Connections
From Crystal Lattices to City Streets
A crystal and a city can share the same visual grammar. What survives the jump from atoms to avenues?
The complete archive
Journal
The complete archive of essays on matter, human patterns and the structures they share.
All essays
8 essays
Matter & Discovery
Why Crystals Prefer Symmetry
What the faces of a crystal can tell us about an arrangement too small to see.
Human Patterns
The Architecture of Repetition
At the Salk Institute, repeated study towers give shape to a courtyard and direct the eye toward the ocean.
Matter & Discovery
The Hidden Geometry of Materials
A polished piece of metal can conceal a patchwork of differently oriented crystals.
Connections
The Honeycomb Principle: Nature, Matter and Design
What a hexagon can save in wall length, and what that leaves open about wax combs and engineered panels.
Human Patterns
Why Cities Form Grids
A street grid makes land and movement legible. Its exceptions show what a plan had to accommodate.
Matter & Discovery
When Matter Organizes Itself
In a solution of surfactants, a new form can arise from the behavior of its parts.
Human Patterns
Geometry Across Civilizations
Repeating ornament takes on different meanings when it is cut into a wall or laid underfoot.