Simplicity is not Simple

Tessellations and Modular Architecture T he 2000 MathFest in Los Angeles was an extravaganza of mathematical talks, short courses and exhibits. By the third day, we needed a break from math and decided to check out the city. Of course, after being immersed in mathematics for so long, we noticed it everywhere. In particular, while walking down a street in a remote neighborhood, we happened upon a rhombic dodecahedron in a shop window. It was a hanging lamp, in a gallery full of fantastical hip furniture. We went in, fully expecting that our shabby clothing would result in a cool reception (we later discovered that the chairs sold for $3000 apiece). Much to our surprise, we were shown enthusiastically around the shop by a man who turned out to be the designer, Gregg Fleishman. He took us into his workshop, and showed us how he had been using rhombic dodecahedra to develop a modular building system. Despite his claims that he was not very good at math, it became clear as we talked that mathematics was the foundation for much of his work.