Phyllotactic Patterns for Domes

Abstract

The naked eye misleads us, when we wish to understand geometry and patterns in Nature. The basis of visible natural structures lies in the repeated application of very simple procedures [1],[2],[3]. If we want to work in harmony with Nature, our technicity should strive to work according to her ways and to her rules. In growth, we can distinguish expanding and stacking. In many organisms, we observe a relatively smooth overall expanding. In the contrary, in the snail house, material is added only on the outside. Plants show patterns in the placement of appendages. The author found a very simple algorithm, that leads to these phyllotactic patterns [4]. The Dislodgement Model explains phyllotaxis via an inversion from expanding to stacking. This inversion is allowed, while plants follow the rules of gnomonic growth [5], Now, we have a tool to reproduce natural stackings. The section 'Basic principles for the arrangement of units' in the present article is a revised version of part of 'Creating Phyllotaxis: The Dislodgement Model' [4].