Symmetry in Architecture: 15 Contemporary Collective Housing Units in Latin America

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What is symmetry in architecture? Why is it used to design spaces? What advantages and disadvantages does it present compared to other projection tools such as rotation, translation, and/or repetition? Contemporary architecture evolves day by day by implementing different strategies to create habitable spaces where people can carry out their daily activities, meet their needs, and more. Considering symmetry as a possible means of organization, distribution, and movement in the plane, architecture expresses and communicates largely through graphic means (floor plans, volumes, photographs, etc.) in a relationship that seeks coexistence, in most cases, of spaces, proportions, and scales in harmony.

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Although there are various conceptions of architectural symmetry, Vitruvius defines it as 'the harmonious bond of each part of the building with respect to the overall figure of the work,' while Viollet Le Duc maintains that "symmetry today means, in the language of architects, not a balance or harmonious relationship of the parts with the whole, but a similarity of opposite parts, the exact reproduction on the left of an axis, of what is on the right."

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Cite: Iñiguez, Agustina. "Symmetry in Architecture: 15 Contemporary Collective Housing Units in Latin America" [Simetría en la arquitectura: 15 viviendas colectivas contemporáneas en Latinoamérica] 23 Mar 2024. ArchDaily. (Trans. Piñeiro, Antonia ) Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1014536/symmetry-in-architecture-15-contemporary-collective-housing-units-in-latin-america> ISSN 0719-8884

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