Relationships between architecture and mathematics

Abstract

What is the nature of the relationship between architects and mathematicians between or architecture and mathematics? As they are commonly understood these two groups seem to have few obvious connections. The word ‘architecture’ is used to describe either the practice of creating buildings or a particular class of constructed—architectural—objects. In contrast, the word ‘mathematics’ denotes a domain of pure or applied knowledge that is associated with the study or use of abstract objects such as numbers and shapes or forms. Professions, like architecture, tend to be isolated and controlled, restricting membership to experts who have been awarded particular qualifications and have fulfilled certain criteria (Fournier 2000).