Sacred Geometry in Design: Triangles
Sacred Geometry in Design - triangle, square, circle, spiral, and straight line shapes.
While visiting the Dali Museum, I had the experience of sacred geometry design motifs of spirals and a combination of triangles in the main heart of the museum. I have been observing more spirals in architecture at the Dali Museum in St Pete, which is designed by architect Yann Weymouth. The design challenge was to create an affordable, iconic building symbolic of Dali’s work, Inside the structure houses a unique architectural feature, a helical staircase. Dalí had an obsession with spirals and this is his representation of a double helical shape of the DNA molecule
I couldn’t help but notice the other interior architectural geometrical features above, the triangular-shaped windows. Triangles represent fire energy and are one of the many icons in geometric design patterns. This shape promotes more fire energy and makes you feel more confident as angles represent more dynamic principles. I feel this triangular shape tends to be very masculine and can make your room feel more energized.
I took a tour of the facility and the guide explained that they pumped argon gas in between the glass to keep the building cool. There were also hundreds of special-sized triangular-shaped glass pieces that were uniquely cut for the architectural design of the project. The design opens up the 18-inch-thick concrete walls with an amazing free-form glass geodesic structure that intrigues visitors while bringing daylight and bay views into public spaces. I see this triangle shape a lot in cathedral ceilings and exterior walls but nothing was as beautifully done as the St Pete building, Weymouth combines the rational with the fantastical with his "Enigma" motif on the exterior facade.
This “Enigma” piece is made up of 1,062 triangular pieces of glass, it stands 75 feet high and is a twenty-first-century interpretation of the dome that adorns Dalí’s museum in Spain. I loved the combinations of squares, spirals, and squares, on the exterior of the building.
It was an amazing experience to walk through the building and be immersed in art and design, the museum houses a large collection of Dali’s work and other famous visiting exhibits. This combination of sacred geometry shapes was a completely balanced package of spirals, triangles, squares, circles, and straight lines. I loved the outdoor garden area with the nautilus shell motif I have been connecting to for some time now.
This sacred spiral is a special design on the floor of the outdoor courtyard, the Fibonacci sequences appear in the foundation of aspects of art, beauty, and life, Dali was fascinated by the golden ratio as most photographers and artists use these principles in their art. This is also depicted in music as intervals as musical frequencies are based on Fibonacci ratios as well as notes in the scale of western music.
The golden ratio is renowned for producing some of the most beautiful shapes in our environment. From it, we get the golden spiral, a logarithmic spiral that gets wider by a growth factor of the golden ratio. We also get a golden rectangle, a rectangle whose side lengths are in the golden ratio. The aesthetic harmony of the ratio has been used for centuries by artists and designers, and can be seen in the architecture of ancient monuments such classical architecture as the Great Pyramids and the Parthenon.
The Fibonacci sequence is seen as it being closely related to the golden ratio. In this sequence, each number is the sum of the two numbers that precede it. The sequence begins 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, and continues in this pattern. The ratio of any two successive Fibonacci numbers is very close to the golden ratio, and as the numbers get higher, the ratio becomes even closer to 1.618.
Sacred geometry, as holistic design, is the language of the universe which expresses all of life as expressin of harmony, beauty, proportion, rhythm, and order. We see sacred design in so many places if we just look with new eyes and cacth the numbers and symbols which help uplift us spiritually. But there’s more, The 5 platonic solids are considered cosmic solids due to their connection to nature that was discovered by Plato.
Wiithin these 3D geometric shapes, the Platonic solids all faces are the same size and. whose faces are all identical, regular polygons meeting at the same three-dimensional angles. These shapes are the Cube, Dodecahedron, Tetrahedron, Octahedron, Icosahedron, and the Hexahedron.
The type and use of geometry in architecture is a fundamental element of the variation between styles or language of architecture. You can see it depicted in classical architecture like the Greek Parthenon, gothic styled churches, and tiling patterns in classical architecture. I just loved the combinations of squares, spirals and squares in design and all the sacred geometry that surrounds us everywhere we go.
Be sure to keep an a new “eye” for these shapes, you might start to see more than you think! By looking at the symbolic meaning of numbers and the shapes of sacred geometry, these objects and buildings have a profound influence on our health and our spiritual state of being. When we create an environment around us that is supportive to our inner and outer senses, we can enhance our connections with nature.
Photos: Unsplash
