1648 1688 EnglishRevolu1on 1789 FrenchRevolu1on

ENLIGHTENMENT–AGEOFREASON

Interna1onalIntellectualMovementthatpromotedReason(thinkingandscience)andIndividualismratherthanFaithandTradi1on,

Creed:Sapere aude! Daretoknow!

Post1750Nolongerauniformtheoryofarchitecture

Norma1veClassicism

Rousseau'sschool“…everyarchitecturaltenetshouldderivefromra1onallyjus1fiablearchetypes”

Diderot ImmanuelKant Voltaire J.J.Rouseau

1648 1688 EnglishRevolu1on 1789 FrenchRevolu1on

ENLIGHTENMENT–AGEOFREASON

FRANCE

Marc‐AntoineLaugier(1713‐1769)

“…Itisaboveallimportanttothink”

1713 BorninManosque,France,inanupperclassbourgeoisfamily.

1727 Atage14,enterstheconventtobecomeaJesuitpriest,Avignon.

Jesuiteduca1oninLa1n,Greek,History,Geography,Philosophy,Arithme1c,Geometry,Op1cs,Astronomy,andArchitecture.

StudiesinLyons,Besancon,Marseilles,&Nimes

1753 SermonintheChapelofVersailles.Essai sur l’ Architecture 

1769 DiesinParis

Marc‐AntoineLaugier(1713‐1769)

Essai sur l’Architecture Essay on Architecture 

1753(anonymously),1755secondedi1on.

Marc‐AntoineLaugier(1713‐1769)

Essai sur l’Architecture Essay on Architecture  

1753(anonymously),1755secondedi1on.

EssayonArchitecture:ContentsChI GeneralPrinciplesofArchitecture ChIII Observa1onsontheArtofBuilding

I TheColumn I OntheSolidityofBuildings

II TheEntablature II OnConvenience

III ThePediment III OnBienseance 

IV TheDifferentStoriesofaBuilding ChIV OntheStyleinwhichtoBuildChurches

V WindowsandDoors

ChII TheDifferentArchitecturalOrders ChV OntheEmbellishmentofTowns

I WhatAllOrdersHaveinCommon I OnEntriesofTowns

II TheDoricOrder II OntheLayoutofStreets

III TheIonicOrder III OntheDecora1onofBuildings

IV TheDifferentKindsofComposite

V HowtoEnrichtheVariousOrders ChVI OntheEmbellishmentofGardens

VI OnBuildingswithoutOrder

BIENSEANCE 

appropriatenessof

decora1on

CONVENIENCE situa1on,planning,internal

communica1on

SOLIDITE materialchoiceandtheirproper

uses

Laugier’sTriad

MaisonCarrédeNimes,France

Architectureshouldbefoundedonsimplenature.

Laugiersought

a"morerigorous"understandingofarchitectureandornament.

wasinspiredbyprecedentsfromAn1quity,

yetsoughttheabsoluterootsofhistory.

EssayonArchitecture:TableofContents

ChI GeneralPrinciplesofArchitecture Ch3 Observa1onsontheArtofBuilding

1 TheColumn 1 OntheSolidityofBuildings

2 TheEntablature 2 OnConvenience

3 ThePediment 3 OnhowtoobserveBienseance inbuilding

4 TheDifferentStoriesofaBuilding Ch4 OntheStyleinwhichtoBuildChurches

5 WindowsandDoors

Ch2 TheDifferentArchitecturalOrders Ch5 OntheEmbellishmentofTowns

1 WhatAllOrdersHaveinCommon 1 OnEntriesofTowns

2 TheDoricOrder 2 OntheLayoutofStreets

3 TheIonicOrder 3 OntheDecora1onofBuildings

4 TheDifferentKindsofComposite

5 HowtoEnrichtheVariousOrders Ch6 OntheEmbellishmentofGardens

6 OnBuildingswithoutOrder

ThePrimi1veHut“…byimita1ngnature,artwasborn.Allthesplendorseverconceivedhavebeenmodeledonthelijlerus1chut…”

Threemaincomponents:

1.  Thecolumn

2.  Theentablature

3.  Thepediment

EssayonArchitecture:ContentsChI GeneralPrinciplesofArchitecture ChIII Observa1onsontheArtofBuilding

