Of Circles and Lines

Author(s): Cameron Wu
Source: Log, No. 31 (Spring/Summer 2014), pp. 107-114
Published by: Anyone Corporation
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43630897
Accessed: 05-04-2020 21:00 UTC

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 Of Circles and Lines
Cameron Wu

0!ŒiE] San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane by Francesco Borromini

@599-1677) is a masterwork of the baroque period that resides
between limit conditions of architectural and geometric types.
There have been numerous readings and interpretations of
the church - commonly called San Carlino - in an attempt to
articulate its many virtues. In typological terms, it is enig-
matically ambiguous, as its sophisticated spatial and linguis-
tic mutations elude simple and reductive classification.1 When
assessed strictly in terms of geometry, the most substantial and
exacting formal analyses tend to affirm the simultaneous exis-
tence of competing and indispensable templates, while leading
to no definitive conclusions.2 The dearth of primary architec-
tural documentation from Borromini's own hand continues to

elicit investigations that attempt precise surveys and descrip-

tions of what physically exists rather than expanding the in-
terrogation
1. "Borromini's San Carlo aile Quattro of San Carlino's "both-and" qualities to include a
Fontane abounds in ambiguous mani-
broader
festations of both-and. The almost equal
range of inexplicit geometric possibilities.
treatment of the four wings implied in the The QR code here links to an animated analysis of San
plan suggests a Greek cross, but the wings
are distorted toward a dominant east-west Carlino that establishes and modulates a range of implicit geo-
axis, thus suggesting a Latin cross, while metric relationships latent in the plan. After activating simple
the continuity of the walls indicates a
distorted circular plan." Robert Venturi, operations that relate radial and axial displacements (circles
Complexity and Contradiction (New York:
The Museum of Modern Art, 2004), 28.
and lines), layered constructions are added incrementally to
2. This simultaneity is perhaps most ultimately produce dynamic architectural plans. In any fixed
effectively described by Leo Steinberg's state, these lineaments - arcs, lines, intersections, bisectors,
"triform hypothesis," in which he
convincingly articulates the inextricable and offsets - would be achievable with compass and rule,
interweaving of an oval, a cross, and an
octagon, "designed to sustain a ternary co-
the primary drawing instruments of Borromini. The main
existence, to keep each line of the threefold constraints of these basic geometric constructions - centers,
counterpoint sounding the same pitch."
Leo Steinberg, Borromini's San Carlo Alle tangencies, perpendicularities, and projections - are defined
Quattro Fontane: A Study in Multiple Form parametrically such that the entire system maintains one de-
and Architectural Symbolism (New York:
Garland, 1977), 43-44. gree of freedom, activated via a single input motion and gov-
erned by trigonometric periodicity.
As the transformational system becomes more complex,
one can imagine the remarkable three-dimensional manipu-
lations of space and form suggested by the dynamic and lique-
fied analytic plan. Yet for all its transformational suppleness
and instability, the new system does not obfuscate the unique-
ness of particular instantiations in which the congruence

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 and alignment of San Carlino's geometric elements produce
discernable, unambiguous architectural types. Namely,
these are the circular rotunda and the axial nave, two para-
digms of architectural space that manifest a more complex
dialogue between circle and line. Additionally, there exist
angular displacements of the system (two thirds of the way
between nave and rotunda) that exhibit remarkable geomet-
ric and compositional cohesion. In these states, shrinking and
expanding circles become congruent and evenly dispersed
across implicit grids of equilateral triangles, exhibiting mul-
tiple tangencies, symmetries, and alignments that were not
present a mere moment before. Occurring eight times per
full cycle (2jt radians), these are the multiple instantiations of
San Carlino, conspicuously distinct and coherent among their
1.
infinite interpolative neighbors.
In addition to showcasing the delightful psychedelia
of the baroque (plan), it is intended that this new take on
Borromini might serve as a critical lens to consider certain
trends in computational and parametric thought in practice
and academia today. The ability to produce specificity and co-
hesive value amid infinite possibility may come as a welcome
counterpoint to a subset of the discipline that continues to
doggedly champion the specious virtues of endless variation
and indeterminacy.

Circles and Lines

This work is a study of points, lines, and circles. In

tional Euclidean sense, the order of this list seems c
with each successive element advancing in dimension
plexity - point of zero dimension, line of one dimen
circle of two dimensions. Yet this analysis employs
to allow these elements to transform from one to another

and back again. In the mathematical discourse known as in-

versive geometry, all of these elements could be classified as
generalized circles - points as circles of zero radius, circles
as circles of non-zero radius, and lines as circles of infinite
radius (fig. 1). With circles as the geometric commonality,
perhaps the more appropriate sequence might be point, circle,
and line. Regardless of the order, they are defined to behave
interchangeably - expanding, contracting, trimming, and
inverting to produce dynamically changing composite figures.

