The two wooden supports for the transparent table top, were made by Vincent Edwards, milled out of a piece of wood constituted by many layers of plywood glued together. The balustrade of the Terrace was designed and lasercut by Edmund Harriss. The two little mats were cross-stitched by Kathy Peterson and Ingrid Daubechies, after aContinue reading “Terrace – Fabrication”
Author Archives: mathemalchemy team
Frieze Tables – Fabrication
Tables Themselves The tabletop shapes were designed by Dominique Ehrmann, and realized by Gavin Smith and Alfred Kennet. The small tables around the platform at the first venue where they were part of the installation (with Stéphan LaCourse standing behind them). Dominique and Stéphan designed the structures supporting the small tables. Although the legs andContinue reading “Frieze Tables – Fabrication”
Frieze Tables – Mathematical Connections
Frieze Groups Elements of the Downtown (the Bakery, Conway’s Curios and the Terrace) illustrate the wallpaper groups, the seventeen different symmetry types for a pattern that repeats in two or more directions in the plane. For a pattern that repeats in only one direction, the seven different symmetry types constitute the frieze groups. John H.Continue reading “Frieze Tables – Mathematical Connections”
Frieze Tables – Through the Mathemalchemy Looking Glass
The strangest thing happened a few months ago. It started with a really weird storm, one night, with an awful lot of rumbling. The next morning the sky was clear, but very new rock formations had materialized overnight, all around Voronoi Plaza in Downtown, even in front of the Lighthouse. When I went out toContinue reading “Frieze Tables – Through the Mathemalchemy Looking Glass”
Notices article: Q&A with the Mathemalchemists collaborators
When asked to contribute a Chronicle about their experience in writing, illustrating and revising the Notices article, in the August 2022 issue, the authors balked at first — didn’t the article speak for itself? Then Zizai Cue and Alex Winn, two students associated with the department of Mathematics at Duke University, proposed a list of questions forContinue reading “Notices article: Q&A with the Mathemalchemists collaborators”
Great Doodle Page – Fabrication
Designing the Great Doodle Page Fabricating the Great Doodle Page was a collaboration between Dominique Ehrmann and Ingrid Daubechies. The shape of the Page was already determined (as the reverse of the Cryptography Quilt, which was designed and fabricated earlier) before detailed fabrication began. Dominique first produced a design for the border, which was thenContinue reading “Great Doodle Page – Fabrication”
Silhouettes – Fabrication
Silhouettes Designing the Silhouettes The Silhouettes were drawn by Dominique Ehrmann. The Little Girl and Teenager underwent some minor variations until their outline was fixed, but the Adult changed quite a bit – maybe because Dominique’s perception of mathematicians changed as the project progressed? Silhouettes Fabrication Once their design was finalized, they were vectorized inContinue reading “Silhouettes – Fabrication”
Lighthouse – Fabrication
Lighthouse Structure The Lighthouse was modeled by Sabetta Matsumoto using Mathematica and Rhinoceros 3D software; one of the principles in the design was inspired by the Zip-Form system by Edmund Harriss and Emily Baker, which eases the production of complex curving forms made from flat sheets, in this case steel. It was CNC cut out of mild steel andContinue reading “Lighthouse – Fabrication”
Knotical – Fabrication
The design of the overall Ocean in the Knotical Scene is due to Tasha Pruitt and Dominique Ehrmann, with Tasha taking care of the execution of numerous, painstaking details. For some components she was assisted by Kathy Peterson, Faye Goldman, Sam Pezzimenti, Li-Mei Lim and Ingrid Daubechies, who used crochet, bead and origami techniques toContinue reading “Knotical – Fabrication”
Bakery – Fabrication
The Bakery was a component of the installation that was proposed fairly early on. Its original blueprint was drawn by Dominique Ehrmann; it was later slightly adapted by Edmund Harriss, to bring angles in more complete harmony with pentagonal symmetry. It was built out of wood by Edmund and Gavin Smith. The design of theContinue reading “Bakery – Fabrication”
