Solving the Vitruvian Man, Dey & Lanningham, January 2011
Here I would like to give a briefing of what we researched and discussed in our paper. First of all, exactly what is the problem at hand? Well, it is very easy for many of us to assume we understand the geometries of the human body : it incorporates the golden mean. And that is usually where it stops. One might take a golden spiral with the golden rectangles it is generated from, then overlay it on the human body and claim that it is solved. Far from it. We sought to understand how nature might start with something like a square of a specific size (in relation to each individual body) and generate the whole.
Essentially this process starts with a square, then building a golden rectangle from it, then squaring off that golden rectangle. Next create another golden rectangle from the last square, and then square that off... and the process continues (pages 5 - 9). This will create the overall geometric construct that is the primary gridiron for anthropometrics. Fascinatingly is that Le Corbusier's Modulor can be recreated most accurately this way, as it easily created two squares (page 7). This primary grid is the datum from which all other secondary anthropometrics can be derived (pages 9 - 12).
Another critical problem we sought to solve, which was less solving as it was understanding, is why in Da Vinci's drawing the square and circle overlap. This was explored through Cornelius Agrippa's studies of the human geometries (page 14 - 15). We found that the overlap is the result of the human body in motion. The implications of this is the understanding that nature designs in motion (pages 16 - 18).
Next we explored the overall geometry to other geometries, most specifically the pentagram (pages 21 - 22). The pentagram is the most anthropomorphic off all Euclidean geometries, as we can look at one and see arms, legs, a torso, and a head. The pentagram also incorporates the golden mean, and the proportioning system we found in our Vitruvian Canon studies is also found in the pentagram (pages 22 - 28).
The point of this paper is not just to explore human geometries and to correct all the tedious little mistakes made throughout the centuries. Rather, we sought to illuminate just how wonderful of a designer nature is, and how beautifully designed the human body is.
We all usually regard our bodies as a mere vessel that only exists to get our brains from place to place, whether it is from one meeting to another, or from the office to home, or from class to the dorms. We hope this paper illuminates some of the beautiful (and even mystical) qualities of these vessels we inhabit for the duration of our lives, and even its relationship to simple ideas, like a pentagram or a square.
