All Sides to an Oval. Properties, Parameters, and Borromini’s Mysterious Construction

161 Pages·2017·6.837 MB·english

by  Angelo Alessandro Mazzotti

Angelo Alessandro Mazzotti
All Sides to an Oval
Properties, Parameters, and Borromini’s
Mysterious Construction
AngeloAlessandroMazzotti
IstitutodiIstruzioneSuperiore
“I.T.C.DiVittorio–I.T.I.Lattanzio”
Roma,Italy
ISBN978-3-319-39374-2 ISBN978-3-319-39375-9 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-39375-9
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017933470
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Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 PropertiesofaPolycentricOval. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1 Four-CentreOvals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3 Ruler/CompassConstructionsofSimpleOvals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.1 OvalswithGivenSymmetryAxisLines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.2 OvalswithUnknownAxisLines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.3 InscribingandCircumscribingOvals:TheFrameProblem. . . . . 49
3.4 TheStadiumProblemandtheRunningTrack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4 ParameterFormulasforSimpleOvalsandApplications. . . . . . . . 61
4.1 ParameterFormulasforSimpleOvals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.2 LimitationsfortheFrameProblem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.3 MeasuringaFour-CentreOval. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.4 ConcentricOvals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5 OptimisationProblemsforOvals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6 RemarkableFour-CentreOvalShapes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
7 Borromini’sOvalsintheDomeofSanCarloalleQuattroFontane
inRome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7.1 The1998Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.2 TheProjectfortheDome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
7.2.1 TheDimensionsoftheDome.. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 124
7.2.2 TheImpostOvalandtheLanternOval. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
ix
x Contents
7.2.3 DeterminingtheHeightoftheRingsofCoffers. . . . . . . 131
7.2.4 TheOvalsoftheRingsofCoffers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
7.3 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
8 Ovalswith4nCentresandtheGroundPlanoftheColosseum. . . . 145
8.1 TheConstructionofOvalswith4nCentres. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
8.2 TheOvalsintheGroundPlanoftheColosseum. . . . . . . . . . . . 148
8.2.1 ReferencesandDataUsed:TheTwo-StepMethod. . . . . 148
8.2.2 TheFour-CentreOvalGuideline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.2.3 FromaFour-CentretoanEight-CentreOval. . . . . . . . . 152
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
1
Introduction
Whenwritingaboutovalsthefirstthingtodoistomakesurethatthereaderknows
what you are talking about. The word oval has, both in common and in technical
language,anambiguousmeaning.Itmaybeanyshaperesemblingacirclestretched
fromtwooppositesides,sometimesevenmoretoonesidethantotheother.Whenit
comes to mathematics you have to be precise if you don’t want to talk about
ellipses,oraboutnon-convexshapes,oraboutformswithasinglesymmetryaxis.
Polycentric ovals are convex, with two symmetry axes, and are made of arcs of
circle connected in a way that allows for a common tangent at every connection
point.Thisformdoesn’thaveanelegantequationasdotheellipse,Cassini’sOval,
orCartesianOvals.Butithasbeenusedprobablymorethananyothersimilarshape
tobuildarches,bridges,amphitheatres,churchesandwindowswheneverthecircle
was considered not convenient or simply uninteresting. The ellipse is nature, it is
howtheplanetsmove,whiletheovalishuman,itisimperfect.Ithasoftenbeenan
artist’sattempttoapproximatetheellipse,tocomeclosetoperfection.Buttheoval
allowsforfreedom,becausechoicesofpropertiesandshapestoinscribeorcircum-
scribe can be made by the creator. The fusion between the predictiveness of the
circle and the arbitrariness of how and when this changes into another circle is
described in the biography of the violin-maker Martin Schleske: “Ovals describe
neither a mathematical function (as the ellipse does) nor an arbitrary shape. [...]
Two elements mesh here in a fantastic dialectic: familiarity and surprise. They
formaharmoniccontrast.[...]Inthisshapetheonecannotexistwithouttheother.”
(ourtranslationfromtheGerman,[15],pp.47–48).
