Geometry

in
architecture and building
Hans Sterk
Faculteit Wiskunde en Informatica
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

ii

Lecture notes for 2DB60 Meetkunde voor Bouwkunde

The picture on the cover was kindly provided by W. Huisman, Department of Architecture
and Building. The picture shows the Olympic Stadium for the 1972 Olympic Games in
Munich, Germany, designed by Frei Otto.
c 20052008 Faculteit Wiskunde en Informatica, TU/e; Hans Sterk

Contents
1 Shapes in architecture
1.1 A brief tour of shapes . .
1.2 Different perspectives . .
1.3 Numbers in architecture:
1.4 Exercises . . . . . . . . .

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1
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9
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2 3Space: lines and planes

2.1 3space and vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 Describing lines and planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3 The relative position of lines and planes: intersections . . .
2.4 The relative position of lines and planes: angles . . . . . .
2.5 The relative position of points, lines and planes: distances
2.6 Geometric operations: translating lines and planes . . . . .
2.7 Geometric operations: rotating lines and planes . . . . . .
2.8 Geometric operations: reflecting lines and planes . . . . . .
2.9 Tesselations of planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.10 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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21
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26
33
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41
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44
47
50
57
57
67
69
78
81
85

. . . . . . . . . .
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The golden ratio
. . . . . . . . . .

3 Quadratic curves, quadric surfaces

3.1 Plane quadratic curves . . . . . . .
3.2 Parametrizing quadratic curves . .
3.3 Quadric surfaces . . . . . . . . . .
3.4 Parametrizing quadrics . . . . . . .
3.5 Geometric ins and outs on quadrics
3.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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4 Surfaces
4.1 Describing general surfaces . . . . . .
4.2 Some constructions of surfaces . . . .
4.3 Surfaces: tangent vectors and tangent
4.4 Surface area . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5 Curvature of surfaces . . . . . . . . .
4.6 There is much more on surfaces . . .
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planes
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91
. 92
. 94
. 99
. 101
. 104
. 111

ii

CONTENTS
4.7

Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

5 Rotations and projections

5.1 Rotations . . . . . . . .
5.2 Projections . . . . . . .
5.3 Parallel projections . . .
5.4 Exercises . . . . . . . . .

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117
117
120
123
132

Chapter 1
Shapes in architecture
1.1

A brief tour of shapes

1.1.1 Take a look at modern architecture and you will soon realize that the last decades have
produced an increasing number of buildings with exotic shapes. Of course, also in earlier
times the design of buildings has been influenced by mathematical ideas regarding, for
instance, symmetry. Both historical and modern developments show that mathematics
can play an important role, ranging from appropriate descriptions of designs to guiding
the designers intuition. This course aims at providing the mathematical tools to describe
various types of shapes in a mathematical way and to manipulate them. In handling them
in more involved situations, mathematical computer software such as Maple is very useful.
This section discusses a few examples of architectural shapes and hints at the relevant
mathematics. Related to these shapes you can think of questions like the following. How
can I describe this object with equations? How can I down-size the object, or make it more
curved? How does the surface area or volume change if the designer changes the position
of a wall?
1.1.2 Some words on coordinates
Geometry deals with shapes, but in actually handling these shapes, it is profitable to bring
them within the mathematical realm of numbers and equations. The usual way to get
numbers in relation to shapes in your hands is through the use of coordinates. There
are many coordinate systems, but the most common coordinate system is the familiar
cartesian coordinate system, where you choose an origin in 3space and three mutually
perpendicular axes through the origin (often, but not necessarily, labelled as xaxis, y
axis and zaxis),
etc. Each point in space is then characterized by its three coordinates,
for instance (2, 3, 0). (In 2space, only two axes are needed and points are described
by a pair of coordinates.) We usually refer to coordinatized 2space and 3space as R2 and
R3 , respectively. Equations, like x + 2y + 3z = 5, describe shapes in 3space: A point
(x, y, z) in 3space is on the plane precisely if its coordinates satisfy the equation. In this
case the resulting shape is a plane. All sorts of geometric operations have their algebraic
counterparts. For example, the result of reflecting the point P = (x, y, z) in the x, y
1

