The proportion of roughly 1 to 1.618, in which the whole relates to its larger part as the larger part does to the smaller, long claimed as a secret of beautiful building. Le Corbusier built it into his Modulor system of measures deliberately; readings of it into the Parthenon, the pyramids and the cathedrals are popular and contested, since the evidence is measurement after the fact rather than any ancient document.
That designers across history deliberately built to the golden ratio is a widespread claim and a genuinely disputed one: the ratio demonstrably underlies deliberate modern systems such as Le Corbusier's Modulor, but claims of its intentional use in the Parthenon and other ancient works rest on after-the-fact measurement rather than documents, and scholars have repeatedly shown how easily selective measuring finds the ratio anywhere.
Facts
Disputed
Formulated Year1789 dates the earliest documented use of the term golden section, not its application to architecture. This entity already carries a citation to Markowsky's 1992 paper disputing claims that ancient buildings such as the Parthenon were deliberately designed to the ratio. Domain
Domain (category)Philosophical / Theoretical 1 Concept Domain FAQs
Is the golden ratio really built into the Parthenon and the Great Pyramid?
Not with any contemporary evidence. The claim rests on modern measurement after the fact, not on any ancient source describing deliberate use.
Not with any contemporary documentary evidence. The idea that the Parthenon and the Egyptian pyramids were deliberately proportioned using the golden ratio, roughly 1 to 1.618, is popular but contested. No ancient Greek or Egyptian text describes the ratio being used this way, and the readings come from modern scholars measuring the finished buildings and finding a proportion that approximates the golden ratio, a pattern critics point out can be found in almost any complex structure if enough measurements are tried. The one confirmed deliberate architectural use is Le Corbusier's twentieth century Modulor system, which built the golden ratio into its scale on purpose. This entity's own record carries a debated status for exactly this reason.
Connections
Associated With
His Modulor system of measures is built deliberately on the golden ratio and the human figure.
Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Why this is disputed. The Parthenon is the most cited claimed example of the golden ratio in ancient building, but the claim is contested: the proportion is not attested in any surviving Greek building text, and critics argue it is read into measurements after the fact rather than found in them. Ruling on record: this is Status debated, not asserted as fact.
Source Misconceptions about the Golden RatioGeorge Markowsky
The Modulor is Le Corbusier's own twentieth century system built directly on golden-ratio proportion.
Disputed
Why this is disputed. The golden ratio is often claimed as a version of Vitruvius's system of rational proportion; the attribution itself is contested and traced to a documented 1799 error
Source Wikipedia
Sources
1. Encyclopedia Britannica
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Golden ratio, HistoryQuote, Wikipedia: Golden ratio, History
In 1789, Johann Samuel Traugott Gehler made the earliest known use of the term "golden section" in his popular dictionary of physical sciences, Physikalisches Wörterbuch, referring to it as "güldnen Schnitt (media et extrema ratione, sectione aurea s[ive] divina)".
Misconceptions about the Golden Ratio
George Markowsky, The College Mathematics Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, 1992- Section on the Parthenon width-to-height ratio
- Associated With: Parthenon, Section on the Parthenon width-to-height claim
Wikipedia
Associated With: The Vitruvian Triad, History sectionQuote, Associated With: The Vitruvian Triad, History section
Pacioli actually advocated the Vitruvian system of rational proportions.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Description
Markowsky's 1992 paper argues that the golden ratio's presence in the Parthenon and other ancient buildings is not supported by the original design record: the proportion is read into after-the-fact measurements rather than found in any surviving Greek architectural text, and close analysis shows the golden rectangles claimed for the building do not actually fit its real dimensions.
A dissenting reading, from George MarkowskyGeorge Markowsky, Misconceptions about the Golden Ratio, The College Mathematics Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, 1992
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