ours, the key to sustainability is to understand how to achieve more with less. Design Science sees the universe and the natural world as the basis of the ideal reference for a successful project.  Fuller’s concept of space has definite shape.  His theory  refers to the ideas of two physicists, Dirac and Wheeler, each for whom space has a real material structure, one that is  strictly defined. For Buckminster Fuller synergy means behavior of whole systems unpredicted  by the behavior of their parts taken separately.  A system can be understood only if it is observed as a whole. In geometrical terms  synergetics is a system that refers mainly to  the  triangular module in flat surfaces  and tetrahedron in space. Synergetics uses 60 degree coordination  because it is nature’s way to closest- pack spheres  This angle can be observed in both  micro and macro scale in physics, chemistry, arithmetic, geometry, crystallography, topology, quantum energy and astronomy. Synergetics explains nature’s behaviour.   The forces present at the micro and the macro scale interact in the same way, that is to say formulating or organizing themselves towards patterns of economic equilibrium.

2. THE DYNAMIC QUALITY OF EMPTY SPACE

The discovery of the dynamic quality of empty space is certainly one of the most important developments of modern scientific research. The activeness of this matter is the true essence of its being, and as a famous quote from the buddhist scriptures of Sutra says: “Form is Void and Void is Form”. At the beginning of hte XX century the Scottish zoologist D’Arcy Thompson, citing Galileo, who in turn quoted Plato, wrote: “The Book of Nature could really be written with the letters of geometry”. Russian chemist Mendeleev, supported by physicists Dirac and Wheeler, put forward the idea that space was made up of particles of one million times smaller than hydrogen atoms and that the combination of these  particles had produced the atom. This was a strange theory, because he did not say that space was full  of small particles, but said that space was made up of small particles.  Nature’s construction must always refer to the rules of geometry imposed by space, perfecting the shape  and using all materials  in economic way. Donald Ingber writes, ‘Both organic and inorganic matter are composed of same atoms, the only difference is the way in which these atoms are positioned in tridimensionale space. The recent discoveries about fullerenes  and quasicrystals validate both the studies of Fuller and the research done by other famous scientists  on multidimensional space. The Crystal Palace by Sir  Joseph Paxton remains as a historic memory  of architecture that is not in space, but is space. Leonardo Da Vinci said: “Nature appears finite and not infinite”.  When we stay inside a geodesic  dome we feel the presence of geometry  linked to the beauty and perfection of all the structures with  the golden section. In sacred geometry understood as a metaphor of universal order, the new symbolic architecture inspired by vernacular buildings and local tradition leads us to a state of high spiritual consciousness: the building becomes an analogue of creation and an act of worship. In his book  Sacred Geometry, Robert Lawlor  demonstrates how the Platonic solids may be simultaneously developed from the icosahedron, wich is itself determined by applying the golden sectio ratio to the diameter of a sphere. Starting from this point of view we can consider having  the golden section all the structures derived from the regular and semi-regular solids.  If we accept that everything in life is sacred and the land itself is divine we cannot abuse our world as regularly happens.  The  geodesic dome thus becomes the new three dimensional version of the ancient mandalas, revealing once again the magic suggestions from sacred geometry.

References

Amy C. Edmondson (1987)  A Fuller Explanation: the synergetic geometry of R.B. Fuller, Birkhauser

Arthur L. Loeb (1991) Space Structures: Their Harmony and Counterpoint, Birkhauser

Robert  Lawlor (1982/2001) Sacred geometry, Thames &Hudson

Biagio Di Carlo (2010/2013) Strutture reciproche, foreword by Olga Popovic Larsen, lulu.com,  Raleigh 

Biagio Di Carlo (2012) Strutture e scienza del design  ilmiolibro.it, Roma

Biagio Di Carlo - Claudio Lanzi (2012) Le cupole geodetiche di Adriano Graziotti, Simmetria Edizioni, Roma

Biagio Di Carlo (2013) Poliedri e sezione aurea,  lulu.com editions, Raleigh

Biagio Di Carlo (2013) Strutture geodetiche,  lulu.com editions, Raleigh

Biagio Di Carlo (2013) Tensegrity world, foreword by Kenneth Snelson, lulu.com editions, Raleigh