Shapes in architecture

plane is the point with coordinates (x, y, z). Rotating the point around the zaxis over
90 yields the point (y, x, z) or (y, x, z), depending on the orientation of the rotation.
Coordinates of some sort and the corresponding algebraic machinery are at the basis of
computations and of useful implementations in computer software. This mix of shapes and
numbers is central in this course.
Of course, it is up to the user to choose a convenient origin and to fix the direction of
the axes. Two designers may have decided to use different coordinate systems. To be able
to deal with each others data they are confronted with the question how to transform one
system of coordinates into the second one. For instance, if you view a building from two
different points, then how are the two viewpoints related exactly?
1.1.3 A brief word on lines and planes
Flat objects are easier to describe than curved ones. So in Chapter 2 flat objects like lines
and planes will be discussed before we turn to a more detailed study of curved objects in
later chapters. Here is a tiny preview.

Figure 1.1: A plane in 3space, usually described by an equation of the form ax + by + cz =

d. Of course, only part of the plane is drawn, since the plane extends indefinitely. If
we describe walls by planes, we need to be aware of the fact that only part of the plane
corresponds to the wall.
Suppose we work with ordinary cartesian coordinates x and y in the plane. A line in
the plane is described by an equation in the variables x and y of the form
ax + by = c,
such as 2x 7y = 9. A plane in space involves a linear equation in one more variable, z:
ax + by + cz = d.
For example, 3x + 2y 7z = 9 is a plane in 3space. These equations provide implicit
descriptions: you know the condition the coordinates have to satisfy in order to be the
coordinates of a point of the line or plane. There are also explicit descriptions for lines and
planes, socalled parametric descriptions. This chapter is not the place to discuss these
matters in detail. Instead we give a sketch.

1.1 A brief tour of shapes

Let us consider the line in the plane with equation 2x + 3y = 6. We can solve this
equation for y in terms of x: y = (6 2x)/3. If we assign the value to x, then the pair
can be described as
x=
y = 2 2/3.
We rewrite this as
(x, y) = (0, 2) + (1, 2/3),
so that the relation with points in R2 comes out more clearly. Substituting any value
for in the expression on the right-hand side (no condition on ) produces the explicit
coordinates of a point on the line. For instance, for = 9, the corresponding point on the
line is (9, 2 9 2/3) = (9, 4). The parametric description (x, y) = (0, 2) + (1, 2/3)
also has a clear geometric interpretation: draw a line through (0, 2) whose slope is 2/3.
There are more ways of writing down the solutions of the equation 2x+3y = 6 explicitly.
For instance,
(x, y) = (3, 0) + (3, 2)
describes the same line! (In fact, we have found this parametric description by solving x in
terms of y.) To check that these points are on the line, just plug the corresponding values
of x and y into the equation, i.e., substitute x = 3 + 3 and y = 2 into 2x + 3y and
verify that the resulting expression simplifies to 6:
2(3 + 3) + 3(2) = 6 + 6 6 = 6.
This last representation has the slight advantage, at least for humans computers dont
mind that much, that there are no fractions in the expression. Again, the parametric
description (x, y) = (3, 0) + (3, 2) is easy to represent graphically: just start at the
point (3, 0) and then draw the line through (3, 0) with slope 2/3 (or: for every 3 steps to
the right go 2 steps down).
y

3 to the right
2 down
x
(3,0)

Figure 1.2: The graphical representation of (x, y) = (3, 0) + (3, 2).

With fairly elementary techniques you can switch from parametric descriptions to equations and vice versa. For instance, starting with (x, y) = (3, 0) + (3, 2), you first extract

Shapes in architecture

x = 3 + 3 and y = 2, then add two times the first equality and three times the second
one to find that x and y satisfy
2x + 3y = 2(3 + 3) + 3 (2) = 6
(the addition was set up in order to make drop out), i.e., 2x + 3y = 6.
More aspects of lines and equations will be dealt with in the exercises and in the
following chapters.
1.1.4 Buildings with flat walls
Here begins our trip along various architectural objects. Take a look at the picture of the
Van Abbe museum in Eindhoven (Fig 1.3)1 .