Two-Cusped Hypocycloid

The mechanics of the system is based on relationship

mental to a two-cusped hypocycloid. Hypocycloids ar

108 Log 1Í

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 constructed by tracing a given point on a smaller circle that is
rolling around the inside of a larger circle (fig. 2). Certain
ratios of the respective radii will produce regular multi-
cusped figures as shown. When the small circle is exactly
half the radius of the larger circle, the resulting path traced
is confined to a straight line. Hence, in much simpler terms,
a two-cusped hypocycloid is merely a straight line segment
that is traced over and over again. This is the only such ratio
of this system that translates the rotational input to a purely
linear output, again reestablishing the geometric dialogue
between circle and line. It is worth noting that very specific
and minute variations of quantitative input (ratio of radii)
will yield profound qualitative disparities in the resultant
figures.
In this system, the endpoints of the diameter of the
small circle Çr = 0.5) are confined to the x and y axes, and
the locations of these cardinal points and the speed at which
they move are strictly governed by the basic trigonometric
functions of sine and cosine. This motion of the diameter is

identical to that found in the drawing instrument known as

an elliptical trammel (figs. 3, 4), a particular type of ellip-
sograph. The earliest examples of such a device date back to
the time of Archimedes, and were essentially reinvented by
Leonardo and Dürer in the late 15th century. It is ironic to
note that the virtual geometric relationships that govern the
speed and motion of our system are latent in drawing instru-
ments used for ellipse construction, yet true and distinct el-
lipses are not readily found in the plan of San Carlino.

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 Specificity

In lieu of a transformational system that proceeds forwar

3. "Transformation, while it did not neces- from an origin condition in time,* the duplicitous form o
sarily suggest any ideal order, presumed
that the significance of the final form Carlino is situated between opposing paradigms of spatial
resided, in part, in the process itself; in ganization. The periodic input motion that drives the tra
the capacity of the object to reveal its own
origins and processes, to register back to an formational sequence has no beginning or end. At particu
original type - by a kind of reverse mental
states of angular displacement, the layered multiplicity of
process." Peter Eisenman, "The Futility of
Objects: Decomposition and the Processes intermediate states evaporates as overlapping circles and
of Differentiation," in Eisenman Inside Out:
become momentarily congruent and/or coincident, produ
Selected Writings 1961-1988 (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2004), 171-72. ing unmistakable clarity in the resultant figures (fig. 5; fo
series of drawings, see Log 11 insert). For 0 = 0, jt/2, Jt, 1%
2jt, the system produces navelike axial organizations of e
bays, each successive occurrence alternating alignment w
the X and y axes according to sinusoidal oscillation. For 0
jty 2j r, (sin0 = 0, cos0 = ±1) the figure aligns with the x-a
Similarly, for 6 = jt/2y ļjt/2, (sin0 = ±1, cos0 = 0) the figu
aligns with the y-axis. The other primary limit state prod
the form of the circular rotunda, which occurs at 0 = it/
3jt/4, 5^/4, 7jt/4, (sin0 = cos0 = 1/V2). These angular inp
yield equal values for sine and cosine functions, producin
bilateral symmetry across both x and y axes, and resultin
the purely radial forms.

The Push

At 7:29 into the animation the system pauses and an isolated

event ensues. Unlike the pause at 4:47, which highlights the
articulation of column locations, this event is a nonsystem-
atic aberration. The centers of the outermost wall circles are

pushed outward, while keeping the columns supporting the

apsidal arches stationary, thereby maintaining the diagonal
symmetry with the long apse columns across the perpendicu-
lar bisectors of the rhombus sides (fig. 6). These displacements
allow for the concave quarter spheres that cap the longitudinal
apses above the entablature to remain full and pure volumes,
uncompromised by the wall thickness of the apsidal arches
(fig. 7). Additionally, this push increases the distance between

110 Log 31

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 the columns flanking the entrance and the altar. Idealized
center-line geometries in architecture must necessarily nego-
tiate with materiality and thickness, and the widening of the
main public threshold and an altar made more commodious
for liturgical proceedings represent deferrals to programmatic
imperatives. The geometric system has become impure, mildly
subjugated to the demands of use and habitation.

Topology and Type

From 8:2? to 9:10 there is a change in the rule set that

the detachment of the walls from the columns. This alteration

is a playful conceit that enables the system to produce more

explicit embodiments of the idealized architectural types rep-
resented by the limit conditions (fig. 8). The decoupling allows
the walls to migrate inside the columns in the circular state
to produce an interior drum akin to Bramante's Tempietto
0503), the quintessential example of the rotunda type (fig. 9).
Similarly, the walls migrate outside the columns in the axial
states to produce side aisles flanking the nave, thereby com-
pleting a tripartite basilica form. In the San Carlino states, the
system is calibrated such that the columns engage the walls as
before.

