Architectural design Quote by Harry Mulisch
““In his Dialogue "Timaeus" Plato had a demiurge to create the globe-shaped world according to musical laws, including the human soul. Fifteen hundred years later, that still found an echo in the Renaissance. And in those days the architects realized that the musical harmonies had spatial expressions -- namely, the relationships of the length of strings, and spatial relationships were precisely their only concerns. Because both the world and the body and soul were composed according to musical harmonies by the demiurge architect, both the macrocosm and the microcosm, they must therefore be guided in their own architectural designs by the laws of music.””
About This Quote
Source Book: “The Discovery of Heaven” by Harry Mulisch, 1992
Architectural design mirrors cosmic musical harmony, linking macrocosm and microcosm through proportion and rhythm.
In simple terms: Design follows universal musical patterns.
Key Takeaway
Apply harmonic principles to architecture.
Themes
architecture
philosophy
music
cosmology
proportion
Mood
reflective
intellectual
Type
philosophical
artistic
When to use this quote
- building design
- urban planning
- educational curricula
- art installations
Key Concepts
harmonic theory
spatial relationships
metaphysics
design theory
Questions to Reflect On
- Can contemporary architecture benefit from musical ratios?
- What challenges arise when translating sound to space?
A Different Perspective
Modern constraints may ignore ancient harmonic concepts.