Figure 1.3: The Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven (Photo: Peter Cox)

The extension was designed by the Dutch architect Abel Cahen. The walls of the
museum are flat or planar, but some of them are sloping walls. Obvious questions are:
How much are they inclined? Where do two walls meet exactly? What angle subtend
two of these planes? What would change if you change such an angle a bit (just think of
the surface area, the position of the roof, etc.)? Of course, mathematics is intended here
to support the designing process of the architect. It is no substitute for the architects
creativity. Let us take a closer look at two of these questions: the intersection of two walls
and the angle between two walls.
a1 x + b1 y + c1 z = d1 ,
a2 x + b2 y + c2 z = d2 ,
(where a1 , a2 , etc., are the coefficients of the equations).
1

http://www.vanabbemuseum.nl/nederlands/gebouw/

1.1 A brief tour of shapes

Intersecting two planes

The two walls meet along a line, but which one? And how does this line change if the
architect decides to change one or both of the planes in the design? Here is a concrete
example of dealing with the intersection of two planes (but this chapter is not the place to
discuss the techniques used in detail):
x+y+z =3
2x + y z = 5
We manipulate the equations in such a way that both x and y can be expressed in terms
of z. To do so, we need two steps:
a) We first try to eliminate x from the second equation. By subtracting the first equation

Figure 1.4: Sloping walls.

two times from the second, we obtain the system
x +

y + z =3
y 3z = 1

b) Next, we add the new second equation to the first one in order to get rid of the
variable y in the first equation. We find
x 2z = 2
y 3z = 1
Now, both x and y can be expressed in terms of z as follows: x = 2 + 2z and y = 1 3z.
Introduce a parameter by z = . Then we get:
x = 2 + 2
y = 1 3
z = .
Separating the constant part and the variable part, we usually rewrite this as
(x, y, z) = (2, 1, 0) + (2, 3, 1).

Shapes in architecture

This notation suggests clearly that, not surprisingly, we are dealing with a line: start at
the point (2, 1, 0) and move from there in the direction of (2, 3, 1) by varying .
The angle between two planes
From the equations x + y + z = 3 and 2x + y z = 5, the angle between the planes
can be computed. The relevant information is contained in the coefficients of x, y and z of
both equations (the coefficients 3 and 5 on the righthand side are irrelevant). The three
coefficients of the first equation lead to (1, 1, 1). It turns out that the direction from (0, 0, 0)
to (1, 1, 1) is perpendicular to the first plane (more on this in Chapter 2). Likewise, the
three coefficients of the second equation lead to (2, 1, 1), and the direction from (0, 0, 0)
to (2, 1, 1) is perpendicular to the second plane. In this setting, where directions come
into play, we usually speak of vectors. The angle between the two planes equals the angle
between these two vectors (make a picture to convince yourselves). It turns out (and this
will be dealt with more extensively in Chapter 2) that the cosine of the angle is computed
as follows from the two vectors (1, 1, 1) and (2, 1, 1):

1 2 + 1 1 + 1 (1)
2
2
2
p
cos =
.
= = =
3
3 6
3 2
12 + 12 + 12 22 + 12 + (1)2
From this expression, the angle is easily found to be approximately 1.08 radians or 61.9
degrees.

