When Joseph Plateau published his treatise on soap bubbles
and film in 1873, soap bubbles already had their own place in
literature and art. Plateau’s problem consists in taking a generic
curve in three-space and finding a surface with the least
possible area bounded by that curve. The empirical solution
may be obtained by dipping a tri-dimensional model of the
curve into soapy water, resulting in a form called a minimal
surface. When a soap bubble is blown, the soapy surface
stretches; when blowing ceases, the film tends toward
equilibrium. The sphere presents the least exterior surface
area of all surfaces containing the same volume of air.
Creations stemming from the technology necessary to
create a tri-dimensional soap bubble form can be seen in the
structure of this proposed project for a cenotaph for Sir Isaac
Newton, 1784, by ‘Etienne-Louis Boulle’e. The lower image is
a similar project by Boulle’e of the Bibliotheque du Roi. His
projects tested the waters for such vast structures and met a flat
opinion that these type building’s should be suited for hospitals,
theatres, and jail cells for their definition as public institutions.
Throughout the history of architecture there has been a quest for a system of proportions that would
facilitate the technical and aesthetic requirements of a design. Such a system would have to ensure a
repetition of the mathematical process in which the same manner we complete a simple arithmetic problem.
Now, it has been shown throughout history that the sciences drift apart and then return to each other a later time to re- orient the way a building should be designed. Be it as a symmetrical form or as an abstract piece of art, the bottom line is that this geometrical or mathematical essence must exist- especially in today’s buildings not only visually, to support the eye’s need for balance, but also structurally, to serve a better use in housing our needs.