Architectural Theory
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ARCHITECTURAL THEORY
Edited by Harry Francis Mallgrave
Volume I
An Anthology from Vitruvius to 1870
Editorial material and organization � 2006 by Harry Francis Mallgrave
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING
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First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
1 2006
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Architectural theory, volume I: an anthology from Vitruvius to 1870 /
edited by Harry Francis Mallgrave.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-0257-5 (hard cover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-4051-0257-8 (hard cover : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-0258-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
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1. Architecture–Philosophy. I. Mallgrave, Harry Francis.
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CONTENTS
Preface xxi
General Introduction xxiii
Part I: Classicism and the Renaissance 1
A. The Classical and Medieval Traditions 3
Introduction 3
1. Vitruvius 5
from On Architecture, Book 1 (c.25 BC)
2. Vitruvius 9
from On Architecture, Book 2 (c.25 BC)
3. Vitruvius 11
from On Architecture, Book 3 (c.25 BC)
4. Vitruvius 12
from On Architecture, Book 4 (c.25 BC)
5. Old Testament 15
from I Kings
6. Old Testament 18
from The Book of Ezekiel (c.586 BC)
7. New Testament 20
from The Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John (c.95 AD)
8. Abbot Suger 22
from The Book of Suger, Abbot of Saint-Denis (c.1144)
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9. William Durandus 24
from The Symbolism of Churches and Church Ornaments (1286)
B. Renaissance and Baroque Ideals 26
Introduction 26
10. Antonio di Tuccio Manetti 28
from The Life of Brunelleschi (1480s)
11. Leon Battista Alberti 30
from On the Art of Building, Prologue and Book I (1443–52)
12. Leon Battista Alberti 32
from On the Art of Building, Book 6 (1443–52)
13. Leon Battista Alberti 34
from On the Art of Building, Book 9 (1443–52)
14. Il Filarete 36
from Book 1 of his untitled treatise on architecture (1461–3)
15. Il Filarete 39
from Book 8 of his untitled treatise on architecture
16. Sebastiano Serlio 42
from Book 3, The Complete Works on Architecture and Perspective (1540)
17. Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola 44
from Preface to Rules of the Five Orders of Architecture (1562)
18. Palladio 46
from The Four Books of Architecture (1570)
19. Juan Bautista Villalpando 48
from Ezekiel Commentaries (1604)
20. Georgio Vasari 50
from Preface to Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters,
and Sculptors (1550, 1568)
21. Georgio Vasari 53
from ‘‘Life of Michelangelo’’ in Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects,
Painters, and Sculptors (1550, 1568)
22. Peter Paul Rubens 55
from Preface to Palaces of Genoa (1622)
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VI CONTENTS
Part II: Classicism in France and Britain 57
A. French Classicism: Ancients and Moderns 59
Introduction 59
23. René Descartes 61
from Rules for the Direction of the Mind (1628)
24. Roland Fréart de Chambray 62
from Preface to A Parallel of the Ancient Architecture with the Modern (1650)
25. Paul Fréart de Chantelou 65
from Diary of the Cavaliere Bernini’s Visit to France (1665)
26. François Blondel 70
from ‘‘Inaugural Lecture to the Academy of Architecture’’ (1671)
27. François Blondel, 72
from Architecture Course (1675)
28. René Ouvrard 72
from Harmonic Architecture (1677)
29. Claude Perrault 74
annotations to French translation of The Ten Books of Architecture of
Vitruvius (1673)
30. François Blondel 76
from Architecture Course, Vol. II (1683)
31. Claude Perrault 77
from The Ten Books of Architecture of Vitruvius, second edition (1684)
32. Claude Perrault 78
from Ordonnance for the Five Kinds of Columns After the Method of the
Ancients (1683)
33. Jean-François Félibien 81
from Preface to Historical Survey of the Life and Works of the Most Celebrated
Architects (1687)
34. Charles Perrault 82
from Preface to Parallel of the Ancients and Moderns with Regard to the Arts
and Sciences (1688)
35. Charles Perrault 83
from ‘‘Design of a Portal for the Church of Sainte-Geneviève in Paris’’ (1697)
36. Michel de Frémin 84
from Critical Memoirs on Architecture (1702)
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CONTE NTS VII
37. Jean-Louis de Cordemoy 86
from New Treatise on All Architecture or the Art of Building (1706, 1714)
B. British Classicism and Palladianism 88
Introduction 88
38. Henry Wotton 89
from The Elements of Architecture (1624)
39. Christopher Wren 91
from Tract I on architecture (mid-1670s)
40. Christopher Wren 93
from Tracts II and IV on architecture (mid-1670s)
41. Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury 94
from Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711)
42. Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury 98
from ‘‘A Letter Concerning Design’’ (1712)
43. Colin Campbell 101
Introduction to Vitruvius Britannicus, Vol. I (1715)
44. Nicholas Du Bois 103
Translator’s Preface to The Architecture of A. Palladio (1715)
45. William Kent 106
‘‘Advertisement’’ to The Designs of Inigo Jones (1727)
46. James Gibbs 107
Introduction to A Book of Architecture (1728)
47. Robert Morris 109
from An Essay in Defence of Ancient Architecture (1728)
48. Alexander Pope 112
from Of False Taste (1731)
49. Isaac Ware 114
‘‘Advertisement’’ to Andrea Palladio: The Four Books of Architecture (1737)
50. Robert Morris 115
from ‘‘An Essay upon Harmony’’ (1739)
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VIII CONTENTS
Part III: Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment 119
A. Early Neoclassicism 121
Introduction 121
51. Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach 122
from Preface to Outline for a Historical Architecture (1721)
52. Voltaire 123
from Philosophic Letters on the English (1733)
53. Jacques-Gabriel Soufflot 125
from ‘‘Memoir on Architectural Proportions’’ (1739)
54. Jacques-Gabriel Soufflot 126
from ‘‘Memoir on Gothic Architecture’’ (1741)
55. Carlo Lodoli 127
from Notes for a projected treatise on architecture (c.1740s)
56. Baron de Montesquieu 130
from Preface to The Spirit of the Laws (1748)
57. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 132
from ‘‘Discourse on the Sciences and Arts’’ (1750)
58. Jean Le Rond D’Alembert 135
from ‘‘Preliminary Discourse of the Editors’’ (1751)
59. Jacques-François Blondel 138
from ‘‘Architecture’’ in Diderot’s Encyclopedia (1751)
60. Charles-Étienne Briseux 140
from Preface to Treatise on Essential Beauty in the Arts (1752)
61. Marc-Antoine Laugier 141
from Essay on Architecture (1753)
62. Marc-Antoine Laugier 144
from Essay on Architecture (1753)
63. Isaac Ware 147
from A Complete Body of Architecture, Chapter II (1756)
64. Isaac Ware 148
from A Complete Body of Architecture, Chapter IX (1756)
65. William Chambers 150
from A Treatise on Civil Architecture (1759)
66. William Chambers 152
from A Treatise on the Decorative Part of Civil Architecture (1791)
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CONTE NTS IX
B. Greece and the Classical Ideal 154
Introduction 154
67. James Stuart and Nicholas Revett 155
from ‘‘Proposals for publishing an accurate description of
the Antiquities of Athens’’ (1748)
68. Robert Wood and James Dawkins 158
from The Ruins of Palmyra (1753)
69. Johann Joachim Winckelmann 159
from Reflections on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture (1755)
70. Allan Ramsay 163
from ‘‘A Dialogue on Taste’’ in The Investigator (1755)
71. Julien-David Le Roy 165
from The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece (1758)
72. Julien-David Le Roy 168
from The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece (1758)
73. James Stuart and Nicholas Revett 169
from Preface to The Antiquities of Athens (1762)
74. Johann Joachim Winckelmann 172
from History of the Art of Antiquity (1764)
75. Johann Joachim Winckelmann 174
from History of the Art of Antiquity (1764)
76. Johann Joachim Winckelmann 176
from History of the Art of Antiquity (1764)
77. Giovanni Battista Piranesi 178
from ‘‘Observations on the Letter of Monsieur Mariette’’ (1765)
78. Giovanni Battista Piranesi 185
from Opinions on Architecture (1765)
79. Giovanni Battista Piranesi 188
from ‘‘An Apologetical Essay in Defence of the Egyptian and
Tuscan Architecture’’ (1769)
C. Character and Expression 190
