Leon Battista Alberti (Book 1) review

Leon Battista Alberti was a true 'Renaissance' man. As many other designers Alberti has his own definition of what is an architect and with very small differences from the others he claims that an Architect is someone who combines wonderfully Art and Method together with Thought and Invention.

When we read the Ten books of the Art of Building we see that Alberti has explained the usefulness of a roof and wall for human. He said that it helps us to come close to one another and also grow together. Therefore we should be grateful to architects not only because they provides us a safe and welcome place but also for its many innovations, which are useful to both individuals and the public and the also provide our daily needs

Alberti had many philosophies when designing for buildings, and like the works of Vitruvius, created text that gave instruction on how to build, but saved main emphasis on the decoration and the exterior aesthetics of the structure. One principle that Alberti made use of was a system of proportionality that he developed using systematic harmony of musical ratio, to make his buildings appealing. Defined as "the precise and correct outline, conceived in the mind, made up of lines and angles, and perfected in the learned intellect and imagination", this theory is fundamental in Alberti's process of design. The tie with the humanistic style of design is a constant theme throughout Alberti's ten books, and the "beauty of Buildings" also features heavily. Albert's definition, Beauty resides in a reasoned harmony of all the parts within a body, so that nothing may be added, taken away, or altered, but for the worse. It is a great and holy matter, all our resources of skill and ingenuity will be taxed in achieving it; and rarely is it granted even to Nature herself, to produce anything that is entirely complete and perfect in every respect.

Alberti's view of what Beauty is has connection to the analogy of anthropomorphism, seeing "Man" as a component that uses energy to serve and do well. This philosophy maintains that Alberti believed that men were made in God's image and likeness, creator of the universe, and through this thought, understood that what qualities make a building "beautiful" opens the path to the route of all Knowledge and the original source of beauty to draw from, God himself.

In his treatise nature is used as inspiration, where "the reason of Nature" permits an architect to investigate into the features of the natural world, including man's influence, to become better equipped to perceive and make use of "Concinnitas", (which Alberti refers to as "the spouse and soul of reason") to link presenting nature as the source of art in architecture and the nature based laws embedded in the outside world. drawing from Alberti's treatise and its guidance on how to not only create a building, but how to make its beauty reflect that of God's love and Nature

Lastly, in this first book on architecture by Leon Battista Alberti we get a good idea of what components serve the necessary requirement for beginning a building project. The book is well paced and quite eloquent with enough information to capture a thriving mind and stimulate it to dig more.
As read in one of the books of Taschen, Alberti has been portrayed to have laid out "One of the most important architectural theories of early modern times".