Hyperbolic crochet coral reef

- About the Crochet Coral Reef
- Crochet Reef and Global Warming
- Crochet Reef and Hyperbolic Space
- Crochet Reef and Evolution
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
- The Rubbish Vortex
- Crocheting Plastic
- The Bleached Reef
- The Chicago Cambrian Reef
- Sister City Reefs
- Contributors

- Crochet Reef Workshops and Lectures

 

Crochet Reef Exhbitions

- Exhibition Schedule
- Crochet Reef Showing in London
- New York Exhibitions - Now Showing
- New York Broadway Windows Photos [IFF-G21]
- New York Winter Garden Photos [IFF-G21]
- Chicago Cultural Center Exhibition
- Chicago Exhibition Main Gallery [IFF-G18]
- Chicago Exhibition Toxic Reef Gallery [IFF-G19]
- Chicago Exhibition Chicago Reef Gallery [IFF-G20]
- The Andy Warhol Museum Exhibition [IFF-G11]
- Track 16 Exhibition [IFF-G12]

 

HYPerbolic Crochet basics

- Here's How to do Hyperbolic Crochet [IFF G-1]
- Crochet Reef Forms- Taxonomy 1 [IFF-G9]
- Crochet Reef Forms- Taxonomy 2 [IFF-G10]
- IFF Exhibit on Hyperbolic Space
- The People's Hyperbolic Gallery [IFF-G4]



Crochet reef contributors

- Ernst Haeckel, Patron Saint
- Daina Taimina, Inventor of Hyperbolic Crochet
- Helle Jorgensen
- Inga Hamilton
- Helen Bernasconi
- Ildiko Szabo
- Rebecca Peapples
- Dr. Axt's Reefer Madness
- Marianne Midelburg
- Eleanor Kent

- Other Crochet Reefs

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THE CROCHET REEF AND HYPERBOLIC SPACE

The IFF reef has been inspired by the principles of hyperbolic crochet originally developed by mathematician Dr Daina Taimina. In 1997 Dr Taimina discovered how to make models of the geometry known as hyperbolic space using the feminine art of crochet. Until that time most mathematicians had believed it was impossible to construct physical models of hyperbolic forms, yet nature had been doing just that for hundreds of millions of years. It turns out that many marine organisms embody hyperbolic geometry, among them kelps, corals, sponges and nudibranchs. The IFF reef not only looks like an actual coral reef, it draws on the same underlying geometry endemic in the oceanic realm.
Green double plane crocheted hyperbolic model

There is a very good reason why marine organisms take on hyperbolic forms: this geometry realizes surfaces with maximal area in a limited volume thus providing enhanced opportunity for filter feeding by sessile (or stationary) creatures.

WEBLINKS:
For more information about hyperbolic space see the IFF Online Exhibit.

This red model by Diana Taimina is a single hyperbolic plane.