The architectural studio “Vitruvious & Sons” was created by
students of architectural facultyof the St. Petersburg Academy of
Fine Arts
in 1994.Among the first works of the “Vitruvious & Sons”
group it is worth mentioning project exhibitions and participating into
several architectural student competitions.The “Vitruvious &
Sons” architectural studio introduced its first professional projects in
1996.
VITRUVIUS POLLIO.
The Roman architect and engineer of the
1-st century b.c. Today we do not have
any exact information about Vitruvius, even the period of his life is
determined
approxi-mately, to the epoch of Cesar or August. Vitruvius became
wellknown for his
authentic treatise about architecture (De architectura) which is not
distinguishing for
its style of writing, but being composed in a very practical and dry
language, continues
to be highly valuable for its content until nowadays, in particular
because of its being
the only artifact of the Roman work about architecture preserved for
generations. Here
we face upon different historical and theoretical passages and concrete
advice of the
author that witness about his wide knowledge, his background in Greek
philosophical and
technical literature, here are also described his personal scientific
experiments and
the engineer experience. As the majority of the works by Vitruvius
dedicated to the
following themes are not available nowadays, his treatise De
architectura has the greatest
value for the history of science, engineering and architecture.
Vitruvius attracts much
attention to the place of the future building and its orientation
according to parts of
Earth, acoustic element and equality of both the plans and facades of
the construction
which also witness about his deep knowledge of the natural scientific
disciplines,
mathematics, music and philosophy. Vitruvius defines in his paper that
the ideal architect
must be keen on geography, climate, human nature, he has to operate with
categories of
medicine, optic, perspective, acoustic, mechanics, geometry and other
spheres of
mathematics, added by understanding harmony and astronomy.
We do not know today which of
Vitruvius's recommendations are fruits of
his individual investigation and which are not. Possibly, he is basing
upon his individual
experience and notions about practical engineering, especially in
hydraulics and ballistic.
Perhaps, his recommendations about improving the acoustic effect in the
close space
and theatres under open sky are connected with his own experiments in
the sphere, on the
close demarcation line that separates mathematics, physics and music
from each other.
The first book of this "completed
system of architecture" is
dedicated to teaching architects of fine arts, the theory of
architecture and technical
experience on the matter, definition of the basic architectural
principles and categories
and choice of the place for constructing towns and fortresses. In the
second book we
observe all the practical defini-tions about constructing and
description of the qualities
of different materials and meth-ods of their practicing. In the third
book we are told
about plans of the temples and com-ponents of the ionic order; in the
fourth - about the
pedigree of orders, details of the Co-rinthian capital, Dorian and
Toscanian orders, the
inner space of the building; in the fifth book we look through the
various kinds of social
constructions, as: forums, basilica, a treasury, a prison, the Senate
building, a theater
(with the chapter about terms of harmony and acoustic), thermal baths,
gymnasiums, a port,
a shipyard. In the sixth book Vitruvius speaks about private houses, the
town and country
ones with gardens or not, in different provinces of the empire with
different climate, for
representatives of different social groups. The seventh book is
dedicated to designing of
interiors; the main attention here is paid to the technical aspects of
monumental arts and
the laws of perspective. In the eighth book he describes various water
elements and
resources, methods of water delivering and evaluating its quality. The
ninth book is
dedicated to geometry, astronomy, the sun and the watery clocks, other
technical equipment.
The tenth, which last book of Vitruvius treatise, completes the whole
work by notions of
the general principles of mechanics, various mechanisms, used in
construction process,
hydro-technique and at war.
Plinius the older in his encyclopedia
of the Natural history written in
the end of the 1-st century a.d. refers to Vitruvius as one of his basic
sources of
information. For all the subsequent centuries Vitruvius has remained the
authoritative
author, participant of the history of science of the Roman empire. It is
especially worth
mentioning the great influence of Vitruvius work upon the formation of
architectural style,
starting from the Italian architects of the early Renaissance and ending
by modern
directions in architec-ture. The general principles determined by
Vitruvius and his
recommendations has been regarded until to-day as the indisputable
truth.
Literature:Vitruvius Pollio. Ten books about architecture. Moscow., 1936.B.P. Mihailov. Vitruvius and antique Greece. Moscow., 1967.