12 How symmetries and asymmetries get created

Dimensions are created in the attempt to fit each differentiation, positively and simply, into the spatial shell of the previous step in the unfolding.

Given an arbitrary starting point (site, enclosed space, designated area), when we apply to this site, a sequence of differentiating operations, each of which introduces one further local symmetry into the structure which has evolved, the end product which appears — the result of these superimposed local symmetries — will have a unique dimension associated with each symmetry, that is a result of making that symmetry appear within its particular spatial shell. So, even though the symmetries themselves (as operations) may be the same for each house, the dimensions of each symmetry will be unique. Further, it is often the case that the symmetries themselves may be rearranged by minute subtleties.

For some reason thinking about adaptive web design, where a subtle change in browser window size can trigger a re-layout that turns a wider screen with three columns into a smaller screen with a two- or single-column layout.

The overall effect is that when each house unfolds under the laws of its own uniqueness, the local symmetries of each house then come together in different spatial combinations, making each house progressively more and more particular.

#book/The Nature of Order/3 A Vision of a Living World/12 The uniqueness of people’s individual worlds#