Mathematical education of future architects – playing and learning with and in Iterated Function Systems

Abstract

The principal methods of architectural design and construction have been inseparable from mathematics since time immemorial. Even nowadays, mathematical ability is an integral part of professional competence of any architect, and therefore, mathematical education is naturally very significant segment of architectural studies. At the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Architecture, the leading higher education institution for architecture and urbanism studies in the Western Balkans region, undergraduate students primarily meet with mathematics on the core course Mathematics in architecture. As the name suggests, this course covers the basics of analytic and fractal geometry, focusing on possibilities of applying. Namely, after understanding and adopting the theoretical foundations using standard teaching methodology, it often happens that students hardly recognize the connection between the acquired mathematical knowledge and their future professional activities. Therefore, after each thematic unit during the course, some experimental work or functional research is carried out. This paper briefly presents an active learning method implemented on Iterated Function Systems (IFS), as one of the units. The accompanying experimental student task involves creating various analog models of IFS which could be interpreted architecturally.