Golden Design

The exemplary proportions of the golden ratio have been used throughout the most classical and enigmatic cultures from the profound sacred architecture of the Ancient Egyptians to revolutionist renaissance artists, all the way to storytelling structure in sound and cinema. Throughout any medium, the golden ratio is seen as a formulaic how-to that evokes aesthetically pleasing imagery and proportions that were once revered as divine knowledge passed down throughout the most elite of priestly dogma. Recently, Duke University engineer, Adrian Bejan, has found a link between the golden ratio and the evolutionary responses of vision.

According to Bejan, the reason that the golden ratio has made such a lasting impression on the designs human cultures past and present is due to the functioning mechanisms of the eye, which "scan an image the fastest when it is shaped as a golden-ratio rectangle." His theory is based around the his constructal law termed in 1996, that states that flowing systems evolve throughout time to "flow more easily," linking the natural design that connects vision and cognition. To Bejan, the evolutionary systems, adapted throughout time to become quicker, enabling the cognition to become faster and allowing the design of the brain to expand, opening the mind to higher design thresholds to further test its boundaries.

The golden ratio serves as a doorway into the fundamentals of nature's design, a residual carbon copy translated into the language of our culture through forms and icons, enabling us to peer into the deeper recesses and meanings of its existence.

Image: "Almost Golden Ratio" by The Chadburn on Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing.