Dali´s obsession with the geometry. The monarchy of the dome

Abstract

Dali´s obsession for the geometric order is a long term issue, but in the forties it became stronger due to his conversion to Roman-Catholicism and his recognition of the traditional aesthetics values. All of this has been reinforced due to his return to Spain, more precisely to Portlligat, where he started to live at least half of the year. In his book 50 secretos magicos para pintar —50 magical secrets to paint—, the artist is theorizing about several geometrical forms, between them the sphere, which represents the Monarchy of the solid geometrical bodies. Strong influenced by Eugni d´Ors, who wrote “Cúpula y Monarquía” —“Dome and Monarchy”—in his book Teoría de los Estilos —Styles Theories—, Dalí externalized this obsession for the sphere and the dome in same architectural projects. The Portlligat studio is based in the icosahedral geometrical form, which will be the reference of the rounded room with its semispherical shape. In 1957 appeared in the Architectural Forum his project known as Dali Nait club, a night club in Acapulco, where he used the form of a sea urchin as a cover. Maybe the geodesic dome, which encloses the Dali´s Museum, is the one which better pictures Dali´s obsession. Originally the dome was commissioned to Fuller, but finally was Pérez Piñero who made it possible. Fuller represented Dali´s idea of an architect in contrast to Le Corbusier, which Work is defined as old and heavy by Dalí.