By : Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (80-70 BCE - c. 15 BCE), translated by Morris Hicky Morgan (1859 - 1910)
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Probably written between 30 and 15 BC, it combines the knowledge and views of many antique writers, both Greek and Roman, not only on architecture but on the arts, natural history and building technology. Vitruvius cites many authorities throughout the text, often praising Greek architects for their development of temple building and the orders (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian), and providing key accounts of the origins of building in the primitive hut.
Though often cited for his famous "triad" of characteristics associated with architecture—utilitas, firmitas and venustas (utility, strength and beauty)--the aesthetic principles that influenced later treatise writers were outlined in Book III. Derived partially from Latin rhetoric (through Cicero and Varro), Vitruvian terms for order, arrangement, proportion, and fitness for intended purposes have guided architects for centuries, and continue to do so today. The Roman author also gave advice on the qualifications of an architect (Book I) and on types of architectural drawing.
The ten books or scrolls are organized as follows:
De architectura – Ten Books on Architecture
1.Town planning, architecture or civil engineering in general, and the qualifications required of an architect or the civil engineer
2.Building materials
3.Temples and the orders of architecture
4.continuation of book III
5.Civil buildings
6.Domestic buildings
7.Pavements and decorative plasterwork
8.Water supplies and aqueducts
9.Sciences influencing architecture – geometry, measurement, astronomy, sundial
10.Use and construction of machines – Roman siege engines, water mills, drainage machines, Roman technology, hoisting, pneumatics
Roman architects were skilled in engineering, art, and craftsmanship combined. Vitruvius was very much of this type, a fact reflected in De architectura. He covered a wide variety of subjects he saw as touching on architecture. This included many aspects that may seem irrelevant to modern eyes, ranging from mathematics to astronomy, meteorology, and medicine. In the Roman conception, architecture needed to take into account everything touching on the physical and intellectual life of man and his surroundings.
Vitruvius, thus, deals with many theoretical issues concerning architecture. For instance, in Book II of De architectura, he advises architects working with bricks to familiarise themselves with pre-Socratic theories of matter so as to understand how their materials will behave. Book IX relates the abstract geometry of Plato to the everyday work of the surveyor. Astrology is cited for its insights into the organisation of human life, while astronomy is required for the understanding of sundials. Likewise, Vitruvius cites Ctesibius of Alexandria and Archimedes for their inventions, Aristoxenus (Aristotle's apprentice) for music, Agatharchus for theatre, and Varro for architecture.
Buildings
Greek house plan by Vitruvius
Vitruvius sought to address the ethos of architecture, declaring that quality depends on the social relevance of the artist's work, not on the form or workmanship of the work itself. Perhaps the most famous declaration from De architectura is one still quoted by architects: "Well building hath three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight." This quote is taken from Sir Henry Wotton's version of 1624, and is a plain and accurate translation of the passage in Vitruvius (I.iii.2): but English has changed since then, especially in regard to the word "commodity", and the tag is usually misunderstood. A modern interpretation of Wotton's English might render it thus: "The ideal building has three elements; it is sturdy, useful, and beautiful."
Vitruvius also studied human proportions (Book III) and his canones were later encoded in a very famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci (Homo Vitruvianus, "Vitruvian Man").
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