Category Archives: Art

Escher again!

While searching for a certain Escher tessellation on the web I stumbled upon two great sites about M. C. Escher’s artwork and its use in the classroom:

The Mathematics behind the Art of M. C. Escher:

“As Escher’s works cover many areas from perspective distortions to metamorphoses, as such we felt that to talk a little about everything would have been explaining too little of too many things. As such, we have singled in onto one particular type of his work, tessellations.
In addition, the team felt that it we wanted to keep our explanations simple and clear, as such the extensive use of Flash animation is was chosen as the medium to relay our thoughts.
We hope to achieve through this paper:

  • a deeper understanding and appreciation of Escher’s tessellations
  • to uncover the underlying mathematical principles behind his artwork
  • based on principles that we have learned, we will also attempt to create some original tessellations of our own
  • lastly, to explore the possibilities of his artwork in practical usage in areas of architecture such as space, form and façade treatment.”

Jill Britton: Escher in the Classroom.
This is “a condensation of the article written by Jill Britton for M.C. Escher’s Legacy: A Centennial Celebration – the proceedings of the International Escher Congress held in Rome, Italy in July 1998″.

Britton also mainains a page of activity links about symmetry and tessellations.

It’s almost like being there

MetaFilter: 360-degree panoramic galleries of European cities

“Arounder has an ongoing collection of high-quality full screen Quicktime VR panoramas of European cities, focusing on famous artistic and cultural landmarks (in Rome, Florence, Köln, Barcelona, Cyprus), with interactive maps and travel information. A collaboration with national tourist offices by Swiss company Vrway Communication, which also publishes Vrmag, a bi-monthly review of panorama photography, and the FullscreenQTVR directory in collaboration with the well-known panoramas.dk.”

I’ve been to the Cologne Cathedral many times, but am always amazed again by the sheer grandeur of the building. The virtual tour of the Kölner Dom lets you get a feeling for the place even if you’ve never visited. Bonus: There are nice views of Cologne from the towers of the cathedral.

Thirteen years ago I visited Tuscany on a school trip in my final year. We stayed in Florence (Firenze!) and of course visited the cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, and its tower. Cathedrals in Tuscany usually consist of a main building, il duomo, a baptistry, il battistero, and a tower, il campanile (e.g., the famous leaning tower in Pisa is the campanile of the cathedral at the Piazza dei Miracoli, the Square of wonders). The virtual tour of the Catheral made memories come back… I remember climbing up on top of the dome – there are very narrow funny little flights of stairs between the outer and inner domes, which can be a bit claustrophobic, but you are rewarded with a great view of the city.