#catalan-solid

​The more I work with and study polyhedra, the more I realize how rare and special they are. They represent both the abstract and universal rules of geometry and space. ​I can understand their symmetries, faces, vertices, and most importantly, their mathematical necessities. Yet, when looking at a solid, sometimes a specific form strikes me as more attractive than the others. Moreover, I cannot explain this simply by saying, “It has more symmetry” or “Its proportions are better.” For me,…

Holger Strøm designed the famous IQlight system in 1973. After more than 50 years, it is still a popular, innovative, and smart design. The IQlight is a self-assembly lamp composed of interlocking quadrilaterals. By utilizing polyhedral geometry, you can generate various shapes and sizes. I created a model of one of the most common IQlight designs, fitting it onto the Catalan solid known as the rhombic triacontahedron. This solid is a convex polyhedron with 30 rhombic faces, making it an…

Catalan Solids are the duals of Archimedean Solids. They were first described by mathematician Eugène Charles Catalan in the 19th century. There are 13 Catalan solids, and they exhibit interesting symmetries and unique characteristics. While coding the vertex coordinates of these solids in Grasshopper, I made a simple lamp design to exercise the programming language. The code generates the 13 Catalan Lamps with flaps. Since the polyhedra have planar faces, they can be cut out by hand or a laser…