Polycentric ovals are and have been used by architects, painters, craftsmen,
engineers,graphicdesignersandmanyotherartistsandspecialists,buttheknowl-
edgeneededtodrawthedesiredshapehasbeen—mostlyinthepast—eitherspread
bywordofmouthorfoundoutbymethodsoftrialanderror.Thequestionofwhat
wasknownaboutovalsinancienttimeshasregainedinterestinthelast20years.In
[4] the idea of a missing chapter about amphitheatres in Vitruvius treatise De
Architectura Libri Decem is put forward by Duvernoy and Rosin, while in [7]
Lo´pezMozoarguesthatatthetimetheEscorialwasbuilttheknow-howhadtobe
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A.A.Mazzotti,AllSidestoanOval,DOI10.1007/978-3-319-39375-9_1
2 1 Introduction
better than whatappears lookingat the sourcesavailable today. In[6]the authors
showhowtheovalshapehasbeenusedinthedesignofSpanishmilitarydefense,
while in [8] the author suggests that methods of drawing ovals with any given
proportion were within reach, if not known, at the time Francesco Borromini
planned the dome for S.Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, since they only required a
basic knowledge of Euclidean geometry (the whole of Chap. 7 of this book is
dedicatedtothisconstruction).Inanycase,tracesofpolycentriccurvesdateback
thousands of years (see for example Huerta’s extensive work on oval domes [5]).
For everything that has come down to us in terms of treatises on the generic oval
shape(laformaovataasshecallsit),withconstructionsexplainedbythearchitects
intheirownwords,thebookbyZerlenga[17]isamust.
Theideaofthisbookisnottodisputewhetherandwhenpolycentricovalswere
usedinthepast.Itistocreateacompactandstructuredsetofdata,bothgeometric
andalgebraic,coveringthesingletopicofpolycentricovalsinallitsmathematical
aspects,andthentoillustratetwoveryimportantcasestudies.Basicconstructions
andequationshavebeenusedand/orderivedbythosewhoneededthem,butsucha
collectionhas—tothebestofourknowledge—neverbeenputtogether.Andthisis
why this book can help those using the oval shape to make objects and to design
buildings,aswellasthoseusingitasameansoftheirartisticcreation,tomasterand
optimise the shape to fit their technical and/or artistic requirements. The author
wentdeepintothesubjectandthebookcontainsmanyofhiscontributions,someof
whichapparentlynotinvestigatedbefore.
The style chosen is that of mathematical rigour combined with easy-to-follow
passages, and this could only have been done because basic Euclidean geometry,
analyticgeometry,trigonometryandcalculushavebeenused.Non-mathematicians
whocanbenefitfromtheconstructionsand/orformulasondisplaywillthusbeable,
with a bit of work, to understand where these constructions and formulas
comefrom.
Themainpublishedcontributionstothisworkhavebeen:theauthor’spaperon
theconstructionofovals[8],Rosin’spapersonfamousovalconstructions[11,13],
and onthe comparison ofan ellipse with an oval [11–14],Dotto’ssurvey on oval
constructions[2]andhisbookonHarmonicOvals[3],Lo´pezMozo’spaperonthe
variousgeneralpurposeconstructionsofpolycentricovalsinhistory[7],Ragazzo’s
works on ovals and polycentric curves [9, 10]—which triggered the author’s
interestinboththesubjects—andfinallythemonographontheColosseum[1].
TotallynewtopicsdisplayedinthismonographareConstructions10and11,the
organisedcollectionofformulasinChap.4,theinscriptionandcircumscriptionof
rectangles and rhombi with ovals, the Frame Problems and the constructions of
ovalsminimisingtheratioandthedifferenceoftheradiiforanychoiceofaxes.An
organizedapproachtotheproblemofnestedovalsisalsopresented,whattheauthor
calls the Stadium Problem, as well as a new oval form by the author. The main
contribution is though the study on Borromini’s dome in the church of San Carlo
alle Quattro Fontane in Rome: together with Margherita Caputo a whole new
hypothesis on the steps which Borromini took in his mysterious project for his
complicatedovaldomeisputforward.
