On the education of an architect, according to Vitruvius: “1. Architecture is a science arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning; by the help of which a judgment is formed of those works which are the result of other arts. Practice and theory are its parents. Practice is the frequent and continued contemplation of the mode of executing any given work, or of the mere operation of the hands, for the conversion of the material in the best and readiest way. Theory is the result of that reasoning which demonstrates and explains that the material wrought has been so converted as to answer the end proposed. "2. Wherefore the mere practical architect is not able to assign sufficient reasons for the forms he adopts; and the theoretic architect also fails, grasping the shadow instead of the substance. He who is theoretic as well as practical, is therefore doubly armed; able not only to prove the propriety of his design, but equally so to carry it into execution. "3. In architecture, as in other arts, two considerations must be constantly kept in view; namely, the intention, and the matter used to express that intention: but the intention is founded on a conviction that the matter wrought will fully suit the purpose; he, therefore, who is not familiar with both branches of the art, has no pretension to the title of the architect. An architect should be ingenious, and apt in the acquisition of knowledge. Deficient in either of these qualities, he cannot be a perfect master. He should be a good writer, a skillful draftsman, versed in geometry and optics, expert at figures, acquainted with history, informed on the principles of natural and moral philosophy, somewhat of a musician, not ignorant of the sciences both of law and physic, nor of the motions, laws, and relations to each other, of the heavenly bodies.” — From the Ten Books on Architecture, by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, translation by Joseph Gwilt A key to the marvelous and beautiful architecture of antiquity — which was carried over to and improved by Christendom — is found in this work by the pagan architect Vitruvius. The foundation of this great art, according to the author, is the kind of education that Rome inherited from the Greeks, most specifically, that of the schools of Pythagorus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and their intellectual descendants. The lofty and noble philosophy taught in this tradition led to the products of architecture also being lofty and noble.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 11:49:34 +0000
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