Introduction 190
80. Germain Boffrand 191
from Book of Architecture (1745)
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X CONTENTS
81. Étienne Bonnot de Condillac 193
from Essay on the Origin of Human Knowledge (1746)
82. Julien-David Le Roy 195
from History of the Arrangement and Different Forms that the Christians
Have Given to Their Churches (1764)
83. Jacques-François Blondel 197
from Course of Architecture (1771)
84. Nicolas Le Camus de Mézières 199
from The Genius of Architecture (1780)
85. Nicolas Le Camus de Mézières 201
from The Genius of Architecture (1780)
86. Jean-Louis Viel de Saint-Maux 204
from Letters on the Architecture of the Ancients and the Moderns (1787)
87. A. C. Quatremère de Quincy 206
from Methodical Encyclopedia (1788)
88. Étienne-Louis Boullée 210
from Architecture, Essay on Art (c.1794)
89. Étienne-Louis Boullée 213
from Architecture, Essay on Art (c.1794)
90. Claude Nicolas Ledoux 216
from Architecture Considered in Relation to Art, Morals, and Legislation (1804)
91. John Soane 218
from Royal Academy Lectures on Architecture (V and XI; 1812–15)
Part IV: Theories of the Picturesque and the Sublime 221
A. Sources of the Picturesque 223
Introduction 223
92. John Locke 224
from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
93. William Temple 229
from ‘‘Upon the Gardens of Epicurus; or, of Gardening in the
Year 1685’’ (1692)
94. John Vanbrugh 230
from Letter to the Duchess of Marlborough (1709)
95. Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury 232
from ‘‘The Moralists’’ (1709)
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CONTE NTS XI
96. Joseph Addison 234
from The Spectator (1712)
97. Robert Castell 239
from The Villas of the Ancients Illustrated (1728)
98. Batty Langley 241
from New Principles of Gardening (1728)
99. Robert Morris 243
from Lectures on Architecture (1736)
100. William Chambers 245
from Designs of Chinese Buildings (1757)
B. Toward a Relativist Aesthetics 249
Introduction 249
101. John Locke 250
from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, fourth edition (1700)
102. Joseph Addison 253
from The Spectator (1712)
103. Jean Baptiste du Bos 256
from Critical Reflections on Poetry, Painting, and Music (1719)
104. Francis Hutcheson 258
from An Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue (1725)
105. George Berkeley 261
from the ‘‘Third Dialogue’’ of Alciphron (1732)
106. David Hume 266
from A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40)
107. Allan Ramsey 267
from ‘‘A Dialogue on Taste’’ in The Investigator (1755)
108. Alexander Gerard 269
from An Essay on Taste (1756)
109. David Hume 271
from ‘‘Of the Standard of Taste’’ (1757)
110. Edmund Burke 273
from A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime
and Beautiful (1757)
111. Edmund Burke 277
from A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime
and Beautiful (1757)
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XII CONTENTS
112. Lord Kames 284
from Elements of Criticism (1762)
113. Robert and James Adam 286
from Preface to The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam (1773–8)
C. Consolidation of Picturesque Theory 290
Introduction 290
114. Thomas Whately 291
from Observations on Modern Gardening (1770)
115. Horace Walpole 295
from ‘‘The History of the Modern Taste in Gardening’’ (1771)
116. William Chambers 298
from A Dissertation on Oriental Gardening (1772)
117. William Gilpin 300
from Observations on the River Wye (1782)
118. Joshua Reynolds 303
from Discourses on Art (1786)
119. John Soane 305
from Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Buildings (1788)
120. Uvedale Price 307
from Essays on the Picturesque (1794)
121. Richard Payne Knight 312
from ‘‘Postscript’’ to The Landscape, second edition (1795)
122. Humphry Repton 316
from Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening (1795)
123. Uvedale Price 319
from ‘‘An Essay on Architecture and Buildings as connected with
Scenery’’ (1798)
124. Richard Payne Knight 322
from An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste (1805)
125. John Soane 325
from Royal Academy Lectures on Architecture, V, VIII, and XI (1812–15)
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CONTENTS XIII
Part V: The Rise of Historicism in the Nineteenth Century 331
A. Challenges to Classicism in France, 1802–34 333
Introduction 333
126. Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand 334
from Précis of the Lectures on Architecture (1802)
127. A. C. Quatremère de Quincy 338
from On Egyptian Architecture (1803)
128. Christian Ludwig Stieglitz 340
from Archaeology of the Architecture of the Greeks and Romans (1801)
129. A. C. Quatremère de Quincy 341
from The Olympian Jupiter (1814)
130. Charles Robert Cockerell 343
from ‘‘On the Aegina Marbles’’ (1819)
131. William Kinnard 344
annotations to Stuart and Revett’s The Antiquities of Athens,
second edition (1825)
132. Otto Magnus von Stackelberg 345
from The Temple of Apollo at Bassae in Arcadia (1826)
133. Jacques Ignace Hittorff 347
from ‘‘Polychrome Architecture Among the Greeks’’ (1830)
134. Gottfried Semper 348
from Preliminary Remarks on Polychrome Architecture and Sculpture in
Antiquity (1834)
135. Léon Vaudoyer 351
excerpts from three letters of 1829, 1830, and 1831
136. Émile Barrault 353
from To Artists (1830)
137. Victor Hugo 356
from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1832)
138. Gottfried Semper 357
from Preliminary Remarks on Polychrome Architecture and Sculpture in
Antiquity (1834)
139. Léonce Reynaud 359
from ‘‘Architecture’’ in the New Encyclopedia (1834)
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XIV CONTE NTS
B. The Gothic Revival in Britain, Germany, and France 362
Introduction 362
140. Horace Walpole 363
from Letter to H. Zouch (1759)
141. Horace Walpole 364
from A Description of the Villa of Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill (1774)
142. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 366
from ‘‘On German Architecture’’ (1772)
143. François René Chateaubriand 368
from The Genius of Christianity (1802)
144. Friedrich von Schlegel 370
from Notes on a Trip through the Netherlands (1806)
145. Joseph Görres 373
from ‘‘The Cathedral in Cologne’’ (1814)
146. Georg Moller 375
from Monuments of German Architecture (1815–21)
147. Thomas Rickman 376
from An Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture (1817)
148. William Whewell 378
from Architectural Notes on German Churches (1830)
149. Robert Willis 381
from Remarks on the Architecture of the Middle Ages (1835)
150. A. W. N. Pugin 383
from Contrasts (1836)
151. A. W. N. Pugin 385
from The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture (1841)
152. John Mason Neale and Benjamin Webb 386
from The Ecclesiologist (1841)
153. Victor Hugo 388
from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1832)
154. Léonce Reynaud 390
from ‘‘Architecture’’ in the New Encyclopedia (1834)
155. Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc 391
from ‘‘On the Construction of Religious Buildings in France’’ (1844)
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CONTENTS XV
C. The German Style Debate 395
Introduction 395
156. Immanuel Kant 396
from Critique of Judgment (1790)
157. August Schlegel 398
from Lectures on Literature and the Fine Arts (1801–2)
158. Friedrich Gilly 399
from ‘‘Some Thoughts on the Necessity of Endeavoring to Unify the
Various Departments of Architecture . . . ’’ (1799)
159. Karl Friedrich Schinkel 401
Literary fragments (c.1805)
160. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 403
from The Philosophy of Fine Art (1820s)
161. Friedrich von Gärtner 406
from Letter to Johann Martin von Wagner (1828)
162. Heinrich Hübsch 407
from In What Style Should We Build? (1828)
163. Rudolf Wiegmann 410
from ‘‘Remarks on the Book: In What Style Should We Build?’’ (1829)
164. Karl Friedrich Schinkel 412
from Notes for a textbook on architecture (c.1830)
165. Karl Friedrich Schinkel 414
from Notes for a textbook on architecture (c.1835)
166. Rudolf Wiegmann 415
from ‘‘Thoughts on the Development of a National Architectural Style
for the Present’’ (1841)
167. Johann Heinrich Wolff 417
from ‘‘Remarks on the Architectural Questions Broached by Professor
Stier . . . ’’ (1845)
168. Eduard Metzger 419
from ‘‘Contribution to the Contemporary Question: In What Style Should
One Build!’’ (1845)
169. Carl Bötticher 421
from ‘‘The Principles of the Hellenic and Germanic Ways of Building’’ (1846)
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XVI CONTE NTS
