THE GOLDEN RATIO AND HOW TO USE IT TO CREATE STUNNING INTERIOR DESIGNS

Image by Rafael Javier from Pixabay 

By Michael Jumba

The Golden Ratio is a mathematical concept that was developed by Fibonacci. The golden ratio also called the golden section by the ancient Greeks, golden proportion, mean ratio, divine proportion, golden mean or golden number, is widely used in modern sciences particularly in theoretical physics and of relevance to this article, interior design. The ratio of any two consecutive Fibonacci numbers converges to give approximates of 1.618, or its inverse, 0.618. This shows the relationship between Fibonacci numbers and golden ratio.

The Golden ratio has been widely used in various professions. For example, it has been used by Egyptians in the construction of their great pyramids. It is denoted by Greek letter called phi (Φ, capital letter or , small letter). The letter was given name phi by a mathematician from America, Mark Barr because it is the first letter in Greek alphabets in the name of Phidias, the greatest sculptor of Greek, that widely used golden section principles in all his sculptures.

The golden ratio has unique mathematical properties. One of the properties is the concept that was originated in plane geometry, division of a line segment into two segments. If we can divide a line in such a way that the ratio of the whole length to the length of the longer segment happen to be equal to the ratio of the length of the longer segment to the length of the shorter segment, then we can say the ratio is a golden ratio (See illustration below).

The golden ratio also occurs in nature in various forms. Familiar examples include, the pattern of the petals on flowers, the arrangement of leaves in the stem of a plant, the pineapples scales or the pinecones bracts. Fibonacci sequence can also be figured out in the parts of human body (hands).

The leaves on the stem of a plant get optimum exposure to sunlight, when they grow or develop in alternating or zigzags manner which forms some kind of spiral pattern. With regards to flowers, if we examine them carefully, we will find out that the petals on a flower always have one of the Fibonacci sequence.

The intriguing feature about Fibonacci numbers is the ways it occurs in the growing pattern of some natural occurring living things. For example, the human hand. If we examine our hands very carefully, we would see that each finger is separated into 3 parts with the exception of the thumbs, which is separated into 2 parts. There are 5 fingers on each hand and total of 8 fingers are separated into 3 parts. All these numbers are members of Fibonacci series.

The spiral is a pattern in nature which is known as self-replicating pattern. It that grows or develops into different sizes without changing its shape or by maintaining the same shape. For example, as currents move to the ocean and tides ride unto the shore, the waves that bring in the tide curved into the spirals can mathematically be represented in a diagram with points 1,1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 and 55.

Relationship of Fibonacci Numbers and Golden Ratio

If we ask ourselves “what do the pyramids of Egypt, portrait of Mona Lisa, sunflowers, snails, pine cones and human fingers all have in common?” The answer to this question is hidden in the series of numbers known as Fibonacci numbers. This Fibonacci numbers has interesting features in that each number in the sequence is equal to the sum of the two previous one as illustrated below.

1

1

1 + 1 = 2

1 + 2 = 3

2 + 3 = 5

3 + 5 = 8

5 + 8 = 13

8 + 13 = 21, and so on.

These numbers continue in this fashion to infinity which is also called Fibonacci series.

[Keep checking out this site for the next article on how to use the golden ratio to create stunning interiors]...