I TheColumn I OntheSolidityofBuildings

II TheEntablature II OnConvenience

III ThePediment III OnBienseance 

IV TheDifferentStoriesofaBuilding ChIV OntheStyleinwhichtoBuildChurches

V WindowsandDoors

ChII TheDifferentArchitecturalOrders ChV OntheEmbellishmentofTowns

I WhatAllOrdersHaveinCommon I OnEntriesofTowns

II TheDoricOrder II OntheLayoutofStreets

III TheIonicOrder III OntheDecora1onofBuildings

IV TheDifferentKindsofComposite

V HowtoEnrichtheVariousOrders ChVI OntheEmbellishmentofGardens

VI OnBuildingswithoutOrder

ThePrimi1veHut

LikeVitruvius,Laugierplacestheoriginsofarchitecturalformsinnature:thefirstdwellingwasbuiltintheforest,withbranchesandtrees.

Unlikeprevioustheories,thehut isnotonlyamaterialconstruc1on,butalsoanabstractconcept.

• ThePrimi1veHutrepresentsthefirstarchitecturalidea.  

ARCHETYPE• Showsbeginningsofanunderstandingofcolumn,entablature,andpediments.  Futurearchitectureisbasedontheseprinciples.

Ar1cleI:TheColumn

Columnsmust:bestrictlyperpendiculartothegroundbefree‐standingberoundbetaperedfrombojomtotoprestdirectlyonthefloor

Faults:Nocolumnsengagedinwallsbecauseitdetractsfromtheoverallbeautyandaesthe1cnatureofcolumns.

Pilastersshouldstrictlybefrowneduponespeciallysinceinnearlyeverycasecolumnscouldbeusedinstead.

NOcolumnsonpedestals.Doingsowouldbe“likeaddingasecondsetoflegsbeneaththefirstpair.”

Plate31fromGiacomoBarossiDaVignola’sFive Orders 

Ar1cleII:TheEntablature

TheEntablaturemust:

alwaysrestonitscolumnslikealintel&mustnothaveanycornerorprojec1on

Faults:NOARCHisagainstnaturebecauseanarchrequiresmassivepiersandimpostswhobecomepilastersanarchinducesalateralforceonthecolumns;whoaremeanttogivever1calsupportonly.anarchisnotstraight.

“Neverputanythingintoabuildingforwhichonecannotgiveasoundreason.Natureisso,buildingsshouldalsobe.”

ChapelatVersaillesSt.Germainel’AuxerroisinParis

Ar1cleIII:ThePediment

ThePedimentmust:

representthegableoftheroofonlybealongthewidthofabuilding.beabovetheentablature

Faults:pedimentsonthelongsideofabuildingnon‐triangularpedimentscurved,broken,orscrolledpedimentsseveralpedimentsontopofeachother

StGervais

EssayonArchitecture:ContentsChI GeneralPrinciplesofArchitecture ChIII Observa1onsontheArtofBuilding

I TheColumn I OntheSolidityofBuildings

II TheEntablature II OnConvenience

III ThePediment III OnBienseance 

IV TheDifferentStoriesofaBuilding ChIV OntheStyleinwhichtoBuildChurches

V WindowsandDoors

ChII TheDifferentArchitecturalOrders ChV OntheEmbellishmentofTowns

I WhatAllOrdersHaveinCommon I OnEntriesofTowns

II TheDoricOrder II OntheLayoutofStreets

III TheIonicOrder III OntheDecora1onofBuildings

IV TheDifferentKindsofComposite

V HowtoEnrichtheVariousOrders ChVI OntheEmbellishmentofGardens

VI OnBuildingswithoutOrder

The“rightstyle”hasyettobedeveloped.

Laugierfindsgracefulnessinthegothic,

butis“overwhelmed”bygrotesquedecora1on;

“Howmanyfaults,buthowgrand!”

OntheStyleofChurches

Soufflot’splanforSteGenevieveinParis

Eleva1onforSteGenevieveinParis

SteGenevieveinParis

SteGenevieveinParis

Bibliography

• Braham,Allan.TheArchitectureoftheFrenchEnlightenment.LosAngeles:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,1980.• Herrmann,Wolfgang.LaugierandEighteenthCenturyFrenchTheory.London:A.ZwemmerLTD,1985.• Laugier,Marc‐Antoine.AnEssayonArchitecture.LosAngeles:Hennessey&Ingalls,Inc.,1977.• NexusNetworkJornal‐GiacomoBarozziDaVignola,Canon of the Five Orders of Architecture  • hjp://picasaweb.google.com/francknrpc9324/Paris#5054865708276020770• hjp://www.wikimedia.org