D. The Rise of American Theory 425
Introduction 425
170. Thomas Jefferson 426
Letters (1787, 1791, 1805, 1810)
171. Benjamin Latrobe 432
from Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1807)
172. George Tucker 435
from ‘‘On Architecture’’ (1814)
173. William Strickland 437
from Introductory lecture on architecture (1824)
174. Thomas U. Walter 439
from ‘‘Of Modern Architecture’’ (1841)
175. Arthur Delavan Gilman 440
from ‘‘Architecture in the United States’’ (1844)
176. Thomas Alexander Tefft 443
from ‘‘The Cultivation of True Taste’’ (1851)
177. Ralph Waldo Emerson 444
from ‘‘Self-Reliance’’ (1841)
178. Ralph Waldo Emerson 446
from ‘‘Thoughts on Art’’ (1841)
179. Horatio Greenough 449
from Letter to Washington Allston (1831)
180. Horatio Greenough 452
from ‘‘American Architecture’’ (1843)
181. Horatio Greenough 454
from ‘‘Structure and Organization’’ (1852)
182. Henry David Thoreau 456
from his journal ( January 11, 1852)
183. Andrew Jackson Downing 457
from A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1841)
184. Andrew Jackson Downing 460
from Cottage Residences (1842)
185. Andrew Jackson Downing 462
from Hints to Persons about Building in the Country (1847)
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CONTENTS XVII
186. Andrew Jackson Downing 464
from The Architecture of Country Houses (1850)
187. Calvert Vaux 465
from Villas and Cottages (1857)
188. James Jackson Jarves 468
from The Art-Idea (1864)
Part VI: Historicism in the Industrial Age 471
A. The Battle of the Styles in Britain 473
Introduction 473
189. Thomas Hope 474
from Observations on the Plans and Elevations Designed by James Wyatt (1804)
190. Thomas Hope 476
from An Historical Essay on Architecture (1835)
191. Thomas Leverton Donaldson 478
from ‘‘Preliminary Discourse before the University College of London’’ (1842)
192. John Ruskin 479
from The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849)
193. James Fergusson, A. W. N. Pugin, Edward Lacy Garbett, and Robert Kerr 482
from The Builder (1850)
194. Edward Lacy Garbett 488
from Rudimentary Treatise on the Principles of Design in Architecture (1850)
195. John Ruskin 490
from ‘‘The Nature of Gothic’’ (1851–3)
196. Matthew Digby Wyatt 493
from The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century (1851)
197. Richard Redgrave 495
from ‘‘Supplementary Report on Design’’ (1852)
198. Owen Jones 497
from The Grammar of Ornament (1856)
199. John Ruskin 499
from ‘‘The Deteriorative Power of Conventional Art over Nations’’ (1859)
200. Robert Kerr 500
‘‘The Battle of the Styles,’’ from The Builder (1860)
201. James Fergusson 502
from History of the Modern Styles of Architecture (1862)
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XVIII CONTENTS
202. William Morris 503
Prospectus for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company (1861)
B. Rationalism, Eclecticism, and Realism in France 505
Introduction 505
203. Albert Lenoir and Léon Vaudoyer 506
from ‘‘Studies of Architecture in France’’ (1844)
204. Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc 508
from ‘‘On the Construction of Religious Building in France’’ (1845)
205. César Daly 510
from ‘‘On Liberty in Art’’ (1847)
206. Léonce Reynaud 512
from Treatise on Architecture (1850)
207. Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc 513
from ‘‘Architecture’’ in Reasoned Dictionary (1854)
208. Gustave Courbet 515
from ‘‘Statement on Realism’’ (1855)
209. Charles Baudelaire 516
from ‘‘The Painter of Modern Life’’ (1859)
210. Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc 518
from Lectures on Architecture, Lecture VI (1859)
211. César Daly 521
from Revue générale, Vol. 21 (1863)
212. César Daly 522
from Revue générale, Vol. 23 (1866)
213. Bourgeois de Lagny 524
from ‘‘Salon of 1866’’
214. Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc 525
from ‘‘Style’’ in Reasoned Dictionary (1866)
215. Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc 526
from Lectures on Architecture, Lecture XII (1866)
216. Émile Zola 527
from The Covered Market of Paris (1872)
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CONTENTS XIX
C. Tectonics and Style in Germany 529
Introduction 529
217. Karl von Schnaase 530
from Dutch Letters (1834)
218. Karl Bötticher 531
from Greek Tectonics (1843)
219. Eduard van der Nüll 533
from ‘‘Suggestions on the Skillful Relation of Ornament to Untreated
Form’’ (1845)
220. Heinrich Leibnitz 534
from The Structural Element in Architecture (1849)
221. Gottfried Semper 536
from The Four Elements of Architecture (1851)
222. Gottfried Semper 540
from Science, Industry, and Art (1852)
223. Jacob Burckhardt 545
from The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860)
224. Jacob Burckhardt 546
from The History of the Italian Renaissance (1867)
225. Gottfried Semper 547
from Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts (1860)
226. Gottfried Semper 551
from Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts (1860)
227. Rudolf Hermann Lotze 555
from History of German Aesthetics (1868)
228. Gottfried Semper 556
from On Architectural Style (1869)
229. Richard Lucae 558
from ‘‘On the Meaning and Power of Space in Architecture’’ (1869)
Additional Recommended Readings 561
Acknowledgments 568
Index 583
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XX CONTE NTS
PREFACE
The idea of sketching an architectural cross-section through the lines of Western
cultural development is a compelling one, if only because the profile of the
ideological continuum is on occasions tenuous at best. Theory possesses no
tangible form. It exists in large and heavy tomes as well as in short and spirited manifestoes.
It is found in the angle of a molding, the silhouette of a roofline, as well as in the
impassioned assertions of the confident practitioner. Theory is at times imbued with
revolutionary fervor, and it admittedly emanates or takes its lead from larger cultural
sensibilities. Architectural theory, for all its occasional abstraction, is nothing less than the
history of our ideas regarding our constructed physical surroundings.
If we accept this broad definition of theory, we must also accept a wide-ranging approach
to the problem of an anthology, one that responds from many sides. Theory needs its
context, just as any history of ideas needs its intellectual framework, and the expense and
materiality of architecture perhaps make it even more a closely guarded pawn of political
ambition, wars, and economic downturns. But ideas also move with a certain volition and
tempo of their own, fascinating in their own right. The famous seventeenth-century
‘‘quarrel’’ between the Ancients and the Moderns, for instance, was not only a learned
academic dispute concerning past and present accomplishments, but one whose momentous
implications for the sciences and arts required more than a century to unfold. Similarly,
the seemingly innocent notion of the ‘‘picturesque’’ in late eighteenth-century Britain
demanded the same 100 years of aesthetic cultivation to achieve its subtle refinement.
And Ralph Waldo Emerson’s notion of ‘‘self-reliance’’ not only crystallized the pioneering
spirit of nineteenth-century America but it also strongly resonated within architectural
circles for several generations – and arguably still reverberates in American architecture
today. Each idea thus possesses its specific circumstances and points of origin, and to this end
we have framed each section of our anthology with a historical overview and provided each
entry with an introduction. To further the reader’s understanding, we have also suggested a
few additional readings in a section at the end of the book.
The decision to include a greater (rather than fewer) number of texts and documents in
this anthology as well requires an abbreviated format for each selection and a number of
necessary stylistic conventions. The use of simple ellipses, ‘‘ . . . ’’, denotes the omission of
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words or phrases within a sentence. Square brackets, [ . . . ], indicate the omission of a
sentence, sentences, or several short paragraphs, and they can be employed at the beginning
or end of a text as well. Asterisks, * * * , refer to the lengthier omission of a paragraph or
more, although in some (noted) cases they also appear in the original text. We have left all
English texts in their original punctuation, spelling, and style. Books are italicized and the
use of quotation marks indicate shorter writings.
