Nexus Netw J

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00004-018-0370-3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Beyond Homo Ludens: Architecture and Mathematics

Michael J. Ostwald1 • Kim Williams2

Ó Kim Williams Books, Turin 2018

Abstract This ‘Letter from the Editors’ introduces two theories about the role of
play in culture and society. Drawing on the work of Roger Caillois, the editors
identify two types of play, broadly aligning each to the concerns and approaches
taken in the two parts of this issue of the Nexus Network Journal. Thereafter, they
introduce the papers that make up the second part of vol. 20, no. 1 (2018).

Keywords Homo ludens
Architectural design
Design concepts
Geometry

Proportions
Diagrid systems
Planar elements
Topological cubes

The term homo ludens was first introduced in 1938 by Dutch historian Johan
Huizinga, as part of his theory about the way cultures evolve over time. Huizinga’s
homo ludens is typically translated into English as ‘man at play’ or used to describe
a ‘player of games’. However, the Latin word ludens actually encompasses a wide
range of activities, from whimsical, childish pastimes to competitive sports and even
extends to the production of art, literature and scholarship. For Huizinga (1944),
play is defined as any activity that may be freely pursued and operates apart from
conventional life, but which, nevertheless has its own system of order.
French theorist Roger Caillois was inspired by Huizinga’s ideas and in 1958 he
published Les Jeux et les Hommes (Man, Play and Games), which expanded and

& Michael J. Ostwald

michael.ostwald@newcastle.edu.au
Kim Williams
kwb@kimwilliamsbooks.com
1
School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Newcastle, University Drive,
Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
2
Kim Williams Books, Corso Regina Margherita, 72, 10153 Turin, Italy
 M. J. Ostwald, K. Williams

critiqued the concept of homo ludens. Caillois, like Huizinga, sought to identify the
crucial role which play serves in the development and refinement of culture. In order
to examine the importance of play, Caillois (1961) was forced to differentiate two
major types. The first, known as paidia, is spontaneous or improvised, and while it
has no pre-defined outcome, it has many benefits. The Greek word paidia refers to
delight, amusement and childishness. The second type of play, known as ludus,
denotes an activity which relies on rules and requires extensive skills and experience
to master. The Latin word ludus refers to practice, training and competition. Homo
ludens encompasses both paidia and ludus, but it is important to realize that the two
are not binary opposites. A seemingly eccentric or willful game might produce an
ordered or controlled result, and conversely, extensive practice and training for a
sport may lead to an innovative or creative outcome. Caillois’s paidia and ludus can
be used to explain many different social and cultural processes, and they are also
applicable to differentiating research practices and motivations.
The standard, positivist scientific paradigm requires that research be undertaken
in accordance with accepted standards for data gathering, analysis and documen-
tation. In a sense, this is akin to ludus, as it necessitates a commitment to a highly
refined mode of thinking and acting as a precursor to success. In contrast, post-
structuralist and anti-positivist research paradigms often celebrate personal expe-
rience, intuition and inspiration, finding value in idiosyncratic methods and results.
It is not surprising then, that this second tradition in research could be regarded as
being closer to paidia in its processes and values. Architectural research can
emphasize or follow either paradigm, but paidia is most often successful as a
research approach when combined with ludus. Thus for example, the particular
topics chosen for architectural research may be shaped by personal enthusiasms, and
there is often a sense of joy in the work and its presentation, but it must be
documented and structured in accordance with accepted scholarly standards.
The research in the first part of vol. 20, no. 1 (2018) of the Nexus Network
Journal (NNJ) is dedicated to ‘Architecture In-Play’, and its papers often have a
strong sense of paidia about them. The experiments and processes they describe
feature serendipitous elements or celebrate unusual outcomes or processes as a
means of developing new knowledge. In contrast, the works in the second part of
this issue are more aligned to Caillois’s ludus, with its methodical, structured or
ordered approach to research. It could be argued that their aspirations and
approaches go beyond homo ludens, as they seek to understand particular
relationships between architecture and mathematics that have existed in society
and culture at different times.
Several papers in part two of this issue have such a focus. For example, among
the greatest geometrical feats of all time are the muqarnas domes and friezes that
characterize Islamic architecture. In ‘‘Muqarnas Domes and Cornices in the
Maghreb and Andalusia’’, José Carlos Palacios Gonzalo and Rana Munir Alkadi
explain the differences between muqarnas in the region of Northern Africa,
exemplified by the sixteenth-century dome of the Ben Joussef Medersa in
Marrakesh, and those of Spain, exemplified by the mid-thirteenth-century dome
of the Abencerrages Hall in the Alhambra. In ‘‘The Geometry of Cuboctahedra in
Medieval Art in Anatolia’’ Hakan Hisarligil and Beyhan Bolak Hisarligil have
Beyond Homo Ludens: Architecture and Mathematics

