The New Mathematics of Architecture5stars

 

 

Fusion of Mathematics and Architecture

By Jane Burry & Mark Burry

Thames & Hudson, $34.95, 272 pages

If you are mathematician or simply love mathematics, you’ll love this absolutely beautiful trade paperback (also available in hard cover). If you are an architect or appreciate great modern architecture, this book is for you, too. Nonetheless, The New Mathematics of Architecture is primarily written for mathematicians and architects. Its writing is highly technical and not an easy read. Blessedly, the technical and scientific terms have references to the glossary at the end of the book where they are explained and illustrated (e.g. catenary models, Pareto optimization, chaos theory).

“…to say that mathematics is integral part to architecture is like saying numbers are helpful when trying to count.”

Jane Burry and Mark Burry divided the book into six sections based both on mathematical concepts and architectural complexities. Forty-six chapters deal with profusely-illustrated individual examples (total of 628 illustrations) and each section has a short essay with explanation and description. Expect to understand high mathematics to be able to follow the generally difficult text. This book is not for the average reader though anyone with appreciation of art and architecture will enjoy paging through the illustrations. The book ends with a complete list of references by sections, an extensive bibliography and project credits.

Reviewed by George Erdosh

[amazon asin=0500290253&text=Buy On Amazon][amazon asin=0500290253&text=Buy On Amazon&template=carousel]