Fractal architecture could be good for you

Abstract

The deployment of fractal principles in art and architecture seems to be a phenomenon of all times, and is in no way restricted to the period after the systematic mathematical understanding and description of fractals from the 1970s onwards. Nowadays, computer-generated fractal art, and the software to generate it, are widely available on the Internet. Fractal principles are also at work in more "traditional" arts or crafts, such as some Dalì paintings, mandalas, mosaics, floor decorations, and so on. This paper presents some of the architectural appropriations of fractal geometry. The concluding sections argue that fractal architecture is in a sense "good" for us. © 2007 Kim Williams Books, Turin.