THE TEN BOOKS OF ARCHITECTURE (SECOND WEEK READING ARCH122 VITRUVIUS)
Before starting my review of some specific parts of “the ten books of Architecture” I want to talk about the book in general.This is the first and most famous text in the history of western landscape architecture, architecture, enginering and town planning. In Roman times the architect was, from the word’s Greek etymology, a ‘chief technician’.
The Ten Books’ Contents list reveals that most aspects of engineering, including harbours, site planning, clocks, aqueducts, pumps and siege engines, come with the author’s technical scope. Only a tiny proportion of these subjects come within the twenty-first century scope of ‘architecture’. Vitruvius Pollio’s treatise De Architectura, was written circa 27 BC and is the only book of its kind to survive from antiquity. This book can still be as a reference for the young architects who seeks useful knowledge in this field
Introduction
A famous architect named Diocrates wanted to be spotted by the king of Macedonia, Alexander the great. At first he did not succeed so he decided to change his appearance for the best and it worked the king noticed him. The architect presented his idea about a design made for shaping the mountain Athos. After listening Alexander liked the idea but considered the site as not commendable, instead he invited Decorates to stay and offer his services by building the city known as Alexandria. Diocrates won the king's attention by changing his look but Vitruvius hopes to win approval by his knowledge and writings.
Chapter I
At ancient times man used to live just like all other creatures. It was the discovery of fire that helped them come together. They began to understand the use of hands and fingers by constructing shelters and adapting to climate changes. These people had an imitative and teachable nature. They learned by trial and error mostly using mud and then improved by reinforcing their shelters. The process is done by laying trees down in forest areas then suiting their length after this they placed them above the other pair of trees, resting out the end of the former with all the right angles. This enclosed the space for dwelling. They are reinforced with timber sticks on the four sides and built high towers then adding mud. While the roofs were made by cutting cross beams to create a tortoise style. In flat areas the dug up passages and then they extended the interior as much as the site allowed them then added a pyramidal roof. By improving their constructions they profited from them to come to our times. With modern buildings made from the foundations to the facade and interior, developing different concepts about architecture.
BOOK III
Socrates was considered one of the wisest man by Apollo at Delphi because of his sagacity. Socrates states that humans should keep their mind and feelings open in order to widen their knowledge and horizons just like nature overall. We should feed our mind with knowledge. One thing that’s impossible for men is to form a judgement on the quality of knowledge of the arts which is deeply hidden, just like an artist himself can not testify to their own skills but they can influence with their devotions so that people can trust in them. such examples come from painters and sculptors of antiquity which created masterpieces that resisted until nowadays. We should be proud for the men who reached knowledge by means of correct and hard study.
Chapter I
There are some principles on which a design depends one of them is symmetry , which an architect should be aware. They are due to proportion which is used as a measure. Without these two there would be no principles in design.We often take our own body as reference for measurements for example our face from chin to the top of the forehead is a tenth part of the whole height same with our open hand which is an eight, from our top of the breasts 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 of the height of the body. Similarity gives the harmony in symmetrical relations of different parts in a composition to integrate them in the sense of a whole. This principle follows even the human body as it yields the outer line. From our body derived the fundamental idea of measurements, our hands and feet are apportioned so as to from the perfect number as called in greek( plato). Therefore the human body is considered to be in perfect proprtopns devided by number ten.
Chapter II
There are some main forms in temples : antis(carried out in front walls that enclose the cella), prostyle (has two columns and architraves), amphiprostyle( the same arrangement of column as pediment), peripterale( six columns in the front rear with eleven on each side ), pseudodopterale( eight columns with fifteen on each side), dipteral( octastyle in both front and rear but with two rows of columns all around the temple)and ypaethral (decastyle in front and rear porticoes in the inside it has two tiers of columns set out).
BOOK IV
Introduction
In this fragment Vitruvius refers to Cesar because he thinks that the whole of art of the time should be reduced because it does not present the subject with well-ordered completeness. Instead he suggest a more complete form of presentation as he states in his first book with the role and individualities of an architect. Then in his second book he gives us the materials and their use in the construction of a building. In the third he link nature with temples and architecture. While in this book he speaks of rules for Doric and Corinthian order.
Corinthian columns are very high this causes them to have a slender appearance. Their thickness is equal to the shaft. There are three main orders in the Corinthian capital, one is the Doric style of columns, and they have modules in the coronae and guttae on the architraves according to the triglyph system of Doric order. It may be arranged with a frieze adorned with sculptures together with dentils and coronae. This order takes its name after the son of king achea, Dorus. The second order Ionic is named after a command-in-chief from whom took the name Ionia (city of the time).At the time the symmetrical orders weren’t discovered so they used proportions from their own body. Meanwhile the third order is the Corinthian one is an imitation the outlines and limbs of a maiden. The original discovery was made in the capital with the same name after a maid passed away from an illness and her items were placed above the root causing it to bend into volutes at the outer edges. The proportions that were needed according to Vitruvius were that the height of the capital should be equal to the thickness of the base of the column, the faces should curve inwards. At the bottom the capital should be of the thickness of the top of the column omitting the congé and astragal. Th The main beams are those which are laid upon columns, pilasters, and antae; tie-beams and rafters are found in the framing. The height of the abacus is one seventh of the height of the capital. columns are supported by beams , columns often are added different details. These orders were used at the time but than mankind developed new principles that helped them construct.
