The legacy of antiquity

lecture 4

The built legacy of antiquity - ruins, extant buildings

The recorded legacy of antiquity - oral tradition, writings, artefacts, maps, representations

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born c. 80–70 BC, died after c. 15 BC)

Vitruvius - author of De architectura, aka The Ten Books on Architecture, a treatise written of Latin and Greek on architecture, dedicated to the emperor Augustus.

This work is the only extant book on architecture from classical antiquity.

The next major book on architecture, Alberti's reformulation of Ten Books, was not written until 1452.

Vitruvius asserts in De architectura that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas, utilitas, venustas

The subjects of Vitruvius Ten Books, using modern terminology, are:

1.Architecture, value, context, purpose

2.Material Universe, Construction materials

3.Symmetry, Temples

4. Three Orders, Temples

5.Public places: square, meeting hall, theatre, park, gymnasium, harbour

6.Private dwellings

7.Finishes and colours

8.Water collection, storage, supply

9.Asronomy, Sundials and clocks

10.Machines, wheels, mills, catapults etc

Book 1

Preface 1. The education of the architect 2. The fundamental principles of architecture 3. The departments of architecture 4. The site of a city 5. The city walls 6. The directions of streets; with remarks on the winds 7. The sites for public buildings

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 demonstrate 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 EDUCATION OF THE ARCHITECT

3. In all matters, but particularly in architecture, there are these two points:- the thing signified, and that which gives it its significance. That which is signified is the subject of which we may be speaking; and that which gives significance is a demonstration on scientific principles. It appears, then, that one who professes himself an architect should be well versed in both directions. He ought, therefore, to be both naturally gifted and amenable to instruction. Neither natural ability without instruction nor instruction without natural ability can make the perfect artist. Let him be educated, skilful with the pencil, instructed in geometry, know much history, have followed the philosophers with attention, understand music, have some knowledge of medicine, know the opinions of the jurists, and be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens.

THE EDUCATION OF THE ARCHITECT

4. The reasons for all this are as follows. An architect ought to be an educated man so as to leave a more lasting remembrance in his treatises. Secondly, he must have a knowledge of drawing so that he can readily make sketches to show the appearance of the work which he proposes. Geometry, also, is of much assistance in architecture, and in particular it teaches us the use of the rule and compasses, by which especially we acquire readiness in making plans for buildings in their grounds, and rightly apply the square, the level, and the plummet. By means of optics, again, the light in buildings can be drawn from fixed quarters of the sky. It is true that it is by arithmetic that the total cost of buildings is calculated and measurements are computed, but difficult questions involving symmetry are solved by means of geometrical theories and methods.

THE EDUCATION OF THE ARCHITECT

5. A wide knowledge of history is requisite because, among the ornamental parts of an architect’s design for a work, there are many the underlying idea of whose employment he should be able to explain to inquirers. For instance, suppose him to set up the marble statues of women in long robes, called Caryatides, to take the place of columns, with the mutules and coronas placed directly above their heads, be will give the following explanation to his questioners. Caryae, a state in Peloponnesus, sided with the Persian enemies against Greece; later the Greeks, having gloriously won their freedom by victory in the war, made common cause and declared war against the people of Caryae. They took the town, killed the men, abandoned the State to desolation, and carried off their wives into slavery, without permitting them, however, to lay aside the long robes and other marks of their rank as married women, so that they might be obliged not only to march in the triumph but to appear forever after as a type of slavery, burdened with the weight of their shame and so making atonement for their State. Hence, the architects of the time designed for public buildings statues of these women, placed so as to carry a load, in order that the sin and the punishment of the CARYATIDES people of Caryae might be known and handed down even to posterity.

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE

Architecture depends on Order, Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and Economy.

The forms of expression:

ichnographia, orthographia, scaenographia

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE

Architecture depends on Order, Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and Economy.

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE

Architecture depends on Order, Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and Economy.

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE

Architecture depends on Order, Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and Economy.

THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE

Architecture depends on Order, Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and Economy.

THE DEPARTMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

the art of building, the making of time-pieces, and the construction of machinery

n.b.: architecture’s status in knowledge, arts, crafts

Translation issues:

Commodity, Firmness and Delight (Wotton, 17c)

Utilitas, Firmitas, and Venustas'

function, structure, and beauty (19 - 20c)

durability, convenience, and beauty (late 20c - 21c)

Book 2

Introduction

1. The origin of the dwelling house 2. On the primordial substance according to the physicists 3. Brick 4. Sand 5. Lime 6. Pozzolana 7. Stone 8. Methods of building walls 9. Timber 10. Highland and lowland fir

ON THE PRIMORDIAL SUBSTANCE ACCORDING TO THE PHYSICISTS

1. First of all Thales thought that water was the primordial substance of all things. Heraclitus of Ephesus, surnamed by the Greeks σκοτεινος on account of the obscurity of his writings, thought that it was fire. Democritus and his follower Epicurus thought that it was the atoms, termed by our writers "bodies that cannot be cut up," or, by some,

"indivisibles." The school of the Pythagoreans added air and the earthy to the water and fire. Hence, although Democritus did not in a strict sense name them, but spoke only of indivisible bodies, yet he seems to have meant these same elements, because when taken by themselves they cannot be harmed, nor are they susceptible of dissolution, nor can

they be cut up into parts, but throughout time eternal they forever retain an infinite solidity.

2. All things therefore appear to be made up and produced by the coming together of these elements, so that they have been distributed by nature among an infinite number of kinds of things. Hence I believed it right to treat of the diversity and practical peculiarities of these things as well as of the qualities which they exhibit in buildings, so that persons

who are intending to build may understand them and so make no mistake, but may gather materials which are suitable to use in their buildings.

ON THE PRIMORDIAL SUBSTANCE ACCORDING TO THE PHYSICISTS

1. First of all Thales thought that water was the primordial substance of all things. Heraclitus of Ephesus, surnamed by the Greeks σκοτεινος on account of the obscurity of his writings, thought that it was fire. Democritus and his follower Epicurus thought that it was the atoms, termed by our writers "bodies that cannot be cut up," or, by some, "indivisibles." The school of the Pythagoreans added air and the earthy to the water and fire. Hence, although Democritus did not in a strict sense name them, but spoke only of indivisible bodies, yet he seems to have meant these same elements, because when taken by themselves they cannot be harmed, nor are they susceptible of dissolution, nor can they be cut up into parts, but throughout time eternal they forever retain an infinite solidity.

2. All things therefore appear to be made up and produced by the coming together of these elements, so that they have been distributed by nature among an infinite number of kinds of things. Hence I believed it right to treat of the diversity and practical peculiarities of these things as well as of the qualities which they exhibit in buildings, so that persons who are intending to build may understand them and so make no mistake, but may gather materials which are suitable to use in their buildings.

Hylomorphism

ARCH 111hylePoesisMimesistechneeidos

ARCH 111hylePoesisMimesistechneeidos

Problem of intelligibilityplatonic idea, nature, natural forms. artifice

species intellibilis - medieval problemdisegno - renaissance/baroque problem

Matter

bringing forth, revelation

creation, imitation

art, craft

idea, form

SYMBOL & ALLEGORYHylomorphism

Book 3

Introduction

1. On symmetry in temples and in the human body 2. Classification of temples 3. The proportions of intercolumniations and of columns 4. The foundations and substructures of temples 5. Proportions of the base, capitals, and entablature in the Ionic order

Book 4

Introduction

1. The origins of the three orders, & the proportions of the corinthian capital 2. The ornaments of the orders 3. Proportions of doric temples 4. The cella and pronaos 5. How the temple should face 6. The doorways of temples 7. Tuscan temples 8. Circular temples and other varieties 9. Altars

