Synopses & Reviews
A new, illustrated edition of a foundational work on architecture, engineering, and urban planning The only treatise on architecture to have survived from Roman times, Vitruvius' On Architecture provides a fascinating picture of how the Romans planned and built their great structures and cities. Dedicated to Augustus, it sets out all the information an architect of the time needed-from plans for temples, public baths, government buildings, and private homes to the best materials and techniques for building-and introduces longstanding principles of architecture, from the use of nature's harmonies in design to the ideal modular proportions of the human body, which later inspired Leonardo da Vinci. This new translation, accompanied by 100 black-and-white images, captures the clear, pragmatic tone of Vitruvius' writings, showing why the ancient architect and engineer's theories have remained influential for two millennia.
Review
Synopsis
In De architectura (c.40 BC), Vitruvius discusses in ten encyclopedic chapters aspects of Roman architecture, engineering and city planning. Vitruvius also included a section on human proportions. Because it is the only antique treatise on architecture to have survived, De architectura has been an invaluable source of information for scholars. The rediscovery of Vitruvius during the Renaissance greatly fuelled the revival of classicism during that and subsequent periods. Numerous architectural treatises were based in part or inspired by Vitruvius, beginning with Leon Battista Alberti's De re aedificatoria (1485).
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
About the Author
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c.90 BC-c. 20 BC) was a Roman military architect and engineer.
Richard Schofield is a professor of the history of architecture at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia.
Robert Tavernor is a consultant architect and a professor of architecture and urban design at the London School of Economics.