Classical Language Of Architecture

Product Description

Classical architecture is a visual language" & like any other language has its own grammatical rules. Classical buildings as widely spaced in time as a Roman temple an Italian Renaissance palace & a Regency house all show an awareness of these rules even if they vary them break them or poetically contradict them. Sir Christopher Wren described them as the " Latin" of architecture & the analogy is almost exact. There is the difference however that whereas the learning of Latin is a slow & difficult business the language of classical architecture is relatively simple. It is still to a great extent the mode of expression of our urban surroundings since classical architecture was the common language of the western world till comparatively recent times. Anybody to whom architecture makes a strong appeal has probably already discovered something of its grammar for himself.in this book the authors purpose is to set out as simply & vividly as possible the exact grammatical workings of this architectural language. He is less concerned with its development in Greece & Rome than with its expansion & use in the centuries since the Renaissance. He explains the vigorous discipline of "the orders" & the scope of "rustication"; the dramatic deviations of the Baroque & in the last chapter the relationship between the classical tradition & the "modern" architecture of today. The book is intended for anybody who cares for architecture but more specifically for students beginning a course in the history of architecture to whom a guide to the classical rules will be an essential companion."