Arranging Rectangles

Grids have been described in the design literature for at least 50 years. French architect Le Corbusier describes a grid system in his 1946 book Le Modulor [2]. Swiss graphic designer Karl Gerstner describes a number of grid systems or “programmes” in his 1964 book Designing Programmes [1]. One of Gerstner’s examples is a 15th century system for varying cathedral windows. Use of tatami mats appears to go back 1300 years. Writing systems (both alphabetic and ideographic) are even older examples. The classic work on grids is Josef Muller-Brockman’s 1981 Grid Systems [3], which documents grid systems in his own work and that of other Swiss designers of the “modern” period. Recently, grids have again become a popular subject of design discussions, especially as a new generation of designers tackles the challenges of designing for the web. See for example, http://www.thegridsystem.org/