In terms of architectural precedent, there are relatively

few examples of an idealized nave without a transept demar-
cating a cross axis and an implicit notion of center. One might
briefly consider the Basilica of Santa Croce (fig. 10), with its
T-shaped plan resulting from a transept that caps the eastern
end of the nave, truncating the longitudinal axis rather than
merely intersecting it. The absence of a proper narthex also
contributes to the reading of the nave plan as relatively pure
and undisrupted.
As isolated frames, the linear nave states (0 = 0, %/l, it,
ļjt/ 2, 2jt) display no discernable evidence of any lateral axis,
which has been momentarily eradicated by a zero -value
trigonometric function. However, the choreography of per-
petual recalibration will predictably demand that the cross

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 axis immediately reappear, waxing to full development and
reorienting the linear figure in a perpendicular direction
a quarter cycle ( pt/2 radians) later. In this sense, it may be
illustrative to consider an alternative precedent for com-
parison. Though often considered as a centralized scheme,
Bramante's plan for St. Peter's (c. 1506) exhibits conspicuous
axiality, equally weighted between x and y, and potentially
suggests the simultaneous embodiment of our two cardinal
nave instantiations (figs. 11, 12).

Discrete and Continuous

Of course, the transverse ovoid niches found in Sa

affirm the presence of a diminishing (or emergin
eral axis. The latent cruciform shape and four pen
in this intermediate zone allude to a distorted Greek cross

plan above the entablature to support the elongated four-arc

Serlian oval dome.4 Rudolf Wittkower's well-known reading
describes this interior as the reconciliation of three sectional

zones - the lower zone of undulating walls and columns, the

aforementioned pendentive zone, and the uppermost dome
(fig. l£).5 In each of these sectional divisions, San Carlino
demonstrates contrasting formal manifestations of the con-
tinuous and the discrete.
Wittkower characterizes the lowest band under the

entablature as the most undulating yet unified, compar-

ing it to the smooth and continuous plan of the Piazza d'Oro
in Hadrian's Villa (fig. 14). 6 However, according to stricter
mathematical definitions of curvature and continuity,7 this
comparison may seem too qualitative and general, as the
presence of cusps in the lower zone of San Carlino reveal the
lack of tangency at intersection points (GO continuity) of the
plan. Though the four quartets of robust columns conceal
the cusps of the base walls while architecturally unifying
the lower register, the powerful entablature highlights these
cusps, emphatically declaring the autonomy of the geometric
primitives used to construct the plan below.

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u.

The intermediate pendentive zone demonstrates a dif-

ferent (and perhaps more contemporary) notion of continu-
ity and transformation. The twisted apsidal arches framing
coffers and pediments mapped onto recessed spherical and
ovoid niches are all instances of physical deformation and
material pliability. If this zone is understood to be a proper
Greek cross subject to distortion, then such a transformation
has been applied a posteriori, à la D'Arcy Thompson.8 This
conception of transformation as related to smooth and plastic
deformation is resonant with a brand of parametric design
that has dominated recent discourse, championing hetero-
geneity and elastic variation, but often at such a fine level of
4. Steinberg, Borromini's San Carlo, 133-46. gradation as to leave no criteria for legibility and judgment.9
5. Rudolf Wittkower, Art and Architecture In
Italy 1600-1750 (Baltimore: Penguin Books,
In these terms, the plan of the oval dome overhead may
1969), 155-34. be understood as a hybrid of the other two sectional zones.
6. Ibid., 154.
7. Continuity at vertices of compound To the uneducated eye, the oval may appear smooth and co-
curves are classified in the following ways: hesive, perhaps an elastic elongation of a once circular dome.
curves that meet at a point and are not tan-
gent (GO continuity), curves that meet at a Yet a more knowledgeable geometric eye can discern the
point and are tangent CGI continuity), and
changes in curvature between piecewise-continuous arcs
curves that meet at a point, are tangent,
and have equal derivatives (G2 continuity). at their points of contiguity and tangency, which betray the
8. See D'Arcy Thompson, "On the Theory
of Transformations," in On Growth and
discrete nature of the oval's parts.
Form (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1968), 1026-95. * * *

9. See Wes Jones, "Can Tectonics Grasp

Smoothness?", Log 30 (Winter 2014): The conception of architecture as
29-42.
proportioned parts is Albertian in

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 and systematic redefinition of the ratios that simultaneously
govern its discrete parts and global composition is decid-
edly not. This analysis attempts to demonstrate a higher
mode of transformational thinking about architectural and
geometric part- to -whole relationships that is not dependent
solely on attributes of material plasticity for its legibility.
This manner of thinking suggests a temporal and intellec-
tual animation, wherein discrete and legible bodies partake
in a continuous recalibration of metrics and relationships
to comprise various instances of continuity - sometimes
smooth and sometimes not.

Cameron Wu is an assistant pro-

FESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AND CO-

DIRECTOR of the Geometry Lab at

the Harvard University Graduate
School of Design.

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