The increasing body of texts within the chronological structure reflects not only the
growing number of historical documents but also the growing complexity or nuances of the
theoretical debate. The aim of this anthology has been to balance the presentation of texts
with the always growing richness of ideas, and to provide an introduction to, and an
overview of, the subject matter to be reviewed. No anthology is intended to supplant the
teaching of architectural theory or to constitute a course in itself; this anthology is most
definitely not presented to discourage the reader from turning to the multitude of sources
themselves. Anthologies are by nature restrictive, cursory, subjective, even arbitrary in their
selection, and always in need of revision. At their best, anthologies provide a framework for
ideas and encourage the reader to study the material and its historical context with greater
seriousness and depth.
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XXII PREF ACE
GENERAL INTRODUCT ION
Architectural theory has its unique distinctions. It comprises a broad body of ideas
and debates, which over many centuries has not only come to form a substantial
literary edifice but also one ever more complex and refined in its details and issues.
With the articulate engagement of one generation responding to the ideas of another,
architectural theory is more often than not contentious and instructive. It is not born in
isolation. It reflects the aspirations of emperors and the whims of kings, and again the
insights of lay critics and the pride of competing professionals. As an intellectual enterprise,
architectural theory draws upon the larger currents of its time – political, social, scientific,
philosophical, and cultural – and in this way it often cannot be understood outside of these
insinuating forces. As a constructional art, architecture also speaks to the physical world or
more generally to human aspirations and values. The study of these ideas is, in its own way,
a lucid compendium of human history.
The present volume, which is the first of two, begins with theory in ancient and classical
times and concludes in 1870. The different eras within this time span, of necessity, are
uneven in their presentation. The earliest records we have of architectural thinking in the
West are the lay and religious Hebraic traditions recorded in the Old Testament, which
became one of the two cornerstones of the later Christian worldview. The other cornerstone –
classicism – is generally taken as synonymous with the Greco-Roman tradition. Although we
know aspects of this antique culture extremely well, our knowledge of its architectural
dimension is limited to its few surviving monuments and to the treatise of Vitruvius, the
lone literary work to come down to us from Roman antiquity. But Vitruvius was operating
within a fertile line of theoretical development parallel to and more prolific (in terms of
writings devoted to architecture) than that of the Middle East, a tradition of theory that
stretches back at least five centuries before him. All of these texts (perhaps hundreds) have
unfortunately been lost.
Our textual holdings from Late Roman and medieval times – when the Christian and
classical traditions merge into the body of beliefs that we define as Western culture – is
scarcely much larger. Nevertheless, its glorious architectural monuments testify to a refined
body of theoretical knowledge. It is only with the Renaissance that this dearth of textual
evidence begins to be remedied. The production of inexpensive paper, the invention of the
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printing press, the use of vernacular languages, and the rise of literacy rates – all conspire to
make the transmission of ideas more efficient and therefore more abundant. Renaissance
writers, at the same time, prided themselves in recovering what they believed to be the lost
ideals of classicism. Western theory now plots a relatively straight course (although with
interesting regional variations) down to the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, when
secular forces-at-large now openly clash with the religious traditions and political structures
inherited from the past. The result is that fascinating shattering of theory along nationalist
and ‘‘stylistic’’ lines that we generally subsume under the ambiguous concept of historicism.
In contrast to the often pejorative use of this term with respect to architectural practice,
we shall employ the idea of historicism in a positive sense as an attempt to resolve the
apparent discrepancy between greater historical understanding (increasingly viewed in
absolute and teleological terms) and an emerging modern industrial state (bourgeois life)
that tended toward relativism in both historical and cultural terms. The nineteenth century
became increasingly time rich in its theoretical possibilities. And what emerges from it, of
course, is that worldview of more modest persuasion which we – too narrowly – refer to as
modernism.
The concluding line of 1870 may seem arbitrary but it is chosen for several reasons. First
the year, or more correctly the years surrounding it, define a time of significant theoretical
change. Theory in its four centuries since the Renaissance had been dominated largely by
Italian and French writers and was generally ‘‘academic’’ in its bearing. And even though this
system and its body of beliefs was tottering well before 1870, academic principles fall into a
sharp decline in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, even though classicism as a
formal attitude and vocabulary survive. The year, with the defining moment of the Franco-
Prussian War, also has symbolic connotations for both Europe and North America. The
French defeat not only ushered in for that country (and its proud culture) both economic
and military decline, but it also signaled the beginning of cultural parity in the West. Britain,
with its proud intellectual traditions, was now confidently pursuing its path of design
reforms through the Arts and Crafts Movement. The United States, whose first independent
theoretical stirrings appear only in the previous generation, was embarking during its post-
bellum years on a period of unparalleled economic and cultural expansion. And the soon to
be unified Germany, with its unrivaled system of higher education, had become by 1870
perhaps the dominant player in architectural theory – at least as theory developed in the
twentieth century. Cultural identities within the Nordic countries and central Europe, in
Austria, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy, were also manifesting themselves around this time. It
was thus a period of momentous transformation.
Still another reason for choosing the year 1870 to conclude this volume is to respond to
earlier intellectual histories that tended to isolate the twentieth century. This study does not
represents a ‘‘modernist’’ view of the world, and indeed it rejects the historiographic notion
of a divide proffered by so many twentieth-century historians. Intellectual production is
rather a continuous and always evolving process, for architecture is sometimes a closed
process frequently circling upon relatively few alternative strategies or ideas. Modernism, if
it can be defined at all, is a phenomenon that forms itself over centuries, and whether we
trace its roots to the Enlightenment, to the seventeenth century, or to the Renaissance is
largely a matter of historical preference. The fact that architectural theory is a closed process
should also not be interpreted to mean that it can be understood in and of itself. Indeed, this
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XXIV GE NERAL I NTRODUCT ION
particular field of ideas can be grasped in its outlines only by taking into account the context
of the philosophical, political, and cultural world in which it arises. It is therefore hoped that
the broad approach of this volume will bring both an overview and something of substance
to architectural curricula and add substance to the teaching of history and theory.
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GENERAL INTRODUCT I ON XXV
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PART I C LASS I C I SM AND THERENA ISSANCE
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A . THE CLASS I CAL AND MED IEVALTRAD I T IONS
Introduction
The word ‘‘classical’’ in English, like its Latin counterpart classicus, carries with it rich connotations. The Latin
word derives from the verb calare, ‘‘to call,’’ but this meaning in the Late Roman Republic gave way toreferring to those ‘‘of the first class,’’ as opposed to those of the lower classes. Similar meanings accompanied
it until its early English usage in the sixteenth century, when the word more generally came to refer to someone orsomething of the highest rank or importance, a standard or model to imitate. Around the same time, ‘‘classical’’ also
came to be associated with any of the Greek and Roman writers of antiquity who were held up as worthy models foremulation. When we speak of the classical tradition in architecture, we refer to the intellectual and artistic
productions of Greek and Roman antiquity, and to the ‘‘rediscovery’’ of this legacy in medieval times, theRenaissance, and in the ensuing centuries.
