04.07.2008 to 28.09.2008
An exhibition to mark Germany's Year of Mathematics, sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with scientific support from the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik at the Humboldt Universität and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.
For thousands of years mathematics has not only been a significant source of inspiration for architecture, it has also been its very basis. Proportion, number and weight are factors that determine every aspect of architectural creation, from the initial idea through to the drafts and the planning right up to implementation.
For the first time ever the exhibition will be taking a 'mathematical look' at masterpieces from the Art Library's collection as well as at objects that have never been on display before. Main works taken from architectural drawings, architectural theory, constructional engineering, teachings on proportion and perspective all come together to form a sweeping cross-section which spans from the 16th century well into the 19th century and which ranges from the consolidation of architecture into a science by way of maths to the introduction of the metric system of measurements, and from Albrecht Dürer to Friedrich Gilly.
