A parametric analysis of the “digitally-derived geometric design” of the façade of the Macau Holy house of Mercy

Abstract

The Macau Holy House of Mercy was built in 1569 and rebuilt in the 18th century. Located in the historic center of Macao, the Macau Holy House of Mercy is included on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.With the Macau Holy House of Mercy, especially the façade of its neo-classical arcade added in 1905, as the research subject, this study applied the methods of historical document research, field measurement and digital analysis, especially parametric analyses with the assistance of the modeling software of Rhinoceros 6.0 and the software plug-in of Grasshopper. And the following results were obtained: 1) its designers applied three-section partition in the horizontal and vertical directions and equal division in stratification in the overall dimension of the façade; 2) its designers also applied modularization (modular) design and combination in the columns and details of doorways; 3) this study found that the (successive) partition of the façade is closer to the “Golden Section“ than “Root Rectangle Partition”; further analyses discovered the Golden Rectangle and Golden Spiral (successive division) in the façade. The underlying aesthetics-mathematics pattern of ”digitally-derived geometric design” is of significant historical value.