Varying the plane

If we replace one or more of the coefficients in the equation of one of the planes by an
(expression in an) auxiliary parameter, we obtain a varying family of planes: for each
value of the parameter a plane is defined. Such a family may be useful in the design of a
building where you have to specify the position of a wall, say, given that it passes through
certain points, intersects the ground level along a certain line, etc. Here are a few examples.
For every value of a the equation x + y + z = a describes a plane. All these planes are
parallel to one another (they are all perpendicular to the vector (1, 1, 1)). The plane with
equation x + y + z = 0 (i.e., a = 0) contains the origin (0, 0, 0), but the plane with equation
x + y + z = 1 evidently does not. You might look for a plane in this family which touches
a sphere with center in the origin and given radius.
Here is a family with other properties. The family of planes x + y + az = 3 all pass
through the point (3, 0, 0), but no two of them are parallel. They all have the line of
intersection of the two planes z = 0 and x + y = 3 in common. Among these planes you
might be looking for one which makes an angle of 60 with a horizontal plane.
Rotations and translations are also important ways of varying a plane; these operations
will be discussed in later chapters.
1.1.5 Buildings with curved exteriors
Modern buildings show a variety of curved shapes, like the Gherkin in London, see Fig.
(1.5)2 . To handle these, nonlinear equations and nonlinear parametric descriptions are
2

http://www.bconstructive.co.uk/onsite/projects.asp

1.1 A brief tour of shapes

needed, i.e., equations and parametric descriptions involving, say, combinations of squares,
square roots, exponentials, sines and cosines, etc. Curved shapes are central in Chapters
3 and 4.

Figure 1.5: The Gherkin in London (Photo Nigel Young/Foster and Partners). Rotating
the point (x, f (x), 0) around the xaxis (right). For each value of x this produces a circle
with equation y 2 + z 2 = f (x)2 . Apart from details, the shape of the gherkin comes close to
a surface of revolution.
For instance, let us look at the shape that is obtained by rotating the graph of a function
in the x, yplane around the xaxis. The graph is represented by the equation
y = f (x) and z = 0,
where we assume f (x) > 0 for all x. So every point of the curve in 3space is of the form
(x, f (x), 0). If we rotate such a point around the x-axis, then the first coordinate remains
the same, but the second and third coordinate satisfy the equation of a circle with radius
f (x), i.e.,
y 2 + z 2 = f (x)2
(see Fig. 1.5). For variable x, then, the equation y 2 + z 2 = f (x)2 describes a socalled
surface of revolution.
To describe such a surface explicitly, we bring in the standard parametric description of
a circle with radius r and center (0, 0) in the plane: for varying , the point (r cos , r sin )
runs through a circle with radius r. In our situation the radius is varying with x. At level
x, the radius equals f (x). Therefore, a possible parametric description is
x=
y = f () cos
z = f () sin ,

Shapes in architecture

r sin
r cos

Figure 1.6: Any point on a circle with center (0, 0) and radius r can be described in the
form (r cos , r sin ).
where can be chosen in the interval [0, 2] or [, ]. The 2dimensionality of the surface
corresponds to the presence of two parameters, and .
Here are some questions related to such a curved object:
How do you describe mathematically a certain pattern on the surface, like the one
on the Gherkin?
How curved is the object? Is there a measure for it?
How do we describe a surface which is rotated around another line?
1.1.6 Example. (Positioning windows in a spherical building)
Part of a building has a spherical shape, say a hemisphere with equation
x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 4,
with z 0 as drawn in Fig. (1.7). The radius of this hemisphere is 2.

Figure 1.7: Design for a hemispherical building.

1.2 Different perspectives

You decide to put windows in the building by intersecting the building with a number
of planes in a symmetric fashion. So you take one plane, for instance x + y + z = a, and
you determine a in such a way that the intersection with the hemisphere has a reasonable
size. We will not explain all details here, but restrict to a sketch of the computation of the
size of the intersection. Let us take a = 3.