References 3
Chapter 2 is dedicated to the basic properties of four-centre ovals and to their
proofs.
Chapter 3 lists a whole set of ruler/compass constructions systematically
ordered. They are divided into: constructions where the axis lines are given,
constructions where the oval has an undefined position on the plane but some
parameters are given, special constructions involving inscribed or circumscribed
rectangles and rhombi—including the direct and inverse Frame Problem—and
finallyanillustrationofpossiblesolutionstotheStadiumProblem.
In Chap. 4 we prove the formulas corresponding to the constructions of ovals
withgivenaxislinespresentedinChap.3.Thenwederivetheformulassolvingthe
directandinverseFrameProblems.Finallywederiveformulasfortheareaandthe
perimeterofanoval.
Chapter5featurestwonewoptimisationproblemsregardingthedifferenceand
the ratio between the two radii of an oval with fixed axes and the corresponding
constructions.
Chapter6presentsfamousovalshapesandtheircharacteristicsasdeducedfrom
theformulasofChap.4,withafinalcomparisonillustration.
Chapter 7—co-written with Margherita Caputo—is about reconstructing the
project for the dome of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane as Borromini developed
it.Wesuggestthathemodifiedanidealovaldomeusingadeformationmoduleto
adaptittothespacehehadandtohisideaonwhatthevisitorshouldperceive,in
termsofpatterns,lightanddepth.
Chapter 8 illustrates a possible use of 8-centre ovals in the project for the
Colosseum—as suggested by Trevisan in [16]—after a short introduction on the
propertiesofovalswithmorethanfourcentres.
The use of freeware Geogebra by which all the figures in this book were
produced,has proveditselfcrucialin the representation, inthe understanding and
inthediscoveryofpossibleproperties.
References
1.AA.VV:IlColosseo.Studiericerche(DisegnareideeimmaginiX(18-19)).Gangemi,Roma
(1999)
2.Dotto, E.: Note sulle costruzioni degli ovali a quattro centri. Vecchie e nuove costruzioni
dell’ovale.DisegnareIdeeImmagini.XII(23),7–14(2001)
3.Dotto,E.:IlDisegnoDegliOvaliArmonici.LeNoveMuse,Catania(2002)
4.Duvernoy, S., Rosin, P.L.: The compass, the ruler and the computer. In: Duvernoy, S.,
Pedemonte, O. (eds.) Nexus VI—Architecture and Mathematics, pp. 21–34. Kim Williams
Books,Torino(2006)
5.Huerta,S.:Ovaldomes,geometryandmechanics.NexusNetw.J.9(2),211–248(2007)
6.Lluis i Ginovart, J., Toldra` Domingo, J.M., Fortuny Anguera, G., Costa Jover, A., de Sola
MoralesSerra,P.:TheellipseandtheovalinthedesignofSpanishmilitarydefenseinthe
eighteenthcentury.NexusNetw.J.16(3),587–612(2014)
7.Lo´pezMozo,A.:Ovalforanygivenproportioninarchitecture:alayoutpossiblyknowninthe
sixteenthcentury.NexusNetw.J.13(3),569–597(2011)
4 1 Introduction
8.Mazzotti, A.A.: What Borromini might have known about ovals. Ruler and compass
constructions.NexusNetw.J.16(2),389–415(2014)
9.Ragazzo,F.:Geometriadellefigureovoidali.Disegnareideeimmagini.VI(11),17–24(1995)
10.Ragazzo, F.: Curve Policentriche. Sistemi di raccordo tra archi e rette. Prospettive, Roma
(2011)
11.Rosin,P.L.:Asurveyandcomparisonoftraditionalpiecewisecircularapproximationstothe
ellipse.Comput.AidedGeom.Des.16(4),269–286(1999)
12.Rosin, P.L.: A family of constructions of approximate ellipses. Int. J. Shape Model. 8(2),
193–199(1999)
13.Rosin,P.L.:OnSerlio’sconstructionsofovals.Math.Intell.23(1),58–69(2001)
14.Rosin,P.L.,Pitteway,M.L.V.:theellipseandthefive-centredarch.Math.Gaz.85(502),13–24
(2001)
15.Schleske,M.:DerKlang:Vomunerh€ortenSinndesLebens.K€osel,München(2010)
16.Trevisan, C.: Sullo schema geometrico costruttivo degli anfiteatri romani: gli esempi del
Colosseoedell’arenadiVerona.DisegnareIdeeImmagini.X(18-19),117–132(2000)
17.Zerlenga,O.:La“formaovata”inarchitettura.Rappresentazione geometrica.Cuen,Napoli
(1997)
2
Properties of a Polycentric Oval
Inthischapterwesumupthewell-knownpropertiesofanovalandaddnewones,in
ordertohavethetoolsforthevariousconstructionsillustratedinChap.3andforthe
formulas linking the different parameters, derived in Chap. 4. All properties are
derived by means of mathematical proofs based on elementary geometry and
illustratedwithdrawings.
