Category Archives: Architecture

Architecture as subject

Modules and Proportions

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Graham Shawcross

Introduction The primary reason why systems of proportion have been and continue to be important for architecture is that they enable our buildings to embody a mathematical order that we either distil out of or impose upon nature. Besides this, … Continue reading →

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Finchampstead

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Graham Shawcross

BACKGROUND This post recreates the report issued for the opening of the Gorse Ride Housing Estate Finchamptead by Mr Peter Walker Minister of Housing and Local Government on 17th July 1970. The estate was designed by the Ministry’s Research and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, House Building Productivity, Housing | Tagged | 1 Comment

House Design

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Graham Shawcross

This post adds extra information to part of an earlier post “Severely Constrained Design”. The Scottish Special Housing Association (SSHA) and the Edinburgh University Architectural Research Unit (ARU) developed a Computer Aided Design program, called House Design. (Bijl et al., … Continue reading →

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Size and Distance Effect

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Graham Shawcross

The Distance Effect In whatever way they are presented, it is easier to compare two magnitudes that are quantitatively further apart, than it is to compare two magnitudes that are quantitatively closer together. This is the distance effect. Figure 1: … Continue reading →

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Numerical Separators

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Graham Shawcross

With a base 10 place value number system, Britain and America use the period as the radix symbol, to separate integers and decimals, and use a comma to separate groups of digits; for example, they would write 3,200,100.56 Other Europeans … Continue reading →

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Round and Sharp Numbers

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Graham Shawcross

“Don’t interrupt,” Bruno said as we came in. “I’m counting the Pigs in the field!” “How many are there?” I enquired. “About a thousand and four,” said Bruno. “You mean ‘about a thousand,’” Sylvie corrected him. “There’s no good saying … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Enumeration | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Graham’s Maze Game: TestFlight Help

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Graham Shawcross
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Königsberg Bridges

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Graham Shawcross

Background The great Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler, who had been asked by the Mayor of Danzig to provide a solution to the Königsberg Bridge problem, sent him this disdainful reply: “. . .  Thus you see, most noble Sir, how this type of … Continue reading →

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Weber’s Law

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Graham Shawcross

Weber’s Law expresses a general relationship between an initial stimulus, a quantity or intensity, and the increased stimulus required for a change in the stimulus to be detected. The task is to tell apart, or discriminate, two things that differ … Continue reading →

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Baboon Counting Algorithms

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Graham Shawcross

Human counting can be thought of as a kind of condition controlled logic where counters increment a sequence of labels “one, two, three four…” until some condition is met. (Cantlon et al. 2015) The diagram below illustrates some, but not all, … Continue reading →

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