Spritivity Symmetry projects at RDFZ School,
Beijing
“The use of the geometric principles of
symmetry for the description and understanding of decorated
forms represents the union of two normally separate
disciplines – mathematics and design.” (Washburn et al.,
1988)
Symmetry is not an unfamiliar concept to
most students in China, because it is a very important
component in mathematics education at secondary school
level. Here are
some agrammatic
instances of symmetry as they appear in a Chinese Grade 8
mathematics textbook.
From an aesthetic point of view, an
instance of symmetry contains natural beauty in itself.
Here are some instances of symmetry in a variety of
material domains..
Click here to explore some
instantiations of symmetry in Chinese architecture , art
and philosophy.
A group of 13-14 year old Chinese
students from RDFZ School felt like doing a Spritivity project
that centred around the idea of symmetry. They chose to
look at Yuan Ming Yuan - The Garden of Perfect
Splendour, which is one of the key cultural relic
protection sites in China. Historically, Yuan Ming Yuan
was a royal garden, but now it has become a public open
place. It enjoys the title “world heritage” or “world
miracle” and indeed is an icon of Chinese art and
architecture.
Click for a brief history of
Yuan Ming Yuan
The style of this architecture-Yuan Ming
Yuan is quite prominent and well-recognized, very broadly
speaking, the essence is the instantiation of “symmetry”.
This feature is deeply related to Chinese philosophies and
culture. Lots of things could be discussed in relation to
it. “Yuan” stands for full and round, in Chinese it means
perfect; “Ming” refers to wisdom, which is what the Emperor
desires to have. The last “Yuan” is different from the
first “Yuan”, although the pronunciations are exactly the
same. The last “Yuan” means garden, so altogether, “Yuan
Ming Yuan” is translated as Garden of Perfect Splendour.
Click here for an overview of the
Yuan Ming Yuan Site
On 14th August, 2007, the group of
students from RDFZ school,well-equipped with cameras, sun
hat, bottles of water (Beijing’s summer is extremely hot,
about 35 degree centigrade) etc, set out at an early
morning for Yuan Ming Yuan. Prior to the trip, students had
been taught about symmetry and its application in
mathematics. Yet they couldn’t wait to observe instances of
symmetry as potential sprites in the “life-world” with
their own eyes. Although many of the students had been to
Yuan Ming Yuan before, they expected to experience
something new and fresh on this visit.
The itinerary was simply planned: after
the cultural catastrophe in 19th century, only the
European-style palaces survived the fire since they were
made of stone. So the first stop would be those ruined
stones of European buildings that are still standing on the
site today
The second stop, worth have a look at,
was another magically-surviving Chinese-style building in
the outlying Elegant Spring Garden. It was known that the
Imperial Court restored this building and, indeed, had
tried to rebuild the whole complex of the Imperial Gardens,
but it was impossible to muster the money and resources for
such an immense task due to the difficult situation of
China at the time.
There was a more challenging work waiting
for students after they were back from the trip. In the
next couple of days, students were asked to work in groups
analyzing, collecting data, searching further information
they need to connect the idea of symmetry the found in the
books and the grounding of instances of symmetry in the
pictures they took in the Yang Min Yuan Gardens.
Three perspectives, in terms of “aesthetic” “historical”
and “social”, which could inform these instantiations of
symmetry sprites, were suggested for consideration in
students’ analytical reports. During the course, they
shared and negotiated their views on many interesting
things about symmetry that they had discovered from the
visit. Last but not the least, each group of students
needed to prepare a formal presentation with the support of
technicians and teachers.
Project outputs
The
output of students’ work was amazing. And it was a surprise
that students automatically expanded their understandings
of symmetry to a wider Spritivity context: not only the
buildings in Yuan Ming Yuan were analysed, but also the
beauty of a variety of instantiations of symmetry in every
day life was mentioned and discussed as well.
Daren Wang:
From Symmetry(Yuan Ming Yuan) to
Olympics
Daren
demonstrates his understanding of Chinese art, such as
Chinese tie, the buildings in Yuan Ming Yuan etc., which
contains symmetric design. He links the idea of symmetry
with Olympic Games.
Jeffery
Liu:
Interpret
Dreams
Jeffery imagines himself to work as a tour guide, and he
tells us about the history and the symmetric characteristic
of the buildings in Yuan Ming Yuan.
Xueyun Gu:
On Beijing’s
trip
Xueyun summarises traditional architecture and art in
Beijing. She considers Yuan Ming Yuan is of particular
meaning to Beijing, and she shows us the blueprint of Yuan
Ming Yuan’s future.
Haoling
Xiang:
Symmetry:
Beauty of harmony
Haoling wants to give us a big picture of how symmetry
looks like in buildings, art and everyday’s life. The
common theme of these beautiful instantiations is harmony.
Yifang Shi:
The
destruction of Yuan Ming Yuan
“Dr.”Shi gives us a lecture about the history of Yuan Ming
Yuan, dating back to 19th century…
Click nere to download the
students’ presentions of their projects