Westartwiththedefinitionofwhatwemeaninthisbookbyoval:
Apolycentricovalisaclosedconvexcurvewithtwoorthogonalsymmetryaxes(orsimply
axes) made of arcs of circle subsequently smoothly connected, i.e. sharing a common
tangent.
Theconstructionofapolycentricovalisstraightforward.Ononeoftwoorthog-
onal lines meeting at a point O, choose point A and point C between O and
1
A (Fig. 2.1). Draw an arc of circle through A with centre C , anticlockwise, up to
1
a point H such that the line C H forms an acute angle with OA. Choose then a
1 1 1
pointC onlineH C ,betweenC andthevertical axis,anddrawanewarcwith
2 1 1 1
centreC andradiusC H ,uptoapointH suchthatthelineC H formsanacute
2 2 1 2 2 2
angle with OA. Proceed in the same way eventually choosing a centre on the
vertical axis—say C . The next arc will have as endpoint, say H , the symmetric
4 4
tothepreviousendpointw.r.t.theverticalline,sayH ,andcentreC .Fromnowon
3 4
symmetricarchesw.r.t.thetwoaxescanbeeasilydrawnusingsymmetriccentres.
Theresultisa12-centreoval.Thiswayofproceedingallowsforcommontangents
attheconnectingpointsH .Thenumberofcentresinvolvedisalwaysamultipleof
n
four, which means that the simplest ovals have four centres, and to these most of
thisbookisdedicated,consideringthatformulasandconstructionsofthelattercan
alreadybequitecomplicated.Itisalsotruethateight-centreovalshavebeenused
byarchitectsinsomecasesinordertoreproduceaformascloseaspossibletothat
ofanellipse.Chapter8isdevotedtothoseshapesandtothepossibilityofextending
propertiesoffour-centreovalstothem.
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6 2 PropertiesofaPolycentricOval
Fig.2.1 Constructinga12-centreoval
Theabovedefinitionimpliesthatthisisapolycentriccurve,inthesensethatitis
made of arcs of circle subsequently connected at a point where they share a
common tangent (and this may include smooth or non-smooth connections). In
[2]awayofformingpolycentriccurvesusingamoregeneralversionofaproperty
ofovalsispresented.
One of the basic tools by which ovals can be constructed and studied is the
ConnectionLocus.Thisisasetofpointswheretheconnectionpointsfortwoarcs
can be found. It was conjectured by Felice Ragazzo (see [4, 5]) for ovals,
egg-shapes and generic polycentric curves. A Euclidean proof of its existence
was the main topic in [2], along with constructions of polycentric curves making
useofit.Inthisbooktheversionforfour-centreovalsisdisplayed,alongwithall
theimplications,themainonebeingthattheovalisacurvedefinedbyatleastthree
independentparameters,evenwhenafour-centreovalischosen.
Tomakethisclearerletusconsideranellipsewithhalf-axesaandb.Thesetwo
positive numbers are what is needed to describe the ellipse, whose equation in a