Can humankind create something as beautiful as what nature sprouts from the earth effortlessly everyday? Well, it takes a lot more work, but Santiago Calatrava has more than accomplished the feat in my opinion. The Chicago Spire, under construction as a residential skyscraper standing to a height 2,000 feet, was inspired by the mathematics of nature.
The Fibonacci sequence was discovered by Leonardo of Pisa (1170-1250 C.E.) when he was doing experiments with rabbit reproduction. The sequence beings with 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 ... The deal is that each number is the sum of the preceding two numbers. The series goes on forever. The ratio approaches, but never reaches an infinite decimal that begins with 1.618, the Golden Mean. The Greeks thought of this as the mathematical key to beauty.
The number is found in the most beautiful rhythmic places in nature, the nautilus shell, the flower, the spiral eddy in clouds or in the water. So check out the Chicago Spire Web site. It's pretty beautiful as far as Web sites go. Check out the inspiration, the incredible floor plans that adapt to the exterior, the inspiring sketches, and the background of Santiago Calatrava.
http://www.thechicagospire.com/
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