Dr. Nelly Shafiq Ramzy :: Publications:

When performing geometrical analysis of historical buildings, it is important to keep in mind what were the intentions of the originators, even though these intentions have likely changed many times as the master masons changed. For the medieval builders, geometry in design was a tool used to structure ideas and aesthetic impulses or perhaps to incorporate into this work a meaningful system of symbols; it was the internal logic of the building that mattered more than achieving beauty or following the correct canonical models as was the case in Renaissance era. 1 Geometry was used in Gothic architecture as visual tools for contemplating the mathematical nature of the