Geomantic (Re)Creation: Magic Squares and Claude Bragdon’s Theosophic Architecture

Abstract

For architect Claude Bragdon, the numerical acrostics known as magic squares were “conspicuous instances of the intrinsic harmony of number” that interpret the “cosmic order which permeates all existence”, and he demonstrated their principles in his constructed projects. This paper investigates the relationship between the magic square and geomantic architecture regulated by the human form using lessons from the ancient Hindu Vastusutra Upanisad, which teach divination of the constructed world through the squaring of the circle with the anthropomorphic yupa and vastu purusa mandala (magic square). It argues that Bragdon’s First Universalist Church (1907) is a visible demonstration of his theosophic architectural theory, which emphasized a cosmological relationship between the body and the building through number, geometry and harmonic proportions.