Orthogons

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11239873 

Artists, architects and calligraphers for centuries have used a set of templates to guide the placement of elements in their designs. In 1956, glassware designer, Wolfgang Von Wersin, referred to these templates as "orthogons". His book was titled, The Book of Rectangles, Spatial Law and Gestures of The Orthogons Described (Das Buch vom Rechteck Gesetz und Gestik des Raumlichen die Othogone-scheibe--Die Orthogone-scheibe), Otto Maier Verlag Publishers, Ravensburg, West Germany.

The most famous orthogon, the Auron (Golden Section, Golden Ratio, Golden Mean, Golden Rectangle) has been used at least since the time of the ancient Greeks to design everything from the Parthenon to calligraphy to ceramic vases.

All twelve orthogons function as an archetype in that they are both "form" and "content". "Form" because they play a role in composition and "content" by the various meanings that can be assigned to "order", "relationship", "harmony", etc. 

Use of the orthogons conforms to the definition of art offered by Clive Bell: "significant form."

Some of the orthogons are related to musical harmonies. According to Wolfgang Von Wersin, “The Orthogons are without exception root figures and are all irrational numbers. The calculation of the measure relations within the Orthogons are based, without exception, on the Pythagorean doctrine.” (pg 80.)

Orthogons always begin with a square, any square. Individual orthogons are constructed and the measurements are then used to guide a design.



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