REDISCOVERING THE PARTHENON
How its Architects and Sculptors Used the Golden Rectangle, the Root Five Rectangle, and Dynamic Symmetry Geometry
By Kenneth Hewes Barricklo, Architect
The underlying design principle of the Parthenon, 447 BCE, has been an enigma that many have sought to comprehend. My fifty years of practice and experience as an architect and as an independent scholar of Sacred Geometry have brought me to a proof of the use of Dynamic Symmetry (1) in the design of the Parthenon. This Fractal Geometry manifests a unified system that follows Vitruvius’ principles and can be used to describe all aspects of the Parthenon’s design thus revealing the Greeks’ belief that Nature, The Human, and the Cosmos all exist in Unity.
The Greeks believed that from the study of Nature comes an understanding of all things, as well as a knowledge of one’s self. All things begin and end with Nature. Without an understanding of Nature, there can be no real meaning given to the human world in which we live. The beauty that we create in our life and art must always correlate with the Beauty of Nature, expressing something of the nature of the Human Being and the nature of Nature.
Sacred Geometry is the symbolic representation of Creation expressed through the use of the beautiful language of geometry with sacred numbers, shapes, forms, and spaces, symbolizing ancient humans’ beliefs of esoteric and mystical meanings in their Life. The original Creation can be represented as a very simple symbol, a dot, which then geometrically flowers and transforms into myriads of interrelated, symbolic diagrams and exquisite patterns. Growth and Transformation signify the forever changing principles in Nature. Human beings have used multiple patterns and aspects of Sacred Geometry in their designs of architecture and art to give shape and form to their beliefs, creation myths, and understanding of Nature, The Human, and the Universe.
All things of Nature can be understood as a microcosm of a macrocosm and that same macrocosm as a microcosm of another larger Macrocosm. (18) This paradox can be manifested as a vibration, oscillation, wave, current, serpentine or spiral with its reversing spiral, and it was known by the ancients as existing in Nature as a reality. Thus, the Golden Rectangle and its Golden Mean Proportional Spiral can be seen as symbolizing the Diversity within Unity, the Fractal nature of Nature, the nature of Humans, and the nature of the Cosmos.