BOOK II
Introduction
A famous architect named Diocrates wanted to be spotted by the king of Macedonia, Alexander the great. At first he did not succeed so he decided to change his appearance for the best and it worked the king noticed him. The architect presented his idea about a design made for shaping the mountain Athos. After listening Alexander liked the idea but considered the site as not commendable, instead he invited Decorates to stay and offer his services by building the city known as Alexandria. Diocrates won the king's attention by changing his look but Vitruvius hopes to win approval by his knowledge and writings.
Chapter I
At ancient times man used to live just like all other creatures. It was the discovery of fire that helped them come together. They began to understand the use of hands and fingers by constructing shelters and adapting to climate changes. These people had an imitative and teachable nature. They learned by trial and error mostly using mud and then improved by reinforcing their shelters. The process is done by laying trees down in forest areas then suiting their length after this they placed them above the other pair of trees, resting out the end of the former with all the right angles. This enclosed the space for dwelling. They are reinforced with timber sticks on the four sides and built high towers then adding mud. While the roofs were made by cutting cross beams to create a tortoise style. In flat areas the dug up passages and then they extended the interior as much as the site allowed them then added a pyramidal roof. By improving their constructions they profited from them to come to our times. With modern buildings made from the foundations to the facade and interior, developing different concepts about architecture.
BOOK III
Socrates was considered one of the wisest man by Apollo at Delphi because of his sagacity. Socrates states that humans should keep their mind and feelings open in order to widen their knowledge and horizons just like nature overall. We should feed our mind with knowledge. One thing that’s impossible for men is to form a judgement on the quality of knowledge of the arts which is deeply hidden, just like an artist himself can not testify to their own skills but they can influence with their devotions so that people can trust in them. such examples come from painters and sculptors of antiquity which created masterpieces that resisted until nowadays. We should be proud for the men who reached knowledge by means of correct and hard study.
Chapter I
There are some principles on which a design depends one of them is symmetry , which an architect should be aware. They are due to proportion which is used as a measure. Without these two there would be no principles in design.We often take our own body as reference for measurements for example our face from chin to the top of the forehead is a tenth part of the whole height same with our open hand which is an eight, from our top of the breasts 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 of the height of the body. Similarity gives the harmony in symmetrical relations of different parts in a composition to integrate them in the sense of a whole. This principle follows even the human body as it yields the outer line. From our body derived the fundamental idea of measurements, our hands and feet are apportioned so as to from the perfect number as called in greek( plato). Therefore the human body is considered to be in perfect proprtopns devided by number ten.
Chapter II
There are some main forms in temples : antis(carried out in front walls that enclose the cella), prostyle (has two columns and architraves), amphiprostyle( the same arrangement of column as pediment), peripterale( six columns in the front rear with eleven on each side ), pseudodopterale( eight columns with fifteen on each side), dipteral( octastyle in both front and rear but with two rows of columns all around the temple)and ypaethral (decastyle in front and rear porticoes in the inside it has two tiers of columns set out).
BOOK IV
Introduction
In this fragment Vitruvius refers to Cesar because he thinks that the whole of art of the time should be reduced because it does not present the subject with well-ordered completeness. Instead he suggest a more complete form of presentation as he states in his first book with the role and individualities of an architect. Then in his second book he gives us the materials and their use in the construction of a building. In the third he link nature with temples and architecture. While in this book he speaks of rules for Doric and Corinthian order.
Corinthian columns are very high this causes them to have a slender appearance. Their thickness is equal to the shaft. There are three main orders in the Corinthian capital, one is the Doric style of columns, and they have modules in the coronae and guttae on the architraves according to the triglyph system of Doric order. It may be arranged with a frieze adorned with sculptures together with dentils and coronae. This order takes its name after the son of king achea, Dorus. The second order Ionic is named after a command-in-chief from whom took the name Ionia (city of the time).At the time the symmetrical orders weren’t discovered so they used proportions from their own body. Meanwhile the third order is the Corinthian one is an imitation the outlines and limbs of a maiden. The original discovery was made in the capital with the same name after a maid passed away from an illness and her items were placed above the root causing it to bend into volutes at the outer edges. The proportions that were needed according to Vitruvius were that the height of the capital should be equal to the thickness of the base of the column, the faces should curve inwards. At the bottom the capital should be of the thickness of the top of the column omitting the congé and astragal. Th The main beams are those which are laid upon columns, pilasters, and antae; tie-beams and rafters are found in the framing. The height of the abacus is one seventh of the height of the capital. columns are supported by beams , columns often are added different details. These orders were used at the time but than mankind developed new principles that helped them construct.
Comments
Post a Comment