3
2

Figure 1.8: A suitablecrosssection of the hemisphere to illustrate the computation of the

radius of the circle: ( 3)2 + r2 = 22 .
a) First, one determines
the distance ofthe origin (0, 0, 0) to the plane: this distance
turns out to be a/ 3, which equals 3 because of our choice a = 3 (details of such
computations will be provided in Chapter 2).
b) The intersection of the plane with the (hemi)sphere is a circle (no proof here, but
youll probably agree), say with radius r. Now we apply Pythagoras theorem to a
triangle with vertices (0, 0, 0), the center of the circle, and a point on the circle (any
point will do):
2
3 + r2 = 22 .
So we conclude that r = 1.
If you decide to have four windows in the hemisphere, positioned symmetrically around
the zaxis, then the remaining three windows are obtained by rotating the plane over 90 ,
180 and 270 , and intersecting with the hemisphere. The result of rotating the plane
x + y + z = 3 over 90 is the plane with equation x + y + z = 3 (never mind how we
found this).
In the designing process, you may decide to move the plane further away from or closer
to the origin. This can be accomplished by replacing the right-hand side of the equation
x + y + z = 3 by a parameter c, say, and experiment with different values of c. Introducing
parameters in other places in the equation allows one to experiment even more drastically
with the position of the windows.

1.2

Different perspectives

Pictures and movies of buildings are 2dimensional ways of representing them. Given the
3d structure of a building, how do you generate projections suitable for various purposes,

10

Shapes in architecture

such as artists impressions or technical drawings? By setting up appropriate coordinate

Y
y

eye

Figure 1.9: Taking a picture is like a central projection, apart from details concerning lenses
(lefthand side). Similar triangles are at the basis of computations involving projections:
Y /y = Z/z (righthand side).
systems (cartesian or otherwise) and using some geometry, the projection of an object
can be described in coordinates if the situation is not too complicated (Fig. 1.9 shows an
example). Again, this approach opens up the way of handling projections by computer.
The above discussion focused on central projection, but other projections may be relevant

Figure 1.10: Starting from the position of the square at the back, various central projections
can be determined. The difficulty is to catch these projections in coordinates.
for a specific purpose, such as parallel projection in which lines connecting a point of the
original object and its image point are all parallel.
1.2.1 Example. Suppose our eye is in the origin of an ordinary cartesian coordinate system,
and suppose we want to find the image in the plane z = 1 of a given triangle T in space. If
P = (3, 2, 4) is a corner of T , then P is in the plane z = 4, a plane at distance 3 from the
plane z = 1 on which we are projecting (central projection with center the origin and onto
the plane z = 1). This implies that the coordinates of the projection P of P are obtained
by shrinking those of P by a factor 4; Fig. (1.11) illustrates the relevant triangles that can

1.3 Numbers in architecture: The golden ratio

11

y
2/4

P=(3,2,4)

2
S
P

4
1
O

S
O

Figure 1.11: Central projection with center O on the z = 1 plane. The zcoordinate is
shortened by a factor 4, so the ycoordinate is shortened by a factor 4 as well as can be
deduced from |P S| : |P S | = |OS| : |OS | = |V S| : |V U | = 4 : 1. Here we use the two pairs
of similar triangles OP S OP S and OSV S SU (righthand side).
be used to prove this claim for the ycoordinate. So the image point P has coordinates
(3/4, 1/2, 1).
But what happens if we put our eye at position (11, 0, 0), for instance, but leave the
plane on which we are projecting at z = 1? In this case, the image point P still has
zcoordinate 1 and ycoordinate 1/2 (why?). But the xcoordinate of P turns out to be
11 8/4 = 9. So P = (9, 1/2, 1). It is again an exercise in similar triangles to find this
xcoordinate.
The geometry in terms of coordinates of various projections will be discussed in Chapter
5.

1.3

Numbers in architecture: The golden ratio

The golden ratio is a number that has fascinated humans throughout the centuries. This
fascination finds its origin in the interpretation of the number as a ratio that has often
been viewed as ideal or especially pleasing for paintings, sculptures and (parts of) buildings.
The ratio of the width and height of the Parthenon in Greece is approximately equal to
the golden ratio, see Fig. (1.12)3 . The golden ratio is approximately equal to 1.618, but
the exact expression to be discussed below is more interesting since it reveals more of its
properties.
Here follows a short digression on some geometric and number theoretic aspects of the
golden ratio.
1.3.1 What is the golden ratio?
3

http://ccins.camosun.bc.ca/ jbritton/goldslide/jbgoldslide.htm

12

Shapes in architecture

Figure 1.12: The golden ratio and the Parthenon in Athens.

