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“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” it is often said.
However, this does not apply to mathematics, because the golden ratio calculates from a scientific point of view how beautiful and symmetrical something is - regardless of whether it is human faces, works of art or architecture.
To find out which are the most beautiful buildings in the world, roofingmegastore.co.uk, a British online roofing retailer, applied the golden ratio to a total of 100 of the world's most famous architectural works and calculated the 50 most beautiful of them.
Germany is represented in the list with a total of five buildings - three of which are in the top 20 places.
Only one country does better: According to the top 50 ranking, the USA has six of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
It is also noticeable that the 50 most beautiful buildings are primarily historical buildings.
Just under a quarter are modern buildings that were completed after the 19th century.
The golden ratio, also known as God's number, is a design rule that Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo are said to have used for their works of art.
“The Last Supper”, the “Mona Lisa” or “The Creation of Adam” on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - they all have the parameters of the golden ratio, which describes the ratio of two sizes to each other.
This division is perceived as particularly harmonious and attractive.
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To calculate how attractive the 100 structures examined are, roofingmegastore.co.uk recorded nine common points on a frontal view of the buildings (upper left corner, upper center, upper right corner, lower left corner, lower center, lower right corner , middle left point, middle point and middle right point).
Software calculated and compared the distances between the individual points and calculated a ratio from this that was compared with that of the golden section.
The closer the proportions in the pictures of the buildings come to the golden ratio, the higher the percentage given below.
Sounds complicated?
You don't have to be able to calculate the golden ratio yourself to find the following buildings beautiful:
1st to 5th place
Credit: Alamy Stock Photo / Martin Thompson
1st place:
St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England.
The episcopal church was built in 1710 and achieved 72.28 percent in the ranking according to the golden ratio.
Source: PR
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2nd place:
Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
The 5-star hotel with 55 floors, which was built in 2010, achieved 70.88 percent in the ranking.
Source: Alamy Stock Photo / godrick
3rd place:
Westminster Abbey in London, England.
The Church of the British Monarchs was built in 1745 - the coronation of Elizabeth II took place in it in 1953 and the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011.
It reaches 70.55 percent.
Source: PR
4th place:
Osaka Castle in Osaka, Japan.
The castle was built in 1583 - the 58 meter high structure reaches 70.38 percent in the list.
Source: PR
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5th place:
St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia.
The cathedral on Red Square, built in 1561, achieved 69.10 percent in terms of the golden ratio.
5th to 10th place
Source: Alamy Stock Photo / eye35.pix
Rank 6:
Casa Milà in Barcelona, Spain.
The building erected by the architect Antoni Gaudí in Passeig de Gràcia achieved 68.64 percent.
The six-story house was completed in 1912.
Credit: Alamy Stock Photo / Gary Hebding Jr.
Rank 7:
Florence Cathedral in Italy.
The episcopal church "Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore" was built in 1436 and consecrated in the same year by Pope Eugene IV.
It reached 67.52 percent in the ranking.
Source: PR
Rank 8:
Taj Mahal in Agra, India.
The mausoleum, in front of which Lady Diana posed in 1992, was built in 1653.
It achieved 67.45 percent in the ranking of the most beautiful buildings.
Source: PR
Rank 9:
Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic.
The office building was completed in 1996 after two years of construction and reached 66.87 percent according to the mathematical calculation.
Credit: PR / Jon Arnold Images Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
Place 10:
Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Bavaria.
The castle in Germany was built in 1886 for the Bavarian King Ludwig II and is the first German building in the ranking with 63.10 percent.
German buildings in the ranking
Source: PR
11th place:
Cologne Cathedral, North Rhine-Westphalia.
The cathedral was finished in 1880 - after 632 years.
With 61.69 percent in the ranking, the Roman Catholic Church in Gothic style leads the top 20.
Source: PR
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Rank 18:
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
The Triumphal Gate was built in 1791 and is a historic site in many ways.
In the top 50 of the most beautiful buildings, it reaches 52.56 percent.
Source: PR
Rank 24:
Berlin Cathedral in Berlin.
The Protestant church at Lustgarten in Berlin Mitte was completed in 1905 and was not the first cathedral on today's Museum Island.
The history of the Berlin Cathedral goes back to the year 1536 - in the ranking the current cathedral achieved 48.72 percent.
Source: PR
Rank 36:
Frauenkirche Dresden, Saxony.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church on Dresden's Neumarkt is a real landmark of the city and was built in 1743.
The baroque church reaches 40.65 percent.
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