SplinesThis sweeping shape is a timeless design that first appeared in the scrolls of the #IonicCapital as the most distinctive part of the #IonicOrder in classical Greco-Roman architecture more than 2500 years ago.
Shown here with a zebra pattern on the wireframe of a CAD model to accentuate its features and attest to the smoothness of its 3-dimensional surface, the design has been refined many times since the original version over the last two millennia.
The two most remarkable things about this design are that:
— It can be recreated with modern CAD tools by drawing simple 2-dimensional straight lines and circular arcs exclusively. The end result is truly breathtaking and makes one wonder how architects visualized the result and put theory into practice. In the CAD model, the ultimate surface is a #NURBS surface that uses #BSplines extensively, but none of the B-splines or surfaces need to be created "by hand." One only has to draw straight lines and circular arcs with accurate measurements snapped to grids.
— For a design that has survived the ages, it is lamentable how few authoritative sources that accurately describe fine details and exact reconstruction methodology remain accessible to the general public in the age of Internet.
Splines This sweeping shape is a timeless design that first appeared in the scrolls of the #IonicCapital as the most distinctive part of the #IonicOrder in classical Greco-Roman architecture more than 2500 years ago.
Show moreShown here with a zebra pattern on the wireframe of a CAD model to accentuate its features and attest to the smoothness of its 3-dimensional surface, the design has been refined many times since the original version over the last two millennia.
The two most remarkable things about this design are that:
— It can be recreated with modern CAD tools by drawing simple 2-dimensional straight lines and circular arcs exclusively. The end result is truly breathtaking and makes one wonder how architects visualized the result and put theory into practice. In the CAD model, the ultimate surface is a #NURBS surface that uses #BSplines extensively, but none of the B-splines or surfaces need to be created "by hand." One only has to draw straight lines and circular arcs with accurate measurements snapped to grids.
— For a design that has survived the ages, it is lamentable how few authoritative sources that accurately describe fine details and exact reconstruction methodology remain accessible to the general public in the age of Internet.
The most comprehensive is the 10-volume tome that Marcus #Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect and engineer, wrote for #JuliusCaesar and his successor Emperor #CaesarAugustus. [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20239/20239-h/20239-h.htm]
I frequently use two more authoritative sources:
— "Regola delli cinque ordini d' architettura," or simply #RegolaArchitettura by Giacomo Barozzi da #Vignola [https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008229458/page/n3/mode/2up], and
— "A Course in Theoretical and Practical Architecture," or simply #PracticalArchitecture by Francisco Salvatore #Scarlata (#Bordonaro), which documents #VignolaProportions in tabular form [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031201190&view=1up&seq=5]