The golden ratio is the number

1 1
5,
+
2 2

often represented in this context by the Greek symbol . This number acquired its importance as a ratio of lengths in a geometric setting. There are various ways this ratio occurs,
one of which we discuss here. Consider the problem of finding a rectangle ABCD (see
Fig. (1.13)), such that if you take away a square AF ED, the remaining rectangle BCEF
is proportional to the original rectangle ABCD, i.e., the ratios of the two sides of both
rectangles are equal. To solve this problem, we rescale so that |AF | = 1 and |AB| = .
D

Figure 1.13: Rectangles ABCD and BCEF are proportional; AF ED is a square.

From
|BC|
|AB|
=
|AD|
|F B|
we infer that is required to satisfy the equation
1

=
.
1
1

1.3 Numbers in architecture: The golden ratio

13

This leadsto the quadratic equation 2 1 = 0 with only one positive solution:
= 21 + 12 5. There are some amusing facts to mention about , the first two of which
follow immediately from the relation 2 1 = 0.
Rewrite 2 1 = 0 in the form 2 = + 1 and you see: To square you only
need to add 1 to , so 2 is approximately 1.618 + 1 = 2.618. Similar remarks hold
for 3 , 4 , etc.
1
= 1. So

1
the reciprocal 1/ of can be computed by subtracting 1 from . In particular, is

approximately 0.618.

Divide all terms of 2 1 = 0 by and rearrange the result as

In a pentagon with sides of length 1, every diagonal turns out to have length . Given
this fact, some trigonometry shows that = 2 cos(/5).
D

E
D

Figure 1.14: The golden ratio appears in a pentagon and a star with 5fold symmetry.
A surprising form of is:
=

1+

1+

1+

1 + ....

Another surprising shape of . The fractions

1+

1
1
1
,...
, 1+
1 ,1 +
1+1
1 + 1+1
1 + 1+1 1
1+1

constructed from 1s only, approximate better and better.

The golden ratio shows up in surprisingly many areas of mathematics and other sciences.
In architecture, examples range from the great pyramids in Egypt to the proportional
system designed by the SwissFrench architect and painter Le Corbusier (18871965).

14

Shapes in architecture

1.3.2 The golden ratio is irrational4

The rational numbers, i.e., numbers of the form a/b (fractions)
with a and b integers
(and b 6= 0), do not fill up the whole real line. Numbers like 2, and e are examples
of irrational numbers: numbers that cannot be expressed as the quotient of two integers5 .
The golden ratio turns out to be one of these irrational numbers, and our rectangle provides
a geometric way to prove this.
Suppose that is a rational number, say a/b, where a and b are positive integers. Our
purpose is to show that using the special property of the rectangle ABCD this assumption
leads to something nonsensical and must therefore be rejected. So with this assumption
on we return to the rectangle: if we choose a unit of length so that |AF | is b units, then
|AB| must be a units. The next thing to do is to use the smaller and smaller rectangles in
ABCD to rewrite the fraction a/b with a smaller numerator and a smaller denominator
(and that will lead to nonsense in the end). The picture has the property that if we
D

E
G

C
H

Figure 1.15: Repeat the process: upon removing square F BHG from rectangle F BCE, the
remaining rectangle GHCE is similar to F BCE and to the original rectangle ABCD.
leave out the lefthand square AF ED, the remaining rectangle F BCE is similar to the
original rectangle ABCD. But if this smaller rectangle has the same shape, then we can
apply the process of leaving out a square to this smaller rectangle and obtain an even
smaller rectangle GHCE, still similar in shape to the original rectangle. Now turn to the
numbers and ratios again. The length of |F B| is a b units, and the length of |HC| is
b (a b) = 2b a units. So comparing the longer side with the shorter side in the similar
rectangles ABCD, BCEF we obtain:
=

a
|AB|
|BC|
b
=
=
=
,
b
|AD|
|F B|
ab

and for the rectangles BCEF and GHCE we find:

|BC|
|GH|
ab
b
=
=
=
.
ab
|F B|
|EG|
2b a
4

Optional reading
Although there are infinitely many rational numbers and infinitely many irrational numbers, it was
shown about a century ago that the irrationals outnumber the rationals in a sense. This was the starting
point for more subtle investigations into the mysteries of infinity.
5

