Nexus Network Journal 11 3

Baroque architect and mathematician Guarino Guarini is the subject of this issue of the Nexus Network Journal. A group of international scholars were invited to contribute papers that shed light on the unanswered questions in several areas: Baroque architecture in general and Guarini’s architecture in particular; philosophy; history of structural mechanics; mathematics and history of mathematics, cosmology. As always, the NNJ takes an interdisciplinary approach to the broad range of subjects that Guarini concerned himself with, thus the final results will add significantly to our understanding of how Guarini’s actual practical and technical processes were informed by knowledge of his multifaceted scientific and philosophical interests.

The title of this issue of the Nexus Network Journal, "Architecture, Mathematics and Structure," is deliberately ambiguous. At first glance, it might seem to indicate the relationship between what buildings look like and how they stand up. This is indeed one aspect of what we are concerned with here. But on a deeper level, the fundamental concept of structure is what connects architecture to mathematics. Both architecture and mathematics are highly structured formal systems expressed through a symbolic language. For architecture, the generating structure might be geometrical, musical, modular, or fractal. Once we understand the nature of the structure underlying the design, we are able to "read" the meaning inherent in the architectural forms. The papers in this issue all explore themes of structure in different ways.

In celebration of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, this issue of the Nexus Network Journal is devoted to relationships between astronomy, mathematics and architecture. Ancient cultures looked to the heavens in order to identify timeless principles for their own creations. Knowledge gained in astronomy was transformed into culture through architecture and design. Papers in this issue look at how astronomy influenced architecture and urban design.

From ancient to modern, architects have looked for fundamental underlying principles of geometry and proportion on which to found their designs. Such principles not only provide an order for the formal elements, they ground the architecture in timeless values and provide an order for the formal elements, they ground the architecture in timeless values and provide a source of cultural meaning. This book illustrates the use of fundamental principles of geometry and proportion in two ancient cultures, the Bronze Age and the Roman Age, as well as in twentieth-century North America.

This issue is dedicated to Mechanics in Architecture. It explores the latest findings in the science of structural mechanics, including the behavior of structures, internal forces, and deformation. It also explores the development of new structural systems designed to resist thrusts resulting from new architectural forms. Some of the papers published in this issue were presented at the Nexus 2006 during a special session dedicated to mechanics.

This volume features a collection of papers dedicated to "Canons of Form-Making", in honor of the 500th anniversary of the birth of architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). Theorist as well as practitioner, Palladio's architecture was based on well-defined canons that he had gleaned from studying the treatises as well as the remains of architecture from antiquity. Palladio himself left to posterity not only his large corpus of built works, but his Quattro libri d'architettura. Three of the papers in this issue are specifically about Palladio and his work. The other papers deal with canons of form-making, ancient and contemporary.

Leonardo da Vinci was well aware of the fundamental importance of mathematics for architecture. This book examines Leonardo’s knowledge of theoretical mathematics, explores how he used concepts of geometry in his designs for architectural projects, and reports on a real-life construction project using Leonardo’s principles. Authors include Sylvie Duvernoy, Kim Williams, Rinus Roelofs, Biagio Di Carlo, Mark Reynolds, João Pedro Xavier, Vesna Petresin, Christopher Glass, and Jane Burry.

Bringing together a broad range of contributors including art, architecture, and design academic theorists and historians, in addition to practicing artists, architects, and designers, this volume explores the place of the sketchbook in contemporary art and architecture. Drawing upon a diverse range of theories, practices, and reflections common to the contemporary conceptualisation of the sketchbook and its associated environments, it offers a dialogue in which the sketchbook can be understood as a pivotal working tool that contributes to the creative process and the formulation and production of visual ideas. Along with exploring the theoretical, philosophical, psychological, and curatorial implications of the sketchbook, the book addresses emergent digital practices by way of examining contemporary developments in sketchbook productions and pedagogical applications. Consequently, these more recent developments question the validity of the sketchbook as both an instrument of practice and creativity, and as an educational device. International in scope, it not only explores European intellectual and artistic traditions, but also intercultural and cross-cultural perspectives, including reviews of practices in Chinese artworks or Islamic calligraphy, and situational contexts that deal with historical examples, such as Roman art, or modern practices in geographical-cultural regions like Pakistan.