I’ve always liked the looks of what in the mid 20th c. passed as “futuristic”, particularly the lightening holes that seemed present in any metallic architectural detail. The case of a tapering plate with holes of declining diameter is one I especially admire. Can an artistic Doper out there point me to a good method for laying these holes out?
Thank to all!
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:
lighting holes
So what exactly are you asking? Doesn’t the “method” of laying out the holes depend on the usage and material?
I’ve used these on the sides of my Son’s cabin bed; Personal preference plays a heck of a part in the layout; I found they worked best when a pair of converging straight lines can be laid along tangents to the whole set (at least, this works well when the tapering object itself has straight sides) and spacing them at equidistant circumferences, rather than centres. YMMV.
I’m not looking for the engineering, just a mathematical explanation of why the pattern is pleasing to the eye, or an algorithm to reproduce it. Mangetout may have it nailed. I’ll have to think on it a bit more, I guess…
I don’t think math can explain why somethis is pleasing. It’s pleasing because it sets off certain pleasure-related chemicals in your brain.
All we can do mathematically is describe it in detail. All the shapes are circles; the distance between them is given by a specific formula; the size is given by a certain formula; etc. That’s math, but it’s not an “explanation” of what makes it pleasing to the eye.
I’m not sure if this would fare better in CS.
I would like the math so I can develop a program to geneate them. I think I’ll just have to spend some time pondering it.
In a classic example of form following function, the holes you describe act to lighten a part which has dimensional constraints (i.e. must be a specific size and shape), but which does not need the strength afforded by that much material, and hence can have material removed until the part is only as strong as it needs to be.
Aesthetically, the most pleasing configurations of such patterns are ordinarily inscribed within lines or curves which follow the profile of the part (offset, tangent, etc. to dominant profile features), and are of areas or major dimensions which are successive functions of one another.
Although any such relationship will work, the most commonly used ratio for such features is Phi. Phi = [sqrt(5) +/- 1]/2.
-FK
In a classic example of form following function, the holes you describe act to lighten a part which has dimensional constraints (i.e. must be a specific size and shape), but which does not need the strength afforded by that much material, and hence can have material removed until the part is only as strong as it needs to be.
Aesthetically, the most pleasing configurations of such patterns are ordinarily inscribed within lines or curves which follow the profile of the part (offset, tangent, etc. to dominant profile features), and are of areas or major dimensions which are successive functions of one another.
Although any such relationship will work, the most commonly used ratio for such features is Phi. Phi = [sqrt(5) +/- 1]/2. As an example, one aesthetically pleasing box would have dimensions X, Phi(X), Phi(Phi(X)).
-FK
