Architects Write: Discover Foundational Manuscripts
Designers not only communicate their ideas in drawings and built works, but also in writing. Books and essays by architects have historically translated the ideals and understandings of the built environment through the centuries. From the systematic exposition of principles and elements in the 16th century, to the visionary speculations of design in relation to the city in the 21st century, texts have grounded the design disciplines throughout history. They have also defined the theoretical landscape in relation to the thinking and practice of design today. Designers continue to build upon the thinking behind texts, while interpreting in new ways the demands on design today.
The books below represent some of the foundational texts for the discipline of architecture. They are among the earliest in date within the Rare Book Collection of the Frances Loeb Library.
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Alberti, Leon Battista and Eberhard Tappe. 1541. De re aedificatoria libri decem. |
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Alberti, Leon Battista and Cosimo Bartoli. 1565. L’architettvra. |
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Palladio, Andrea, Giuseppe Porta, and Fondo Cicognara. 1581. I qvattro libri dell’architettvra di Andrea Palladio : ne’ quali, dopo vn breue trattato de’ cinque ordini, & di quelli auertimenti, che sono piu necessarij nel fabricare : si tratta delle case private, delle vie, de i ponti, delle piazze, de i xisti, et de’tempij. |
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Serlio, Sebastiano and Giovanni Domenico Scamozzi. 1584. Tutte l’opere d’architettura. |
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Aviler, Augustin-Charles d’, Vignola, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. 1691. Cours d’architecture qui comprend les ordres de Vignole, avec des commentaires, les figures & descriptions de ses plus beaux bâtimens, & de ceux de Michel-Ange... avec une ample explication par ordre alphabetique de tous les termes. |
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Laugier, Marc-Antoine, Nicolas-Bonaventure Duchesne, Charles Eisen, Jacques Aliamet, and Anne Fonbonne. 1755. Essai sur l’architecture. |
