In an early chapter of his interesting new book, Symmetry: A Journey Into the Patterns of Nature,Marcus du Sautoy describes a visit to the Alhambra, the great Moorishpalace in Granada, Spain. He and his young son spend an afternoonidentifying 14 different types of symmetry represented in pavingpatterns, ornamentation, and tile work. To the layman, the patterns maylook simply like pretty forms, but to du Sautoy, who teachesmathematics at Oxford University, they are expressions of deep geometries that have their own names: gyrations, 333s, miracles, double miracles. DuSautoy`s book is about mathematics, but his excursion to the Alhambrais a reminder that symmetry has always been an important part ofarchitecture. Symmetry appears in small things and large: Floor tilesmay be laid in symmetrical patterns; the design of door paneling can besymmetrical, and so can window panes. In frontal symmetry, the leftside of a building`s facade mirrors the right {the entrance usuallybeing in the middle}; in axial-plan symmetry, the rooms on one side ofthe axis are a mirror image of those on the other. If the women`srestroom is on one side, chances are the men`s is on the other.Sometimes not being symmetrical is important; the fronts and backs of buildings, for example, are intentionally different.Symmetrosis a Greek word, and ancient Greek architecture used symmetry as abasic organizing principle. As did Roman, Roman-esque, and Renaissance.Indeed, it is hard to think of any architectural tradition, Western ornon-Western, that does not include symmetry. Symmetry is something thatIslamic mosques, Chinese pagodas, Hindu temples, Shinto shrines, andGothic cathedrals have in common.
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