'Fi' (2005)

Location: Helix, floor 3  

Visual artist Lambert van Erp designed this construction as a representation and materialization of the Golden Ratio.

In 1175 Leonardo Pisano (Leonardo of Pisa) was born as the son of Bonacci; in the mathematical literature his name became Fibonacci. He followed his training in North Africa and in 1202 published the 'Liber Abaci' (The book of the abacus) about algebra and the Arabic numerals, including the numeral zero. Hereby he introduced the numeral system in Europe. Fibonacci is often regarded as the first western mathematician to publish original work since Greek antiquity. Fibonacci’s fame is based mostly on his Fibonacci sequence. When you take the ratio of two sequential numbers of Fibonacci, it appears to approach the golden ratio. In the limit this ratio is even equal to it.

Fibonacci‘s sequence consists of a series of numbers, in which each member is the sum of the previous two: 1-2-3-5-8-13-21-34-etc. More important is that the ratio of the two sequential numbers soon approaches the value of 0.618, the Golden Ratio. Ever since Fibonacci this number has symbolized beauty and harmony in proportions and dimensions in art, architecture and nature. In this construction the Golden Ratio has been applied consistently in the height of the wooden parts from the bottom to the top, but also in the length of the steel pipes from the bottom up and in the diameter of the vertical pipes and the more horizontal connecting pipes. Hence the name Fi''.

The work was purchased in 2006 by the then rector  prof. dr. Rutger van Santen.  

See also: Vubis