Random curds as mathematical models of fractal rhythm in architecture
Abstract
The author Carl Bovill has suggested and described a method for generating rhythm in architecture with the help of random curds, as they are the mathematical models of unpredictable and uneven groupings which he recognizes in natural shapes and in natural processes. He specified the rhythm generated in this way as the fractal rhythm. Random curds can be generated by a simple process of curdling, as suggested by B. Mandelbrot. This paper examines the way in which the choice of probability for every stage or level of the curdling process, and the number of stages in the procedure of curdling, affect the characteristics of the obtained fractal object as a potential mathematical model of rhythm in the design process. At the same time, this paper examines the characteristics of rhythm in architecture which determine whether the obtained fractal object will be accepted as an appropriate mathematical model of the observed rhythm.
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