Phi in Quincy Park

Quincy Park in Cambridge, MA is a courtyard devoted to expressions of the Golden Spiral. It was designed in 1997 by artist David Phillips with the Halvorson Company and is located next to the Inn at Harvard in Harvard Square (1201 Massachusetts Ave), across the street from the Clay Math Institute (One Bow Street).

There is a statue of a golden spiral in the middle, which continues along the ground as a metal curve through the brick for quite a distance where the statue ends. There is also a spiral bush. There is a rock with a square root on it. There is a plaque with info about the Golden Ratio and the designer. There is also a fence with spirals along the top and two different types of nautilus shells at the connection points. The bricks change direction according to the golden rectangle that contains the spiral. Right next to the courtyard one can find a bicycle rack that, curiously enough, bears the image of phi!

Thanks go to Katherine Field for her contribution of this information and the photos on this page.

Click on any photo to see full size image.


Quincy Park	Spirals on the fences

Golden section in brick	Spiral lines in the brick

Spiral shell fence caps	Square root sign

Dedication plaque	Brick pattern changes

Even phi bike stands?