Beauty from Nature

What is beauty? One of the most difficult problems modern philosophy grapples with.

Nature

Beauty takes inspiration from nature. The closer one is to nature, the higher the beauty. Natural landscapes, forests, coral reefs have harmony. There is a higher living system at play here.

One of the most important aspects of nature are trees. The crown (upper part) is often fractal (meaning it stems from a central part that splits up in smaller and smaller parts). Fractality is one of the important aspects of beauty. We love to see fractals.

One of the ways tree-like beauty is represented in cathedrals is by pillars. The capital represents the crown of the tree.

Fractal Beauty

Beauty is fractal. What this means is that beauty occurs to us, at every distance. When up close, beauty can be seen, when far away, again beauty can be seen. This point cannot be expressed hardly enough. The closer we get to the modern age, the more one- dimensional art tends to get. There is not a lot of substance, until it all becomes a big void.

St Denis Basilica Rose Window (Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC BY-SA 3.0)

The above rose window shows the principle of fractality perfectly. Firstly, it is a circle. Secondly, on the left bottom and right bottom there are two circles, which again consist of circles. The central rose window consists of a ring of circles. The rose shape also contains some fractality (there is a smaller rose contained in the larger rose). It is thus very easy to see that there is some self-similarity in this window. It contains many dimensions (the greater, the smaller).

The name also implies similarity to nature. A rose (like most flowers) unfolds in multiple layers, like this window.

The symbolism of this particular window is how all leads to God. The center is God the Creator. Around the outer are the Zodiac signs and the labours of the months, representing the order of the Heavens and the order of the Earth. It points at how all of the universe (the whole image) is all contained in God. He is the source of all Being, the universe is like Him.

Albi Cathedral Choir - Pierre-Selim Huard

Albi Cathedral is one of the most beautiful architectural marvels still preserved. It is beautiful from afar and from up close.

Conclusion

This post showed multiple patterns returning in nature and in architecture. Firstly the aspect that real beauty occurs on all levels, from far away and up close. Secondly that both trees and flowers give their inspiration to architecture.