28 DIMENSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Basis ‘A rightangled isosceles fie, having two equal sides) angle with a base-to height fatio of 1:2 isthe triangle of quadrature ‘An isosceles triangle with a base and sidos that can be contained by a square was, sucessfully used by Knauth, the master of Cathedral construction, forthe determination of the dimensional relationships for the @ Sevan developed tom he Strasbourg Cathedral cetagon De) Deach’s mid triangle ‘more pointed than the previous ane deseribed, as its height is determined by the point of a siewed square, I, too. was successfully used for details and components. Apart from these figures, the dimensional proportions of the octagon can be detected on a whole range of old structures. The so-called diagonal triangle serves a5 a basis here. The tiangle's height isthe diagonal ofthe square built fon half the base 2). The sides of the rectangle depicted in ) have a rato of 1:92. ln accordance with this, all nalvings or daublings of the rectangie have the same ratio of 1: +2. The ‘step ladders within an octagon make available the geometric ranges in DS G DO. The steps of square coots trom 1-7 are shown in G @-o © The connection between square raots of whole numbers is a sae shown in @ The process of factoring makes possible the application ‘of square roots for building in non rectangular components. sens By building up approximated values for square figures, Mengeringhausen developed the MERO space frames. The Drincipe isthe so-called ‘snail. @)~ (@. The inaccuracies fof the right angle are compensated for by the screw connections of the rods at the joints, & subtly differentiated approximated calculation of square roats of whole numbers ‘vn for non-rectangular components is available from the Use of continued fractions {+ p. 30) in the formula expressed as G = waaay n=1 146 wom — seit 1 euaan¢ 84 SE © wena ncceenag a D continues traction 2