Symmetry in architecture

What unites the Chinese pagoda with the Sydney Opera House? Astrodome Houston with a large-scale Pantheon in Rome? The Greek Parthenon, the Forbidden City in China, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, temples and pyramids of pre-Columbian civilizations? Perhaps forms? A more accurate answer is "symmetry." Each of these examples, despite their temporary and cultural differences, is associated with it.

Symmetry in architecture actually implies a "single concept."

Specific objectives of architecture .

In human life, the visual effect plays a very important role, and it manifests itself completely in architecture. Large structures always made an impression, even there was such a tendency as to "frighten" the beholder. Symmetry in architecture is an inevitable aspect of the idea of achieving similar goals.

Architecture is fundamentally different from other types of art because of its spatial nature. The true goal of the architect is to organize space, which will become a theater of action.

Symmetry in art and decorative crafts prevails throughout history. The concepts of symmetry are applicable in the design of objects of all shapes and sizes. But in painting (in a two-dimensional composition), it is relatively simple, identifying the types of symmetry in three-dimensional objects is more difficult, because our perception of the object changes when we look at it from different sides. In the case of architecture, we not only can bypass the object from all sides, but also go through it. This means that architecture provides a unique opportunity not only to see the symmetry, but to "test" it, thanks to the fact that it consists of two parts: "emptiness" and "hardness".

Styles of architecture distinguish details. The Greek temple is easy to identify by porticos and pediments. Gothic temple is characterized by pointed arches and buttresses. These elements constitute the "hard" shell of architecture. We feel the emptiness or architectural space passing through the building.

Types of symmetry

How many architectural styles exist, there are so many types of symmetry.

In general, they are divided into two categories: point groups and spatial groups. Point groups are characterized by their ratio to at least one important landmark. Spatial groups do not have a definite landmark.

Bilateral symmetry in architecture is certainly the most common form found in all cultures and in all ages. In it, the two halves of the composition mirror each other (an example is the facade of the Pantheon in Rome). It can be present not only on the scale of a single building, but also in the urban space: such a technique can be found in the design of Prasá do Comercio (Trade Square) in Lisbon (a large city square, a monumental gate, a wide shopping street outside the gate are symmetrical relatively long The horizontal axis that controls the visual perspective).

Rotational and reflective symmetries create a sense of movement and rhythm, accentuating the central point of the architectural space.

Cylindrical symmetry in architecture can be found mainly in towers and columns.

Chiral symmetry, perhaps less known, but often and effectively used in architecture.

Symmetry of similarity now attracts much attention and is well known, primarily because of identification with fractals. Spiral or helical symmetry in architecture can be considered a special kind of symmetry of similarity.

Progressive symmetry falls into a spatial group, and after two-sided symmetry is the most common type of symmetry in architecture.

For all that, in most buildings there is more than one kind of symmetry. For example, the Chinese pagoda, in which there is a cylindrical, and a symmetry of similarity.

Architectural space

Now what concerns the architectural space. Two concepts are fundamental in describing "emptiness": the center and the path. In architecture, the center is understood as a point, and the path is an axis. The center is connected to one important place within a large architectural space, for example, the altar in the church. The path (axis) is the movement of the viewer through space.

The axes of symmetry are the main means of expressing an architectural design. More than 1500-year history of architecture shows that the architectural space has evolved over the centuries with the main attention to symmetry. In ancient Rome, strict axial symmetry in architecture gave rise to monumental, static spaces, reflecting a sense of balance, rather than dynamism.