Copyright © 2011. Princeton Architectural Press. All rights reserved.

Elam, Kimberly. Geometry of Design : Studies in Proporation and Composition, Princeton Architectural Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central,
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 Geometry of Design:
Studies in Proportion and Composition
Second Edition, Revised and Updated

Kimberly Elam

1
Copyright © 2011. Princeton Architectural Press. All rights reserved.

Princeton Architectural Press, New York

Elam, Kimberly. Geometry of Design : Studies in Proporation and Composition, Princeton Architectural Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central,
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Created from upc-ebooks on 2022-09-18 01:30:32.
 Published by
Princeton Architectural Press DESIGN BRIEFS—essential texts on design
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New York, New York 10003 Designing For Social Change, Andrew Shea

Visit our web site at www.papress.com. Digital Design Theory, Helen Armstrong

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Printed and bound in China
Second, revised and updated edition Form + Code in Design, Art, and Architecture,
18 17 16 54 Casey Reas, Chandler McWilliams, LUST

No part of this book my be used or reproduced in any Graphic Design Theory, Helen Armstrong
manner without written permission from the publisher,
except in the context of reviews. Graphic Design Thinking, Ellen Lupton

Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify Grid Systems, Kimberly Elam
owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be cor-
rected in subsequent editions. Indie Publishing, Ellen Lupton

Lettering & Type, Bruce Willen & Nolen Strals

Book design: Kimberly Elam
Editor, first edition: Jennifer Thompson
Participate, Armstrong & Stojmirovic
Editor, second edition: Dan Simon

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Special thanks to: Bree Anne Apperley, Sara Bader,
Janet Behning, Nicola Bednarek Brower, Fannie Bushin,
Type on Screen, Ellen Lupton
Megan Carey, Carina Cha, Tom Cho, Penny (Yuen Pik)
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Andrew Stepanian, Paul Wagner, Joseph Weston,
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and Deb Wood of Princeton Architectural Press
—Kevin C. Lippert, publisher
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Copyright © 2011. Princeton Architectural Press. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Elam, Kimberly, 1951–
Geometry of design : studies in proportion and
composition / Kimberly Elam. — 2nd ed., rev. and
updated.
143 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 22 cm. — (Design briefs)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-61689-036-0 (alk. paper)
1. Proportion (Art) 2. Composition (Art) 3. Golden
section. 4. Art, Modern—20th century. 5. Design—
History—20th century. I. Title. Back cover images: Leonardo da Vinci, Human Figure in
N7431.5.E44 2011 a Circle courtesy Leonardo Drawings, Dover Publica-
701'.8—dc22 tions, Inc., 1980. Pine cone photograph by Allen Novak.
2011012140

Elam, Kimberly. Geometry of Design : Studies in Proporation and Composition, Princeton Architectural Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/upc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4737063.
Created from upc-ebooks on 2022-09-18 01:30:32.
 Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
La Goulue Arriving at the Moulin Rouge
Proportion in Man and Nature with Two Women Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Cognitive Proportion Preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Argyle Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Proportion and Nature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Hill House Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Human Body Proportions in Classical Sculpture . 12 Willow Tea Room Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Human Body Proportions in Classical Drawing . . 14 Bauhaus Ausstellung Poster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Facial Proportions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 L’Intransigéant Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
East Coast by L.N.E.R. Poster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Architectural Proportions MR Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Architectural Proportions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Barcelona Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Le Corbusier’s Regulating Lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Chaise Longue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Brno Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Golden Section Wagon-Bar Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Construction of the Golden Section Rectangle . . 24 Konstruktivisten Poster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Golden Section Proportions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Barrel Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Golden Section and the Fibonacci Sequence . . . . 29 S. C. Johnson Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Golden Section Triangle and Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Der Berufsphotograph Poster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Golden Section Dynamic Rectangles. . . . . . . . . . . 32 Max Bill Font. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Farnsworth House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Root Rectangles Plywood Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Root 2 Rectangle Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Philip Johnson Glass House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
DIN System of Paper Proportioning. . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Illinois Institute of Technology Chapel. . . . . . . . . 110
Root 2 Dynamic Rectangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Tulip Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Copyright © 2011. Princeton Architectural Press. All rights reserved.

Root 3 Rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Vanna Venturi House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Root 4 Rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Vormgevers Poster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Root 5 Rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Fürstenberg Porzellan Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Comparison of Root Rectangles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 1972 Munich Olympics Pictograms . . . . . . . . . . . 122
LEB, London Electricity Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
The Process of Geometric Analysis Majakovskij Poster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Tauromaquia 20 Print. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Braun Handblender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Racehorses at Longchamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Braun Aromaster Coffee Maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Ghent, Evening Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Il Conico Kettle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Volkswagen Beetle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Geometric Analysis
Thonet Vienna Chair #14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Folies-Bergère Poster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Bathing at Asnières Painting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Image & Photo Credits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Job Poster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Selected Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Ball at the Moulin Rouge Painting. . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Elam, Kimberly. Geometry of Design : Studies in Proporation and Composition, Princeton Architectural Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/upc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4737063.
Created from upc-ebooks on 2022-09-18 01:30:32.
 4
Copyright © 2011. Princeton Architectural Press. All rights reserved.

Elam, Kimberly. Geometry of Design : Studies in Proporation and Composition, Princeton Architectural Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/upc-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4737063.
Created from upc-ebooks on 2022-09-18 01:30:32.