INTRODUCT ION TO PART IA 3
Classicism in architecture, by happenstance, begins with Vitruvius – or Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c.85–c.20 BC) as he is
sometimes called, although only the middle name is certain. Classicism is synonymous with Vitruvius because, of thedozens of treatises written on architecture in classical times, his is the one to have survived into modern times. Only a
few details of the life of this architect, engineer, and scholar are known with certainty. He was born probably in thesecond decade of the first century BC, and his breadth of knowledge suggests a good liberal education, training with
architects, and travel to various parts of Asia. The chapters of his treatise on the design of houses suggest somefamiliarity with this subject, but sometime around mid-century he was hired into the service of Julius Caesar as a
military engineer. Over the next decade he traveled with the conqueror during his campaigns into Gaul and probablyAfrica, where Vitruvius prepared fortifications and engines of war. After the Ides of March in 44 BC the architect was
without a patron, but within a few years he found employment as an engineer under Caesar’s adopted son Octavian.His decision proved a wise one, because during the years 42–31 BC the forces of Octavian and those of Marc Anthonywere squaring off for the control of Rome – a conflict that ended with the defeat of Anthony and Cleopatra at Actium in
31 BC. Four years later Octavian assumed the honorific title of Augustus Caesar and the Roman Empire was born. Thenow aged Vitruvius was at this point working hard to complete the treatise on which he had probably worked for many
years. He dedicated it to the new Emperor, and shortly thereafter built the one building that he included in his 10scrolls, the basilica at Fano. His description of this building, of which nothing has survived, would in itself also later
shape the idea of classicism. Vitrvuius must have died shortly after completing his treatise in the mid-20s BC.De architectura, or the text generally referred to as the Ten Books of Architecture, embraces many more concerns
than what today is considered to fall within the realm of architecture. The last three books deal with water (aqueducts,wells), time-pieces (zodiacs, planets, astrology, sundials), and mechanics (pulleys, screws, catapults, battering rams). Thefirst seven books concern architecture, in both its material, constructional, and theoretical aspects. Perhaps the heart of
his treatise is found in Books 3 and 4, in which he presents the proportional rules and description of three types oftemples, first and foremost their columns, which later will be construed as ‘‘orders.’’ Books 5 and 6 concern other building
types, such as basilicas, treasuries, theaters, gymnasia, and dwellings. In Book 1 he presents the six principles ofarchitecture, which are order, arrangement, eurythmy, symmetry, propriety, and economy. A few pages later he reduces
these principles to the more famous Vitruvian triad – following a seventeenth-century translation – of commodity,firmness, and delight. Notwithstanding his rules for proportion and symmetry, Vitruvius was not especially dogmatic in his
strictures and he allowed the architect considerable latitude in adjusting proportions where the eye deems it necessary.This freedom would be disallowed in later years as proportional rules often came to be seen as sacrosanct canons.
The history of ‘‘classicism’’ in relation to De architectura is an interesting one. Limiting the historical importance ofthese scrolls is the fact that Vitruvius composed them prior to the reign of Augustus, of whom Suetonius once noted that‘‘he found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble.’’ Thus many of the major monuments whose ruins still grace
the city today were not yet built or even contemplated. And when they later came to be constructed they were notdesigned to the proportional and design specifications outlined by Vitruvius. Hence his treatise has only a small
connection with Roman imperial architecture. Speaking in favor of the treatise of Vitruvius, however, is its relation withthe classical past. He was an architect versed not only in such Greek philosophers as Pythagoras, Archimedes,
Democritus, Plato, and Aristotle, but also in the work of such contemporaries as Varro and Cicero. Moreover, he makesreferences to dozens of passages and previous treatises on architecture, the vast majority of which were Greek.
Vitruvius’s own taste in architecture tended toward the late-Hellenic style, especially the Ionian work of Hermogenes(late third or early second century) and Hermodorus of Salamis (mid-second century). In this way, Vitruvius actuallyreveals more of the theoretical body of Greek architecture than of the contemporary Roman situation.
The classicism of Vitruvius, however, defines only one foundation stone of the antique tradition upon whichWestern intellectual development is based; the other derives from the rise and eventual dominance of Christianity in
the West. With its roots in Judaism, Christian culture is at least as old as its parallel Hellenistic and Romancounterparts, with which it would become conjoined after Constantine’s defeat of Maxentius in AD 312. From his new
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4 INTRODUCT ION TO PART IA
throne in Constantinople (founded 324–30), Constantine granted religious freedom to all, but himself converted to
Christianity, which now aligned its fortunes (at this point a religion still with a small number of followers) with that ofthe new Empire.
The fates of both the eastern and western Roman empires, however, were not peaceful ones. The Visigoth Alariccaptured Rome in 410 (the western empire had moved its capital to Ravenna in 404), and thus began the centuries
of the so-called barbarian invasions (actually tribal migrations) that plagued the political stability of Europe wellbeyond the crowning of Charlemagne as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the year 800. Seven-hundred Viking
longships camped on the Champ de Mars in 885 and laid siege to Paris for 11 months. As the Byzantine empire fellinto serious decline in the eleventh century, both Turks and Mongols pressed into Europe from the east, while only
the Pyrenees protected the Franks from Muslim incursions moving up through Spain. Pope Gregory VII declared thesupreme legislative and judicial power of the Papacy in 1075, and 40 years later the first of the Crusades was raisedto wrest Jerusalem from Islamic control. By the time of the fourth Crusade (1198–1216), the Latin Church had
achieved its apogee as a political and military power and essentially unified Europe with its language, law, andtheology. Moreover, contacts with Arab scholars had reintroduced the fruits of the Greco-Roman classical tradition
into the West. Thus the Gothic period appeared at the moment when a classical cultural renaissance was takingplace in Europe; scholars renewed historical interest and the production of books increased dramatically.
Throughout these years the Church’s relationship with classicism was nevertheless ambiguous, to say the least. On theone hand classicism bore the marks of paganism, and therefore many of its secular practices (such as art) were often
viewed with suspicion. On the other hand there was a genuine interest in recapturing, as it were, the legacy of the past.For instance Vitruvius, whose impact on Roman architecture was very slight, gains considerably in stature in the Epistles ofSidonius Apollinarius in the fifth century AD. The oldest existent manuscript of his treatise dates from the ninth century,
and from that time forward it was copied and distributed by the monastic route. The Archbishop of Rouen bequeathed acopy of the treatise to his cathedral in 1183 and Vincent of Beauvais quoted Vitruvius on proportions – affirming that De
architectura was read during Gothic times. Nevertheless, the book of Vitruvius – until the Renaissance – was by nomeans an influential text, and the major monuments of Romanesque and Gothic times (even with their reminiscences of
classical motifs) followed local traditions and the technical knowledge of vaulting that had been evolving since LateRoman times. Symbolism, a prominent feature of Gothic architecture in particular, remained wedded to theological and
pedagogical interests. The great monuments of the Middle Ages were extensions of the Church’s teachings.
1 V I TRUV IUSfrom On Architecture, Book 1 (c.25 BC)
Vitruvius compiled his 10 ‘‘books’’ (actually scrolls) from a variety of sources, almost entirely Greek. We
might therefore see him – like his contemporary Cicero – as a champion of a Greek revival that wasprominent in the last years of the Roman Republic. This was a movement among the Roman intelligentsia, in
all of the liberal arts, to assimilate and transpose concepts or terminology from Greek theory. The problem inherentin such a process of grafting, as Vitruvius’s many interpreters have often pointed out, is that of achieving conceptual
clarity and consistency of terms.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c.9–c.20 BC), from Book 1 of De architectura [On architecture] (c.25 BC), trans. Morris Hicky Morgan, in Vitruvius: The Ten Books on
Architecture. New York: Dover, 1960 (orig. 1914), pp. 5, 13–17.
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The following passages from the first and second chapters of Book 1 illustrate this problem. After an initial
discussion of the areas of education that the aspiring architect should master, Vitruvius identifies the six principlescomposing the art and science of architecture. But only the last two principles – propriety and economy – are
relatively straightforward in their meaning. Order (Greek taxis) is the ordering of parts alone and as a whole, andthus implies the concepts of a module and symmetry. Arrangement (Greek diathesis), which has also been rendered
in English as ‘‘design,’’ is similar to order but also adds the idea of aptness of placement. It is also familiar toarchitects through his discussion of the floor plan, elevation, and perspective. Eurythmy (Latin eurythmia is a
transliteration of Greek eurythmos) and symmetry (Greek symmetros; no Latin equivalent) are more elusive.Symmetry, which for Vitruvius is a key concept, is a proper harmony of the parts to each other and to the whole,
defining a kind of beauty. Eurythmy, which has also been translated as ‘‘proportion,’’ is not dissimilar to order andarrangement, and it suggests the use of numerical ratios. It is also the visible coherence of form.
In the next section, after his very broad definition of architecture, Vitruvius reduces architecture to the principles
of durability (Latin firmitas), convenience (Latin utilitas), and beauty (Latin venustas). These are the three terms thatHenry Wotten translated in 1624 (in a different order) as ‘‘commodity, firmness, and delight.’’ The idea of
constructing a work in a durable and convenient way is self-evident, and what he means by beauty is made manifestby his invocation of the term ‘‘symmetry.’’
The Education of the Architect
1. The architect should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and
varied kinds of learning, for it is by his judgement that all work done by the other arts is put
to test. This knowledge is the child of practice and theory. Practice is the continuous and
regular exercise of employment where manual work is done with any necessary material
according to the design of a drawing. Theory, on the other hand, is the ability to demon-
strate and explain the productions of dexterity on the principles of proportion.
