Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The architect must not only understand drawing, but music.
For not all things are practicable on identical principles
A harmonious design requires that nothing be added or taken away.
Wind is a floating wave of air, whose undulation continually varies.
Bricks should be made in Spring or Autumn so that they may dry uniformly.
Cold winds are disagreeable, hot winds enervating, moist winds unhealthy.
The oak has not the efficacy of the fir, nor the cypress that of the elm.
Next I must tell about the machine of Ctesibius, which raises water to a height.
Nothing requires the architect's care more than the due proportions of buildings.
The proper form of economy must be observed in building houses for each and every class.
Architecture depends on Order, Arrangement, Eurythmy, Symmetry , Propriety , and Economy.
In fact, all kinds of men, and not merely architects, can recognize a good piece of work.
From food and water, then, we may learn whether sites are naturally unhealthy or healthy.
The thickness of the walls should be sufficient for two armed men to pass each other with ease.
An architect ought to be an educated man so as to leave a more lasting remembrance in his treatises.
There will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low mean entrance.
There are also kinds of water that cause death, as they run through harmful juices in the soil and become poisonous.
There are many names for winds derived from localities or from the squalls which sweep from rivers or down mountains.
The design of a temple depends on symmetry, the principles of which must be most carefully observed by the architect.
All machinery is derived from nature, and is founded on the teaching and instruction of the revolution of the firmament.
When the juices of trees have no means of escape, they clot and rot in them, making the trees hollow and good for nothing.
Consistency is found in that work whose whole and detail are suitable to the occasion. It arises from circumstance, custom, and nature.
It is no secret that the moon has no light of her own, but is, as it were, a mirror, receiving brightness from the influence of the sun.
If our designs for private houses are to be correct, we must at the outset take note of the countries and climates in which they are built.
Nothing suffers annihilation, but at dissolution there is a change, and things fall back to the essential element in which they were before.
For we must not build temples according to the same rules to all gods alike, since the performance of the sacred rites varies with the various gods.
Beauty is produced by the pleasing appearance and good taste of the whole, and by the dimensions of all the parts being duly proportioned to each other.
For siege works against bold and venturesome men should be constructed on one plan, on another against cautious men, and on still another against the cowardly.
When it passes towards the east, the sun begins to have less effect upon it, and a thin line on the edge of its bright side emits its splendour towards the earth.
Bodies which contain a greater proportion of water than is necessary to balance the other elements, are speedily corrupted, and lose their virtues and properties.
There are also half bricks. As the bricks are always laid so as to break joints, this lends strength and a not unattractive appearance to both sides of such walls.
If then, at this great distance, our human vision can discern that sight, why, pray, are we to think that the divine splendor of the stars can be cast into darkness?
Noting all these things with the great delight which learning gives, we cannot but be stirred by these discoveries when we reflect upon the influence of them one by one.
At Jaffa in Syria and among the Nomads in Arabia, are lakes of enormous size that yield very large masses of asphalt, which are carried off by the inhabitants thereabouts.
From the exterior face of the wall towers must be projected, from which an approaching enemy may be annoyed by weapons, from the embrasures of those towers, right and left.
There are also in some places springs which have the peculiarity of giving fine singing voices to the natives, as at Tarsus in Magnesia and in other countries of that kind.
Propriety is that perfection of style which comes when a work is authoritatively constructed on approved principles. It arises from prescription, from usage, or from nature.
Thus by such victory, not by machines but in oppositions to the principle to the principles of machines, has the freedom of states been preserved by the cunning of architects.
Burn shavings and splinters of pitch pine, and when they turn to charcoal, put them out, and pound them into mortar with size. This will make a pretty black for fresco painting.
In order that the mortar in the joints may not suffer from frosts, drench it with oil-dregs every year before winter begins. Thus treated, it will not let the hoarfrost enter it.
Basilicas should be constructed on a site adjoining the forum and in the warmest possible quarter, so that in winter business men may gather in them without being troubled by the weather.
In the midst of all this great variety of subjects, an individual cannot attain to perfection in each, because it is scarcely in his power to take in and comprehend the general theories of them.
Altars should face the east, and should always be placed on a lower level than are the statues in the temples, so that those who are praying and sacrificing may look upwards towards the divinity.
Architecture is a science arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning; by the help of which a judgment is formed of those works which are the result of other arts.
I, therefore, O Caesar, do not publish this work, merely prefixing my name to a treatise which of right belongs to others, nor think of acquiring reputation by finding fault with the works of any one.
But I, Caesar, have not sought to amass wealth by the practice of my art, having been rather contented with a small fortune and reputation, than desirous of abundance accompanied by a want of reputation.
Some have held that there are only four winds: Solanus from the east; Auster from the south; Favonius from due west; Septentrio from the north. But more careful investigators tell us that there are eight.
As regards the efficacy of the art and the theories of it, I promise and expect that in these volumes I shall undoubtedly show myself of very considerable importance not only to builders but also to all scholars.
I am moreover inclined to be concise when I reflect on the constant occupation of the citizens in public and private affairs, so that in their few leisure moments they may read and understand as much as possible.
Heat is a universal solvent, melting out of things their power of resistance, and sucking away and removing their natural strength with its fiery exhalations so that they grow soft, and hence weak, under its glow.