Above / A new mural with more than 2,300 images helps tell the story of North Central College in the heart of Naperville—and it’s a wonder!
During the inaugural public tour at the soft opening of the North Central College Science Center on March 27, 2017, Jim Godo, Assistant Vice President for External Affairs and Special Assistant to the President, welcomed individuals who wanted see all the new spaces.
First, however, he provided a brief explanation of the Golden Ratio. The mathematical ratio was used in the design of the attractive mural with 2,360 images in shades of blue on the wall as the staircase ascends to the second floor.
Godo also explained that the Golden Ratio (1.618 to 1) is commonly found in nature. And he added that the design at the entrance was a symbol of the interdisciplinary studies in the building, a symbol “to greet everybody.”
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Just what is the Golden Ratio?
As an artist, I’m aware of ratios and their relationships to good design and presence in nature. You could say some of it just comes naturally. Yet, until Monday’s tour, I’d not been familiar with the mathematical term “Golden Ratio” and my inquiring mind wanted to know.
So I consulted my trusted Dictionary of Theories, a multi-disciplinary reference book written by Jennifer Bothamley and published in 1993, where I found “Golden Mean” and it led me to its association with Golden Ratio, a name that fosters organic and natural-looking compositions with uniquely pleasing elements.
In other words, the Golden Ratio is used in design to enrich the work.
A visit online to Wikipedia provided more information that the Golden Ratio is also known as the Golden Section, Golden Mean, Divine Proportion, Extreme and Mean ratio, Medial section, Divine section, Golden Proportion, Golden Cut, Golden Number or Greek letter Phi. Likely the list the goes on. Numerical equations help illustrate the proportions.
Simply put, the Golden Ratio exists when a line segment is divided into two parts and the longer part (a) divided by the smaller part (b) is equal to the sum of (a) + (b) divided by (a), which both equal 1.618033988.
While indeed interesting to put some more thought behind the meaning of Golden Ratio, a follow-up visit to the Science Center provided a chance to step back and see the mural without dozens of visitors eager for guided tours of the world-class building. The result was another awesome experience.
The dedication of the North Central College Science Center, located along the Sesquicentennial Pathway, will be held on Oct. 20, 2017, during Homecoming.
—PN
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Editor’s Note / Next up we’ll have the rest of the story about the artistic display of the historic photos and how they were set.
