The first principle of architectural beauty is that the essential lines of a construction be determined by a perfect appropriateness to its use.
Gustave EiffelRead
Ah, bien je prétends que les courbes des quatre areêtes du monument, telles que le calcul les a fournies, donneront une grand impression de force et de beauté._x000D_ _x000D_ Well, I think the curves of the four pillars of the monument, as the calculations have provided them, give it a great sense of force and beauty.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the interplay of mathematical precision and aesthetic beauty in design.
Gustave Eiffel emphasizes that the curves of the pillars in his monument are not just a result of artistic vision, but are also grounded in precise calculations. This blend of strength and beauty reflects the idea that great architecture marries functionality with aesthetic appeal, showcasing how science and art can coexist harmoniously.
In practice
In a presentation about architectural design, to illustrate the importance of both beauty and strength in structures.
The first principle of architectural beauty is that the essential lines of a construction be determined by a perfect appropriateness to its use.
It seems to me that it had no other rationale than to show that we are not simply the country of entertainers, but also that of engineers and builders called from across the world to build bridges, viaducts, stations and major monuments of modern industry, the Eiffel Tower deserves to be treated with consideration.
Can one think that because we are engineers, beauty does not preoccupy us or that we do not try to build beautiful, as well as solid and long lasting structures? Aren't the genuine functions of strength always in keeping with unwritten conditions of harmony? ... Besides, there is an attraction, a special charm in the colossal to which ordinary theories of art do not apply.
I wrote poems in my corner of the Brooks Street station. I sent them to two editors who rejected them right off. I read those letters of rejection years later and I agreed with those editors.
People don't remember me for how high my legs went, even though they went up very high, and how many pirouettes I did. They don't remember me for that. They remember me and any other dancer because something touched them inside. It's an indelible memory on the heart and in the mind.
Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.
I always had a lot of fun in America, with much more freedom than if I had tried to cook in France. I wouldn't have the same motivation or inspiration, and I wouldn't have cooked for the same kind of people in France, so it wouldn't have given me this edge I had in America.
I'll go to the south of Sicily in the winter, and paint memories of Arles – I'll buy a piano and Mozart me that – I'll write long sad tales about people in the legend of my life – This part is my part of the movie, let's hear yours
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
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