1.3 Numbers in architecture: The golden ratio

15

So what? Wel, there are two things to notice here:

b
a
=
we see that we have replaced numerator and denominator of a/b
b
ab
by smaller numbers (b < a and a b < b follow from 1 < < 2). In the second step
b
ab
the fraction
is replaced by
, a fraction with again a smaller numerator
ab
2b a
and a smaller denominator as is easily checked.

a) From =

b) We can repeat the game with the picture over and over again and replace the fraction
with fractions numerators and denominators which grow smaller and smaller (as it
turns out).
If we do repeat the game over and over again and bookkeep what happens to the fractions
(we wont go into the details of this bookkeeping here), we run into trouble: there is no
way we can represent a given fraction by smaller and smaller positive numbers. Therefore,
we must conclude that our assumption that can be represented by a fraction is wrong.
And so is irrational.
Of course, in practice, a designer works with numerical approximations of the golden
ratio and need not worry about the irrationality.

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Shapes in architecture

1.4

Exercises

Unless stated otherwise, all coordinates refer to cartesian coordinates. Some exercises are
merely intended to train your intuition. They may refer to notions the exact meaning of
which has not yet been discussed.
1 The relative position of lines and planes
Test your geometric intuition.
a) As you know, two general lines in the plane intersect in exactly one point. If the
lines are in special position with respect to each other, they may meet in a different
way. Explain!
b) Take a line and a plane in 3space. How many points of intersection do you expect
in general? Regarding the number of points of intersection, list all possibilities and
provide the corresponding picture.
c) Take three general planes in 3space. How many points of intersection do you expect?
Explain! Discuss what happens if the planes are not in general position, for instance
if two of the three planes are parallel. Add sketches to support your explanation.
2 Lines through a given point
Take a line in the plane and let P be a point on the line.
a) How many lines through P are perpendicular to ?
b) How many lines through P make an angle of 45 with ?
c) Suppose that is a line in 3space. How many lines through P make an angle of 45
with . Make a sketch!
3 Equations and parametric descriptions of lines in the plane
The line in the plane has parametric description (x, y) = (1, 2) + (3, 2).
a) Draw the line.
b) Is the same line as the line with equation x + y = 3? Explain your answer algebraically.
c) Start with the parametric description of the line, x = 1 + 3 and y = 2 2. Find a
and b such that drops out from the expression ax + by. Use this to find an equation
for .
4 Parametric descriptions of lines in the plane
The equation 2x + 5y = 10 describes the line in the plane.
a) Solve for y in terms of x. What is a resulting parametric description?

1.4 Exercises

17

b) If you solve for x in terms of y, you also get a parametric description. Give one.
c) Is (10, 2) + (10, 4) a parametric description of ?
5 Intersecting lines in the plane
Lines are usually given by equations (implicit description) or parametric equations (explicit
description). In this exercise we consider the problem of intersecting two lines given in
various guises.
a) To find the point of intersection of the lines 2x + 5y = 11 and x + y = 1, you look
for a suitable combination of the two equations such that, for instance, the variable
x is no longer in the resulting equation. In our situation, if we subtract the second
equation two times from the first we obtain 3y = 9, so that y = 3. Substitution
(back substitution it is sometimes called) of y = 3 in the equation 2x + 5y = 11
yields x = 2. In this approach we have eliminated x first. What would you do to
eliminate y first?
b) Find the intersection of the line given by 2x + 5y = 1 and the line m given by
(x, y) = (3, 2) + (1, 3).
c) Suppose two lines, and m, are both given by a parametric description, say is given
by (x, y) = (5, 6) + (2, 1) and m is given by (x, y) = (4, 3) + (3, 1). To compute
the intersection of the two lines, first find (or ) from the system
5 + 2 = 4 3
6 + = 3 + .
Explain why the problem of finding the intersection of the lines leads to this system
of equations.
6 Families of lines
This exercise deals with families of lines.
a) For a few values of a, draw the line with equation 2x + 3y = a. What is the relative
position of these lines as a varies?
b) For each value of a, the equation ax + 2y = 4 describes a line in the plane. Draw a
few of these lines. All these lines have a point in common, which one? Do all lines
through this point belong to the family or are there exceptions?
c) Give an example (by giving equations) of a family of lines which all pass through the
point (2, 0).
d) Consider the family of lines a(x 2) + b(y 3) = 0, where a and b are not both 0.
Which point in the plane belongs to all these lines? Does this family contain all lines
through this point?

