Equally applied in traditional architecture and construction or via the invention of new manufacturing methods, standardizing and unifying measuring units and formulae make it easier to share knowledge about building or determining dimensional or functional requirements. Classifying ergonomic principles and their factorization into larger or smaller parts is the basis of architectural composition. The golden section “rectangle d’OR” is the prime example of a mathematical premise employed for the analysis of classical architecture and its geometric harmonic relations. The golden ratio (1 : 1.618) can be observed multiplied or divided into regulating proportions for decorative elements, overall building dimensions as well as structural proportions.
Associated with refuting ornament and classical composition, these underlying geometric and numeric themes were hidden within modern architecture’s dogmas. Replaced and inspired by production standards, modernists concealed their classical penchants for the same Palladian ideal shapes and plans behind their new regulating orders. Sometimes these principles were derived from traditional architecture, such as Schindler’s use of the Japanese tatami or the Ken.
Perhaps the most famous modern unit of measure, Le Corbusier’s Modulor (Module + Or) was specifically articulated to the concept of standardizing industrial processes to conceive architectural spaces that would be easily produced by modern methods. Based on his idealized understanding of human form which he deconstructed according to the golden ratio determining his basic sets of human to space configurations. The 226 cm height of the ideal man with his hand stretched out standardized floor to ceiling dimensions for a regular room or space. This 226 cm height was a multiple of the 1 to 1.618 golden ratio and exposed the architect’s perplexing relationship with classical proportions and themes. Divided into multiples or different scales for directing a logical sequence to each particular design, the Modulor was for the iconic modern architect a type of slide-rule for encoded design skilfulness. Le Corbusier himself wrote about the Modulor in modest and humble terms. It was a tool for designing without having to refer or think about dimensioning. The Modulor allowed good design and its standardisation to be achieved efficiently; sitting, leaning, standing, stretching and all interrelated human activities defined by a harmonic measuring device.
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| Le Corbusier's Modulor |
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