The Ten Books on Architecture-VITRUVIUS.

Article about The Ten Books on Architecture.

Figure 1(a).

Being in proportion means that a factor or a unit, is created or made while considering its impact on the whole. In our daily lives we observe multiple things in proportion, and numerous others that are not in proportion; but unfortunately we usually view these things without a sense of appreciation to their existence. This could be because of our ignorance on the importance of proportionality.

PICTURE SHOWS HOW HINDU USED BODY PARTS TO BUILD TEMPLES.

The Greek society considered the idea of proportionality from the very basic design that is ever existing with any society, the natural design of the human body. They demonstrated that the centre of the human body is the navel –also known as the belly button-. It was shown that if a human laid on his back, and extended his four limbs and a perfect circle is drawn around him with his naval being the centre, his toes and fingertips will perfectly lie on the circumference of the circle as shown in (figure 1(a))_. Additionally, a perfect square could also be drawn around the body of a human, where the height of the human will be perfectly matched with the broadness from the tip of one arm to the other; this creating an exact square.

Proportionality was also applied in ancient Greek columns, where the thickness of the columns are made with one-eighth the size of the columns’ height. Moreover, this idea prevailed in the building of Hindu temples. These temples were constructed to match the human body lying on its back; the head of the body being directed towards the west and the feet to the east. Symmetry of the human body were used as the basic criteria for the sanctuary, creating a relation between the individuals as if they were the body parts of a well built man.These functional ideas of symmetry and proportionality are to be deliberately applied in the creation of bus stops. This is to be made for individuals utilising the stops to be comfortable when in this planned environment. For example when observing the benches in a bus stop, they need to be designed in a way that is restful for the people using them. Simultaneously, these benches need to take as less space from the bus stop as possible in order to not be an obstacle against people who are standing.

Another example is the distance from the resting places in the bus stop to the doors. This distance needs to be visible by the potential passengers, as to be able to see the arriving buses. These spaces also need to be practical in the sense of movement, as to not get the passengers congested in a place making them static and unable to comfortably move towards the arriving bus.

In a nutshell, in this article we are trying to analyse the beauty and functionality of the proportionality of the body part related to the symmetry and geometry of the buildings an how ; and how both of those factors were made in the correct way to fit the geographical place they were built in.

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