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Shapes in architecture

7 Various types of equations for lines in the plane

The equation ax + by = c describes a line in the plane. Of course, you are familiar with
the equation y = ax + b from previous mathematics courses.
a) Explain why lines parallel to the y-axis cannot be described by equations of the form
y = ax + b. Relate this to the coefficient a.
b) Which lines in the plane cannot be described by equations of the form x = ay + b?
c) Starting with the equation y = ax + b, it is easy to give a parametric description of
the line. Give a parametric description of the line in terms of if we assign the value
to x.
8 Rotating around the xaxis
This exercise is about rotating around the xaxis in 3space.
a) Rotate a line parallel to the xaxis around the xaxis (in 3space). What kind of
figure does this give rise to? What is the equation if you start with the line y = 3,
z = 0?
b) Same questions for the line y = x, z = 0.
9 Rotating around coordinate axes
The graph of y = sin(x), where x [0, ], is rotated around the xaxis in 3space.
a) What is the equation of the resulting surface?
b) Does rotation around the yaxis lead to a reasonable surface?
10 Special members of a family of lines
This exercise is about families of lines in the plane.
a) For a few values of a draw the line with equation 2x + 5y = a and convince yourself
that they are all parallel.
b) Draw a few members of the family of lines ax + 3y = 0. Does this family contain a
horizontal member? And a vertical member?
c) The lines x + y = 0 and x + y = 0 belong to the family mentioned in b) and are also
perpendicular to one another. Find more pairs of perpendicular lines in the family.
11 Switching to another coordinate system
Suppose you have chosen a cartesian coordinate system in a plane. Every point in the
plane is then described by a pair (x, y).
a) Now your collegue comes in and prefers to have the origin at your (2, 3). She
uses coordinate axes with the same direction as in your coordinate system. What
is the relation between the x , y coordinates she uses to describe a point and your
coordinates?

1.4 Exercises

19

b) How does she describe your line y = 4x 5?

c) Describe in your coordinates the circle she describes with the equation (x 1)2 +
(y + 6)2 = 11.
12 Projections
Connect the points (0, 0, 2), (4, 2, 2) and (0, 4, 2).
a) Central projection on the plane z = 1 with center the origin takes the triangle into
its image. Find the images of the three vertices of the triangle.
b) Do you think it is possible to change the position of the plane z = 1 so that the
image triangle is equilateral (has three equal sides)?
13 Properties of the golden ratio
Refer to Fig. (1.15) related to the golden ratio. Suppose |AB| = and |AD| = 1.
a) Show that |F B| = 1/ and that |CH| = 1/ 2 . If you continue to split off a square,
what will be the lengths of the ever smaller sides of the rectangles that show up?
b) You can also reverse the process: take ABCD and construct a square on side AB
(with only side AB in common with rectangle ABCD). What are the lengths of the
sides of the resulting rectangle? What is the pattern if you repeat this construction?
14 Properties of the golden ratio
The golden ratio satisfies the relation 2 = + 1.
a) Use this relation to show that 3 = 2 + 1 and 4 = 3 + 2.
b) Use this relation to show that 2 = 2 .