Book 5

Introduction

1. The forum and basilica 2. The treasury, prison, and senate house 3. The theatre: its site, foundations, and acoustics 4. Harmonics 5. Sounding vessels in the theatre 6. Plan of the theatre 7. Greek theatres 8. Acoustics of the site of a theatre 9. Colonnades and walks 10. Baths 11. The palaestra 12. Harbours, breakwaters, and shipyards

Book 6

Introduction

1. On climate as determining the style of the house 2. Symmetry, and modifications in it to suit the site 3. Proportions of the principal rooms 4. The proper exposures of the different rooms 5. How the rooms should be suited to the station of the Owner 6. The farmhouse 7. The Greek house 8. On foundations and substructures

Book 7

Introduction

1. Floors 2. The slaking of lime for stuccco 3. Vaultings and stucco work 4. On stucco work in damp places, and on the decoration of dining rooms 5. The decadence of fresco painting 6. Marble for use in stucco 7. Natural colours 8. Cinnebar and quicksilver 9. Artificial colours Black, Blue, Burnt ochre 10. White lead, verdigris, and artificial sandarach 11. Purple 12. Substitutes for purple, yellow ochre, malachite green, and indigo

Book 8

Introduction

1. How to find water 2. Rainwater 3. Various properties of different waters 4. Tests of good water 5. Levelling and levelling instruments 6. Aqueducts, wells, and cisterns

Book 9

Introduction 1. The zodiac and the planets 2. The phases of the moon 3. The course of the sun through the twelve signs 4. Tee northern constellations 5. The southern constellations 6. Astrology and weather prognostics 7. The analemma and its applications 8. Sundials and water clocks

Book 10

Introduction 1. Machines and implements 2. Hoisting machines 3. The elements of motion 4. Engines for raising water 5. Water wheels and water mills 6. The water screw 7. The pump of Ctesibius 8. The water organ 9. The hodometer 10. Catapults or scorpiones 11. Ballistae 12. The stringing and tuning of catapults 13. Siege machines 14. The tortoise 15. Hegetor's tortoise 16. Measures of defence 17. Note on scamilli impares

summary:

Vitruvian legacy perpetuate the Graeco-Roman tradition, Alexandrian/Roman conquests exports the tradition beyond the Mediterranean peninsulas.

Syncreticism of Graeco-Roman/Judaeo-Christian traditions result in 2 forms - the centrallised temple form and the basillica form

Theological exegesis and the speculative imagination create philosophical basis for cultural action, and therefore architectural elaboration

Severe misunderstanding of Vitruvian text, due to paucity of material on architecture

The role of architecture is still low, not in the realm of the arts, but in the realm of lowly craft, associated with armaments, leather making etc

Representation of unified cosmos is still fundamental, despite morphological adaptation.

summary:

Vitruvian legacy perpetuate the Graeco-Roman tradition, Alexandrian/Roman conquests exports the tradition beyond the Mediterranean peninsulas.

Syncreticism of Graeco-Roman/Judaeo-Christian traditions result in 2 forms - the centrallised temple form and the basillica form

Theological exegesis and the speculative imagination create philosophical basis for cultural action, and therefore architectural elaboration

Severe misunderstanding of Vitruvian text, due to paucity of written material on architecture

The role of architecture is still low, not in the realm of the arts, but in the realm of lowly craft, associated with armaments, leather making etc

Representation of unified cosmos is still fundamental, despite morphological adaptation.

summary:

Potentiality to actualise the ‘orders’ as described

lost illustrations - ichnographia, orthographia, scaenographia

Vitruvius merely catalogues what he sees before him and chronicles the practices

still seen as the point of origin of recorded architectural thought

Vitruvius was not a great literary personage, ambitious as he was to appear in that character. Professor Morris Morgan, translator of the Harvard edition, has aptly said, "he has all the marks of one unused to composition, to whom writing is a painful task." In his hand the measuring-rod was a far mightier implement than the pen