reached back to the Middle Ages to locate and catalogue examples of a specific kind
of geometrical solid used as architectural ornament. Their treatment of the form,
however, is far from merely historical, and links it to the notions of vector
equilibrium and vector matrix advanced by Buckminster Fuller. Josep Lluis i
Ginovart, Mónica López Piquer and Judith Urbano Lorente have also revisited the
Middle Ages, combing through the archives of Tortosa Cathedral. In their paper,
‘‘Transfer of Mathematical Knowledge for Building Medieval Cathedrals’’, the
authors show how archival sources point to the origins of architectural ideas, and
provide information about how they spread.
Moving forward to the late nineteenth century, Genaro González, Albert Samper
and Blas Herrera present ‘‘Classification by Type of the Arches in Gaudı́’s Palau
Güell’’. Using modern photogrammetrical and mathematical techniques, the authors
have determined that the various arches in Palau Güell (1885–1890) are best fit by
either conical curves (ellipse, parabola, hyperbola) or hyperbolic-cosine curves
(catenary, Rankine). The aim of this detailed geometrical analysis is to provide a
solid scientific basis to aid the discovery historical, formal and structural links with
the arches used in other of Gaudı́’s architectural works. Related to this thread of
modern explorations of historical uses of geometry is the book review by Ana
López-Mozo of Angelo Mazzotti’s All Sides to an Oval: Properties, Parameters,
and Borromini’s Mysterious Construction (Springer, 2017). Mazzotti, who
contributed two articles to the NNJ prior to the publication of this book (see
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00004-014-0190-z and https://link.
springer.com/article/10.1007/s00004-014-0189-5), provides tools for modern
architects wishing to work with these fascinating oval forms.
Moving forward again to the mid-twentieth century, Minja Mitrović and Zorana
Ðord̄ević present the work of Milan Zloković, one of the leading proponents of
Modern Architecture in Yugoslavia. Zloković himself was influenced by an ancient
design tool—proportional dividers—which he used in order to formulate a design
method based on preferential numbers and proportions. In ‘‘Milan Zloković’s
Understanding of Reciprocal Concatenation’’, the authors analyze two buildings by
Zloković in order to show how his theories were applied.
It is a testimony to the resourcefulness of mathematics for architecture that we
continue to see techniques and notions applied to problems of contemporary design.
Three articles in the second part of this issue are concerned with new notions.
Mariya Komarova, in ‘‘World Bobsleigh Tracks: from Geometry to the Architecture
of Sports Facilities’’, shows just how serious the design of sports facilities can be:
the design of bobsleigh tracks must deal with different shapes in order to respect
parameters of speed and safety. Gökhan Kinayoglu and Burcu Şenyapılı discuss the
geometrical properties of diagrid systems (the term ‘‘diagrid’’ is a hybrid combining
‘‘diagonal’’ and ‘‘grid’’) which can underlie contemporary designs such as the 30 St.
Mary Axe Building in London, by Foster and Partners. In ‘‘Circular-Planned
Diagrid Systems and an Interrelated Technique Using Planar Elements’’, they
retrace the history of these systems and provide a new interpretation. Jin-Ho Park,
who has been a contributor to the NNJ since 2001 (see https://link.springer.com/
article/10.1007/s00004-000-0007-0, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s000
04-003-0017-9, and https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00004-006-0002-1),
 M. J. Ostwald, K. Williams

this time presents ‘‘Subsymmetries for the Analysis and Design of Housing
Facades’’, in which the usefulness of the seven frieze groups of symmetries and
subsymmetries to facade designs is demonstrated.
This issue also includes a contribution to the ongoing discussion of didactics. In
‘‘Domestic Prototypes Co-Designed through Experimental 1 m3 Topological
Cubes’’, Virginia de Jorge-Huertas and Justo de Jorge Moreno present a project
designed to introduce first-year architecture students to issues encountered in
domestic architecture.
Komarova’s paper on the geometry of bobsleigh tracks provides an interesting
counterpoint to the ‘‘architecture in-play’’ work. Bobsleigh racing is an Olympic
sport and its tracks are designed in accordance with international standards. It is, in
Caillois’s terms, an example of ludens, a controlled, competitive form of play,
which benefits from rigorous practice and planning. In contrast, Jin-Ho Park’s
development of seven frieze groups of symmetries and subsymmetries has
connections to both paidia and ludens, as its use of a rule-based geometric system
or composition, much like a shape grammar, leads to a range of unexpected
aesthetic outcomes.
Finally, this issue represents the start of the twentieth year of the Nexus Network
Journal. We wish to thank our readers, contributors, referees and editorial board
members for continuing to support the NNJ, the Nexus conferences, and the
evolving discipline formed to study the relationships between architecture and
mathematics.

References

Huizinga, Johan (1944) Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Switzerland: Routledge.
Caillois, Roger (1961) Man, Play and Games. Chicago. University of Illinois Press.

Michael J. Ostwald is Professor of Architecture at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Michael has a
PhD in architectural theory and history and a higher doctorate (DSc) in design mathematics and
computing. He is co-editor-in-chief (with Kim Williams) of the Nexus Network Journal: Architecture and
Mathematics (Springer) and a member of the Editorial Boards of ARQ (Cambridge) and Architectural
Theory Review (Taylor & Francis). He is co-editor (with Kim Williams) of the landmark, two volume
Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future (Springer, 2015) and co-author (with
Josephine Vaughan) of The Fractal Dimension of Architecture (Birkhäuser, 2016) and co-author (with
Michael Dawes) of the forthcoming The Mathematics of the Modernist Villa (Birkhäuser, 2018).

Kim Williams received her degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Texas in Austin. She
became interested in mathematics and architecture while writing Italian Pavements: Patterns in Space
(Houston: Anchorage Press, 1997) about the role of decorated pavements in the history of Italian
architecture. She is the founder and director of the Nexus conferences for architecture and mathematics,
and is the founder and co-editor-in-chief (with Michael Ostwald) of the Nexus Network Journal. Her
research mainly regards historical treatises on architecture. She is currently at work on an English
translation of Daniele Barbaro’s 1567 edition of Vitruvius.