11. The Golden Rectangle

I was speaking to my bitchass friend Joe today, when he had the gall to tell me that my blog was not relevant to his life. 

“I’m a designer-fabricator,” he said. “And I have a lot of other blogs to follow. Mostly about architecture and design.” 

Well, Joe Fucking Wills, this one’s for you. The Golden Rectangle. 

 

:the golden fucking rectangle:

 

 

A golden rectangle is a rectangle with sides that are in proportion with the golden ratio  – 1:1.618.

 

:pythagoras, the greek philosopher and mathematician often credited for discovering the golden ratio:

 

 

Interestingly enough, when one removes a square section from the rectangle, one is left with another golden rectangle. This process can be repeated infinitely, with the same results. Sounds like a fun game to me. 

Countless works of art and architecture have relied on the golden rectangle, since the shape proves to be immensely appealing to the human aesthetic. Renaissance artists were especially obsessed with this concept, but it has influenced many others in its day. 

The Parthenon, in fact, owes its facade to the golden rectangle. Check it: 

 

:ancient greeks sure thought rectangles were relevant:

 

 

The Great Mosque of Uqba in Tunisia is said to adhere to the golden ratio: 

 

:bigtime muslims did, too:

 

Le Corbusier, an artist, architect, urban planner, writer and designer, often credited as the father of Modern Architecture, loved the golden rectangle. 

 

:sweet house, le corbusier:

 

Salvador Dali’s “Sacrament of the Last Supper” employed the golden rectangle,

 

:dali would've loved my blog:

 

 

and Mondrian, nearly a cult figure of modern art, used the golden rectangle extensively in his artwork. 

 

:this one's pretty obvious:

 

So suck it, Joe.