2. It follows, therefore, that architects who have aimed at acquiring manual skill without
scholarship have never been able to reach a position of authority to correspond to their
pains, while those who relied only upon theories and scholarship were obviously hunting the
shadow, not the substance. But those who have a thorough knowledge of both, like men
armed at all points, have the sooner attained their object and carried authority with them.
[ . . . ]
The Fundamental Principles of Architecture
1. Architecture depends on Order (in Greek ���Ø�), Arrangement (in Greek �Ø�Ł��Ø�),
Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and Economy (in Greek �NŒ���Æ).
2. Order gives due measure to the members of a work considered separately, and
symmetrical agreement to the proportions of the whole. It is an adjustment according to
quantity (in Greek ������). By this I mean the selection of modules from the members of
the work itself and, starting from these individual parts of members, constructing the whole
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6 V I TRUV I US , ON ARCH I T ECTURE , BOOK 1
work to correspond. Arrangement includes the putting of things in their proper places and
the elegance of effect which is due to adjustments appropriate to the character of the work.
Its forms of expression (in Greek N��ÆØ) are these: groundplan, elevation, and perspective.
A groundplan is made by the proper successive use of compasses and rule, through which
we get outlines for the plane surfaces of buildings. An elevation is a picture of the front of a
building, set upright and properly drawn in the proportions of the contemplated work.
Perspective is the method of sketching a front with the sides withdrawing into the back-
ground, the lines all meeting in the centre of a circle. All three come of reflexion and
invention. Reflexion is careful and laborious thought, and watchful attention directed to the
agreeable effect of one’s plan. Invention, on the other hand, is the solving of intricate
problems and the discovery of new principles by means of brilliancy and versatility. These are
the departments belonging under Arrangement.
3. Eurythmy is beauty and fitness in the adjustments of the members. This is found when the
members of a work are of a height suited to their breadth, of a breadth suited to their length, and,
in a word, when they all correspond symmetrically.
4. Symmetry is a proper agreement between the members of the work itself, and relation
between the different parts and the whole general scheme, in accordance with a certain part
selected as standard. Thus in the human body there is a kind of symmetrical harmony
between forearm, foot, palm, finger, and other small parts; and so it is with perfect buildings.
In the case of temples, symmetry may be calculated from the thickness of a column, from a
triglyph, or even from a module; in the ballista, from the hole or from what the Greeks call
the ��æ��æ����; in a ship, from the space between the tholepins (�Ø���ªÆ); and in other
things, from various members.
5. Propriety is that perfection of style which comes when a work is authoritatively
constructed on approved principles. It arises from prescription (Greek Ł�Æ�Ø�fiH), from
usage, or from nature. From prescription, in the case of hypaethral edifices, open to the sky,
in honour of Jupiter Lightning, the Heaven, the Sun, or the Moon: for these are gods whose
semblances and manifestations we behold before our very eyes in the sky when it is cloudless
and bright. The temples of Minerva, Mars, and Hercules, will be Doric, since the virile
strength of these gods makes daintiness entirely inappropriate to their houses. In temples to
Venus, Flora, Proserpine, Spring-Water, and the Nymphs, the Corinthian order will be found
to have peculiar significance, because these are delicate divinities and so its rather slender
outlines, its flowers, leaves, and ornamental volutes will lend propriety where it is due. The
construction of temples of the Ionic order to Juno, Diana, Father Bacchus, and the other gods
of that kind, will be in keeping with the middle position which they hold; for the building of
such will be an appropriate combination of the severity of the Doric and the delicacy of the
Corinthian.
6. Propriety arises from usage when buildings having magnificent interiors are provided
with elegant entrance-courts to correspond; for there will be no propriety in the spectacle of
an elegant interior approached by a low, mean entrance. Or, if dentils be carved in the
cornice of the Doric entablature or triglyphs represented in the Ionic entablature over
the cushion-shaped capitals of the columns, the effect will be spoilt by the transfer of the
peculiarities of the one order of building to the other, the usage in each class having been
fixed long ago.
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7. Finally, propriety will be due to natural causes if, for example, in the case of all sacred
precincts we select very healthy neighbourhoods with suitable springs of water in the places
where the fanes are to be built, particularly in the case of those to Aesculapius and to Health,
gods by whose healing powers great numbers of the sick are apparently cured. For when
their diseased bodies are transferred from an unhealthy to a healthy spot, and treated with
waters from health-giving springs, they will the more speedily grow well. The result will be
that the divinity will stand in higher esteem and find his dignity increased, all owing to the
nature of his site. There will also be natural propriety in using an eastern light for bedrooms
and libraries, a western light in winter for baths and winter apartments, and a northern light
for picture galleries and other places in which a steady light is needed; for that quarter of the
sky grows neither light nor dark with the course of the sun, but remains steady and
unshifting all day long.
8. Economy denotes the proper management of materials and of site, as well as a thrifty
balancing of cost and common sense in the construction of works. This will be observed if,
in the first place, the architect does not demand things which cannot be found or made
ready without great expense. For example: it is not everywhere that there is plenty of
pitsand, rubble, fir, clear fir, and marble, since they are produced in different places and to
assemble them is difficult and costly. Where there is no pitsand, we must use the kinds
washed up by rivers or by the sea; the lack of fir and clear fir may be evaded by using
cypress, poplar, elm, or pine; and other problems we must solve in similar ways.
9. A second stage in Economy is reached when we have to plan the different kinds of
dwellings suitable for ordinary householders, for great wealth, or for the high position of the
statesman. A house in town obviously calls for one form of construction; that into which
stream the products of country estates requires another; this will not be the same in the case
of money-lenders and still different for the opulent and luxurious; for the powers under
whose deliberations the commonwealth is guided dwellings are to be provided according to
their special needs: and, in a word, the proper form of economy must be observed in
building houses for each and every class.
The Departments of Architecture
1. There are three departments of architecture: the art of building, the making of time-
pieces, and the construction of machinery. Building is, in its turn, divided into two parts, of
which the first is the construction of fortified towns and of works for general use in public
places, and the second is the putting up of structures for private individuals. There are three
classes of public buildings: the first for defensive, the second for religious, and the third for
utilitarian purposes. Under defence comes the planning of walls, towers, and gates, perman-
ent devices for resistance against hostile attacks; under religion, the erection of fanes and
temples to the immortal gods; under utility, the provision of meeting places for public use,
such as harbours, markets, colonnades, baths, theatres, promenades, and all other similar
arrangements in public places.
2. All these must be built with due reference to durability, convenience, and beauty.
Durability will be assured when foundations are carried down to the solid ground and
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materials wisely and liberally selected; convenience, when the arrangement of the apart-
ments is faultless and presents no hindrance to use, and when each class of building is
assigned to its suitable and appropriate exposure; and beauty, when the appearance of the
work is pleasing and in good taste, and when its members are in due proportion according to
correct principles of symmetry.
2 V I TRUV IUSfrom On Architecture, Book 2 (c.25 BC)
Vitruvius devotes almost all of Book 2 of his treatise to a discussion of materials, but he introduces these
technical matters with his exposition on the origin of architecture. What this story reveals is the extent ofVitruvius’s travels, although it is unclear if he indeed ventured to Spain and Portugal. The vividness of his
description of the Phrygians suggests that he visited these parts of central and western Asia Minor, generally what is
today Turkey. He also seems to have visited Athens, but the city’s most famous monument – the Parthenon – isunfortunately not mentioned in his treatise. This passage also becomes important in the mid-eighteenth century
when Marc-Antoine Laugier, who is seeking to overturn the relevance of Vitruvian theory, again draws on theprimitive hut to prove that architecture is a rational art.
The Origin of the Dwelling House
1. The men of old were born like the wild beasts, in woods, caves, and groves, and lived
on savage fare. As time went on, the thickly crowded trees in a certain place, tossed by
storms and winds, and rubbing their branches against one another, caught fire, and so the
inhabitants of the place were put to flight, being terrified by the furious flame. After it
subsided, they drew near, and observing that they were very comfortable standing before the
warm fire, they put on logs and, while thus keeping it alive, brought up other people to it,
showing them by signs how much comfort they got from it. In that gathering of men, at a
time when utterance of sound was purely individual, from daily habits they fixed upon
articulate words just as these had happened to come; then, from indicating by name things
in common use, the result was that in this chance way they began to talk, and thus
originated conversation with one another.
