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GEOMETRYOFTHEPARABOLAACCORDINGTO
THEGOLDENNUMBER

FROMTHEHARMONYOF
NATURETOTHATOF
ARCHITECTURE
CARLOSCALVIMONTESROJAS
urbtecto@hotmail.com

To cover spaces is the main architectural problem

facesman.He,intheirbestachievementsforsolveit,
finds solutions that join conditions of beauty,
constructive easiness, saving of materials and good
structural quality, repeating perfect forms of nature.
This has occurred with the parabolic and pointed
arches,whosegeometryispresentinthesectionofa
bodyexistinginthenaturethathasasystemofgreat
stabilityduetotheharmonybetweenitsparts.

Theauthorfoundtheparabolaintheelongatedpartof
the longitudinal section of the hen's egg. He
considered that this should have its form configured
bytheGoldenNumber,whosepresenceisoverallin
allthathaslifeorrelationwithlife.Hecheckedthis
rulingmanifestationthattranscendstheknowledgeof
the egg. The result, in addition to benefiting the
design and construction of the parabolic and pointed
arches, contributes to the better knowledge of the
parabola.

THEGOLDENNUMBERINTHEHARMONYOFWHATISCREATED
The Golden Number (F =1.6180339...) is the measure of the perfect proportion between two unequal parts.
Knownsinceaveryremoteantiquity,intheplanegeometryVitruvioproposedthat"sothataspacedivided
intounequalpartsresultspleasantandaesthetic,therelationbetweenthesmallestandthelargestpartmustbe
the same as between the largest and the whole". Regarding linear systems Euclides defined that such
proportionisthe"divisionofonelengthinmediumandextremeratio"orGoldenSection.

As explained by Ghyka, that code of nature rather than being fully described it exhibits in the unstable
concourseofallthepartsofthelivingbeingsandonthematterwithsomeformofdynamicstructures,withthe
expressionofthesummarizednumericpatternthatis,withthebasisofthenumber5.Rather,intheformsof
the matter not organized for life, in the exponents of stable symmetries and in the structures of crystalline
balanceitsnumericschemeresortsingeneraltothenumber6.

THEPROPORTIONSINARCHITECTURE

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Inthearchitecturalcreationthebestharmonyofthecomposingpartsofaworkincorporate connatural to
manduetobeinginitssameproportions.Thehumanbeinghasappliedcriteriadevelopedonthatharmonyin
spontaneousorvoluntaryforminthebestofitscreationsincetheantiquity,intheculturesofSumer,Egypt
andTiwanakuand,inOccident,startingwiththestudiesofPolicleto,EuclidesandVitruvio,thoseofAlberti,
LeonardodaVinci,Durero,MiguelAngel,ZeisingandLeCorbusier,amongmanyothers.

The architect expresses by intuition the concept of the desired design and, according to Le Corbusier,
"automaticallymakesthenecessaryopticcorrections",inadditiontowhatwasaddressedbyLeibnizregarding
the application of the preexisting harmony, as "we own much knowledge of what we do not have clear
conscienceevenwhenweapplyit"assumingthat"allthearithmeticandallthegeometryexistinaninnateand
virtualinoursoul",although"theinnateprinciplesonlyappearwhentheattentionisfixedonthem".

FINTHECONFIGURATIONOFTHEHEN'SEGG

NONPARABOLICGEOMETRYINTHEOVALSECTION
Thedrawingwitharcsoffourcirclesistheonethatbetterconfiguretheovalinscribedinthevesica piscis.
Thoughinthisdrawingthereisnoparabola,ithaswithexactnesstheproportionsofitschordandsagitta.The
tinydifferencebetweentheparabolaandthecombinationofcirculararcsinnonsignificantparts(seegraphic
of the parabola) makes that the product of the analysis of the oval figure serves for the fast design of the
parabolicandpointedarcsandforahigherknowledgeoftheparabola.

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GEOMETRYOFTHEPOINTEDANDPARABOLICARCHES

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GEOMETRYOFTHEPARABOLAACCORDINGTO
Allparabolasaresimilar:whilethesizevaries,theconstantsoftheirconfigurationarethesameforallthem.
Consequently, having demonstrated that the parabola is on the oval section configured by , the relative
proportion of the main dimensions of every parabola are established: parameter, sagitta and chord, with the
subsequentimplications.Alsotheharmoniccoherenceofthejointassemblythatassociatestheovalfigurewith
theparabolapermitstoconfirmthelocationofthefocusofit.

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