2. Therefore it was the discovery of fire that originally gave rise to the coming together of
men, to the deliberative assembly, and to social intercourse. And so, as they kept coming
together in greater numbers into one place, finding themselves naturally gifted beyond the
other animals in not being obliged to walk with faces to the ground, but upright and gazing
upon the splendour of the starry firmament, and also in being able to do with ease whatever
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, from Book 2, chapter 1 of De architectura [On architecture] (c.25 BC), trans. Morris Hicky Morgan, in Vitruvius: The Ten Books on
Architecture. New York: Dover, 1960 (orig. 1914), pp. 38–41.
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they chose with their hands and fingers, they began in that first assembly to construct
shelters. Some made them of green boughs, others dug caves on mountain sides, and some,
in imitation of the nests of swallows and the way they built, made places of refuge out of
mud and twigs. Next, by observing the shelters of others and adding new details to their own
inceptions, they constructed better and better kinds of huts as time went on.
3. And since they were of an imitative and teachable nature, they would daily point out to
each other the results of their building, boasting of the novelties in it; and thus, with their
natural gifts sharpened by emulation, their standards improved daily. At first they set up
forked stakes connected by twigs and covered these walls with mud. Others made walls of
lumps of dried mud, covering them with reeds and leaves to keep out the rain and the heat.
Finding that such roofs could not stand the rain during the storms of winter, they built them
with peaks daubed with mud, the roofs sloping and projecting so as to carry off the rain
water.
4. That houses originated as I have written above, we can see for ourselves from the
buildings that are to this day constructed of like materials by foreign tribes: for instance, in
Gaul, Spain, Portugal, and Aquitaine, roofed with oak shingles or thatched. Among the
Colchians in Pontus, where there are forests in plenty, they lay down entire trees flat on the
ground to the right and the left, leaving between them a space to suit the length of the trees,
and then place above these another pair of trees, resting on the ends of the former and at
right angles with them. These four trees enclose the space for the dwelling. Then upon these
they place sticks of timber, one after the other on the four sides, crossing each other at the
angles, and so, proceeding with their walls of trees laid perpendicularly above the lowest,
they build up high towers. The interstices, which are left on account of the thickness of the
building material, are stopped up with chips and mud. As for the roofs, by cutting away the
ends of the crossbeams and making them converge gradually as they lay them across, they
bring them up to the top from the four sides in the shape of a pyramid. They cover it with
leaves and mud, and thus construct the roofs of their towers in a rude form of the ‘‘tortoise’’
style.
5. On the other hand, the Phrygians, who live in an open country, have no forests and
consequently lack timber. They therefore select a natural hillock, run a trench through the
middle of it, dig passages, and extend the interior space as widely as the site admits. Over it
they build a pyramidal roof of logs fastened together, and this they cover with reeds and
brushwood, heaping up very high mounds of earth above their dwellings. Thus their fashion
in houses makes their winters very warm and their summers very cool. Some construct
hovels with roofs of rushes from the swamps. Among other nations, also, in some places
there are huts of the same or a similar method of construction. Likewise at Marseilles we can
see roofs without tiles, made of earth mixed with straw. In Athens on the Areopagus there is
to this day a relic of antiquity with a mud roof. The hut of Romulus on the Capitol is a
significant reminder of the fashions of old times, and likewise the thatched roofs of temples
on the Citadel.
6. From such specimens we can draw our inferences with regard to the devices used in
the buildings of antiquity, and conclude that they were similar.
Furthermore, as men made progress by becoming daily more expert in building, and as
their ingenuity was increased by their dexterity so that from habit they attained to consid-
erable skill, their intelligence was enlarged by their industry until the more proficient
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adopted the trade of carpenters. From these early beginnings, and from the fact that nature
had not only endowed the human race with senses like the rest of the animals, but had also
equipped their minds with the powers of thought and understanding, thus putting all other
animals under their sway, they next gradually advanced from the construction of buildings to
the other arts and sciences, and so passed from a rude and barbarous mode of life to
civilization and refinement.
7. Then, taking courage and looking forward from the standpoint of higher ideas born of
the multiplication of the arts, they gave up huts and began to build houses with foundations,
having brick or stone walls, and roofs of timber and tiles; next, observation and application
led them from fluctuating and indefinite conceptions to definite rules of symmetry. Per-
ceiving that nature had been lavish in the bestowal of timber and bountiful in stores of
building material, they treated this like careful nurses, and thus developing the refinements
of life, embellished them with luxuries.
3 V I TRUV IUSfrom On Architecture, Book 3 (c.25 BC)
Vitruvian theory is sometimes described as anthropomorphic in the sense that he predicates proportional ruleson the ratios of the human body. Here, in this explication of the idea of ‘‘symmetry’’ in Book 3, he supplies
this theoretical basis for why proportions are important. His description of a man with outstretched limbs,placed within a circle and square, later becomes the basis for various Renaissance sketches, the most famous of
which is that of Leonardo da Vinci. This proportional aligning of architecture with the human figure, or moregenerally with the proportional rules of nature, will become a cornerstone of classical theory.
On Symmetry: In Temples and in the Human Body
1. The design of a temple depends on symmetry, the principles of which must be most
carefully observed by the architect. They are due to proportion, in Greek �anal�g�iia.
Proportion is a correspondence among the measures of the members of an entire work,
and of the whole to a certain part selected as standard. From this result the principles of
symmetry. Without symmetry and proportion there can be no principles in the design of any
temple; that is, if there is no precise relation between its members, as in the case of those of a
well shaped man.
2. For the human body is so designed by nature that the face, from the chin to the top of
the forehead and the lowest roots of the hair, is a tenth part of the whole height; the open
hand from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger is just the same; the head from the chin to
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, from Book 3, chapter 1 of De architectura [On architecture] (c.25 BC), trans. Morris Hicky Morgan, in Vitruvius: The Ten Books on
Architecture. New York: Dover, 1960 (orig. 1914), pp. 72–3.
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the crown is an eighth, and with the neck and shoulder from the top of the breast to the
lowest roots of the hair is a sixth; from the middle of the breast to the summit of the crown
is a fourth. If we take the height of the face itself, the distance from the bottom of the chin to
the under side of the nostrils is one third of it; the nose from the under side of the nostrils to
a line between the eyebrows is the same; from there to the lowest roots of the hair is also a
third, comprising the forehead. The length of the foot is one sixth of the height of the body;
of the forearm, one fourth; and the breadth of the breast is also one fourth. The other
members, too, have their own symmetrical proportions, and it was by employing them that
the famous painters and sculptors of antiquity attained to great and endless renown.
3. Similarly, in the members of a temple there ought to be the greatest harmony in the
symmetrical relations of the different parts to the general magnitude of the whole. Then
again, in the human body the central point is naturally the navel. For if a man be placed flat
on his back, with his hands and feet extended, and a pair of compasses centred at his navel,
the fingers and toes of his two hands and feet will touch the circumference of a circle
described therefrom. And just as the human body yields a circular outline, so too a square
figure may be found from it. For if we measure the distance from the soles of the feet to the
top of the head, and then apply that measure to the outstretched arms, the breadth will be
found to be the same as the height, as in the case of plane surfaces which are perfectly
square.
4. Therefore, since nature has designed the human body so that its members are duly
proportioned to the frame as a whole, it appears that the ancients had good reason for their
rule, that in perfect buildings the different members must be in exact symmetrical relations
to the whole general scheme. Hence, while transmitting to us the proper arrangements for
buildings of all kinds, they were particularly careful to do so in the case of temples of the
gods, buildings in which merits and faults usually last forever.
4 V I TRUV IUSfrom On Architecture, Book 4 (c.25 BC)
No book reveals the ‘‘Roman’’ character of De architectura better than Book 4, the Preface to which forms
this dedication to the Emperor Augustus Caesar. Vitruvius, in his ambition to write a ‘‘complete and orderlyform of presentation,’’ obviously felt he was setting a historical precedent. Even more enchanting to later
generations is his often-repeated discussion of the origin of the three architectural orders: the Doric, Ionic, and
Corinthian. These stories are sometimes said to compose the ‘‘mythology’’ of architecture, fables that wereeventually discredited by the rational forces of the Western Enlightenment, but once again they demonstrate the
anthropomorphic basis of Vitruvian theory. One sentence within this passage that should not be overlooked is hisadmission that the proportions for both the Doric and Ionic columns changed after some ‘‘progress in refinement
and delicacy of feeling.’’ Renaissance humanists, operating from a very different aesthetic basis, regarded this
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, from Book 4, chapter 1 of De architectura [On architecture] (c.25 BC), trans. Morris Hicky Morgan, in Vitruvius: The Ten Books on
Architecture. New York: Dover, 1960 (orig. 1914), pp. 102–7.
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remark as a fault of his theory and sought to find hard and fast rules for proportions, ones that would not
change over time. In the end, this dispute over the invariability of proportions would eventually lead classical theoryinto a crisis.
The Origins of the Three Orders, and the Proportions of theCorinthian Capital
1. Corinthian columns are, excepting in their capitals, of the same proportions in all
respects as Ionic; but the height of their capitals gives them proportionately a taller and more
slender effect. This is because the height of the Ionic capital is only one third of the thickness
of the column, while that of the Corinthian is the entire thickness of the shaft. Hence, as two
thirds are added in Corinthian capitals, their tallness gives a more slender appearance to the
columns themselves.
2. The other members which are placed above the columns, are, for Corinthian columns,
composed either of the Doric proportions or according to the Ionic usages; for the
Corinthian order never had any scheme peculiar to itself for its cornices or other ornaments,
but may have mutules in the coronae and guttae on the architraves according to the triglyph
system of the Doric style, or, according to Ionic practices, it may be arranged with a frieze
adorned with sculptures and accompanied with dentils and coronae.
3. Thus a third architectural order, distinguished by its capital, was produced out of the
two other orders. To the forms of their columns are due the names of the three orders,
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, of which the Doric was the first to arise, and in early times. For
Dorus, the son of Hellen and the nymph Phthia, was king of Achaea and all the Peloponne-
sus, and he built a fane, which chanced to be of this order, in the precinct of Juno at Argolis,
a very ancient city, and subsequently others of the same order in the other cities of Achaea,
although the rules of symmetry were not yet in existence.
4. Later, the Athenians, in obedience to oracles of the Delphic Apollo, and with the
general agreement of all Hellas, despatched thirteen colonies at one time to Asia Minor,
appointing leaders for each colony and giving the command-in-chief to Ion, son of Xuthus
and Creusa (whom further Apollo at Delphi in the oracles had acknowledged as his son). Ion
conducted those colonies to Asia Minor, took possession of the land of Caria, and there
founded the grand cities of Ephesus, Miletus, Myus (long ago engulfed by the water, and its
sacred rites and suffrage handed over by the Ionians to the Milesians), Priene, Samos, Teos,
Colophon, Chius, Erythrae, Phocaea, Clazomenae, Lebedos, and Melite. This Melite, on
account of the arrogance of its citizens, was destroyed by the other cities in a war declared by
general agreement, and in its place, through the kindness of King Attalus and Arsinoe, the
city of the Smyrnaeans was admitted among the Ionians.
5. Now these cities, after driving out the Carians and Lelegans, called that part of the
world Ionia from their leader Ion, and there they set off precincts for the immortal gods and
began to build fanes: first of all, a temple to Panionion Apollo such as they had seen in
Achaea, calling it Doric because they had first seen that kind of temple built in the states of
the Dorians.
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6. Wishing to set up columns in that temple, but not having rules for their symmetry, and
being in search of some way by which they could render them fit to bear a load and also of a
satisfactory beauty of appearance, they measured the imprint of a man’s foot and compared
this with his height. On finding that, in a man, the foot was one sixth of the height, they
applied the same principle to the column, and reared the shaft, including the capital, to a
height six times its thickness at its base. Thus the Doric column, as used in buildings, began
to exhibit the proportions, strength, and beauty of the body of a man.
7. Just so afterwards, when they desired to construct a temple to Diana in a new style of
beauty, they translated these footprints into terms characteristic of the slenderness of
women, and thus first made a column the thickness of which was only one eighth of its
height, so that it might have a taller look. At the foot they substituted the base in place of a
shoe; in the capital they placed the volutes, hanging down at the right and left like curly
ringlets, and ornamented its front with cymatia and with festoons of fruit arranged in place
of hair, while they brought the flutes down the whole shaft, falling like the folds in the robes
worn by matrons. Thus in the invention of the two different kinds of columns, they
borrowed manly beauty, naked and unadorned, for the one, and for the other the delicacy,
adornment, and proportions characteristic of women.
8. It is true that posterity, having made progress in refinement and delicacy of feeling, and
finding pleasure in more slender proportions, has established seven diameters of the
thickness as the height of the Doric column, and nine as that of the Ionic. The Ionians,
however, originated the order which is therefore named Ionic.
The third order, called Corinthian, is an imitation of the slenderness of a maiden; for the
outlines and limbs of maidens, being more slender on account of their tender years, admit of
prettier effects in the way of adornment.
9. It is related that the original discovery of this form of capital was as follows. A freeborn
maiden of Corinth, just of marriageable age, was attacked by an illness and passed away.
After her burial, her nurse, collecting a few little things which used to give the girl pleasure
while she was alive, put them in a basket, carried it to the tomb, and laid it on top thereof,
covering it with a roof-tile so that the things might last longer in the open air. This basket
happened to be placed just above the root of an acanthus. The acanthus root, pressed down
meanwhile though it was by the weight, when springtime came round put forth leaves and
stalks in the middle, and the stalks, growing up along the sides of the basket, and pressed out
by the corners of the tile through the compulsion of its weight, were forced to bend into
volutes at the outer edges.
10. Just then Callimachus, whom the Athenians called katathj�iit«xn�§ for the refine-
ment and delicacy of his artistic work, passed by this tomb and observed the basket with the
tender young leaves growing round it. Delighted with the novel style and form, he built
some columns after that pattern for the Corinthians, determined their symmetrical propor-
tions, and established from that time forth the rules to be followed in finished works of the
Corinthian order.
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5 OLD TESTAMENTfrom I Kings
Vitruvius died more than two decades before the birth of Christ, and thus he could not have imagined what
would become the Judeo-Christian tradition and its eventual assimilation into the Roman Empire. Thisreligious tradition was, in fact, a parallel world existing alongside Greco-Roman antiquity, with similar yet
different ties to the various cultures of the Middle East and Egypt. In Hebrew canon, the two Old Testament books ofKings formed one volume and constituted one of the eight books of the Prophets. Together they compose legendary
Jewish history from the time of Ahaziah (c.850 BC) to the release of Jehoiachin from Babylonian imprisonment(c.561 BC). Its author is sometimes said to be Jeremiah, who lived in the late seventh and sixth centuries, although
this point has been disputed.I Kings gains its importance to architectural theory because it contains one of the oldest descriptions of
architecture that has survived into modern times. Moreover, it describes the famed Temple of Solomon: the templebuilt in Jerusalem by King Solomon in the mid-tenth century and destroyed by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar in586 BC. The complex was constructed by Phoenician artisans and its centerpiece was the sanctuary, in front of which
stood the two bronze pillars of Yachin and Boaz. The following two passages make clear the importance of costlymaterials to the chronicler, but equally the importance of numerical proportions (in this case supplied by the Lord
himself) to preclassical design. Numeric ratios were thus central not only to the Greco-Roman civilization but also theJudaic and later Christian cultures as well.
Chapter 6
Solomon builds the temple
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were
come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the
month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
2 And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was
threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.
3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof,
according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
4 And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.
5 And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of
the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round
about:
6 The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, and the middle was six cubits broad,
and the third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed
rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house.
Old Testament, from I Kings, chapters 6 and 7 in the King James version of the Holy Bible.
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7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was
brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the
house, while it was in building.
8 The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up
with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.
9 So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of
cedar.
10 And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on
the house with timber of cedar.
11 And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and
execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I
perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
13 And I will dwell among the chi