On the Art of Building in Ten Books [Hardcover]

Leon Battista Alberti (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1988

"De Re Aedificatoria, by Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), was the first modern treatise on the theory and practice of architecture and in its time a model of learned Latin writing. Its importance for the subsequent history of architecture is incalculable; yet this is the first major English translation based on the original text on which Alberti's reputation as a theorist is founded.Joseph Rykwert and his colleagues have been scrupulous in following Alberti's original intentions. Their version is based on the critical text published in 1966 by Giovanni Orlandi. It replaces the only other significant English version, by the Venetian architect James Leoni, whose source was not the original Latin but an Italian translation dating from the sixteenth century.Rykwert's substantial introduction discusses Alberti's life and career - as papal functionary, writer on a wide variety of topics, and architect and discusses the "De Re Aedificatoria itself - its relation to the De Architectura of Vitruvius, its influence on contemporary and later architectural theory and practice, and its bibliographic history. The apparatus also includes an index and a glossary of terms. The translators were fortunate to have the help of eminent Alberti scholar Hans-Karl Lucke of the University of Toronto.Alberti set out to replace Vitruvius's authority, which had been undisputed for over a thousand years. In a Latin which was both more elegant and more precise than that of his ancient predecessor, he succeeded in framing a coherent account of the fragmented knowledge of antique architecture as it had survived through the dark and middle ages. His was the one book which established architecture as an intellectualand professional discipline rather than a craft and gave it a proper theoretical context; by showing how the great examples of ruined antiquity could be emulated in practice, it provided a theoretical basis for the architecture of the Renaissance.Alberti organizes the work of the architect according to solidity, use, and grace. The ten books begin with a book of definitions; there follow two books devoted to materials and constructional methods; books four and five discuss the uses of the parts of the building and the different building types. The bulk of the second part, books six through nine deal with grace: the problems of designing sacred buildings, the problems of beauty and ornament, of proportions. Book ten takes up problems of restoration, water supply, and minor adjuncts to building.Joseph Rykwert is Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Neil Leach is an architect in private practice in Cambridge, and Robert Tavernor is a practicing architect and lecturer in the Department of Architecture at the University of Bath.

Editorial Reviews

Review

On the Art of Building in Ten Books is an engaging mix of the practical and superstitious. It is like an episode of 'This Old House," in which the foam insulation, metal, and plastic have given way to stone, wood, and advice older than the building code. For example, when Alberti outlines good stair design, detailing the size of the steps and the placement of landings (every seventh or ninth step), he notes that the ancients preferred an odd number of steps to their temples, so they would enter on the right foot. He speaks precisely about the design of colonnades for man and beast, and about bridge building and road drainage, with care taken for the "continual and contracted wear by hooves and wheels." In another section, he passes along the advice to city planners "to inspect the color and conditions of the livers of cattle grazing on the site when founding a city." In smaller matters, he advises the correct form for inscriptions on buildings: brevity. (Plato cautions against more than four verses on a tomb.) And he offers good, sound advice: "Me greatest glory in the art of building is to have a good sense of what is appropriate," (which itself would make a good inscription). There is much advice on the nature of materials, including lime and bricks, and a reverent discussion of wood, recommending juniper for trusses exposed to the sky, elm for hinges (best when used upside down), and cypress for doors (one door he knows has lasted 400 years). Alberti also discusses the best times to fell trees, comparing the advice of Hesiod, Favonius, Pliny, and Cato. This Old House was never like this. The new translation has been rendered to be read aloud, Joseph Rykwert states in the introduction. I field-tested this approach on a room of nonarchitects. Alberti's advice about building pigeon dovecotes particularly caught their attention: "If, under the entrance, you bury the head of a wolf, sprinkled with cumin seed, inside a jar that is cracked so that the smell can escape, it will attract several pigeons away from their previous homes...." The old serviceable edition by Dover kept the book on many shelves; this translation invites reading. On the Art of Building is one of the best architecture books of the year. -- From Independent Publisher

Language Notes

Text: English, Italian (translation)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Mit Pr (October 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262010992
• ISBN-13: 978-0262010993
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,400,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have Volume for any Architect or Town Planner., October 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: On the Art of Building in Ten Books (Paperback)

The Ten Books of Architecture by Alberti, is one of the finest texts for the education of an Architect or Town Planner. Alberti's ideas are studied at almost very Architecture Program in the world. The Ten Books of Architecture describe how to design successfully, and how to design towns that are safe. Alberti expands on the work of Vitruvius. I would recommend this book for anyone who has an intrest in design. The text is very simple to understand. After reading these books, one will have a much clearer understanding of design.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Renaissance Author with a Sense of Humor, November 3, 2008

By 

W. Fryer "Arch Student" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On the Art of Building in Ten Books (Hardcover)

This book is half a millennium old and I think it's easier and more pleasurable to read than most current authors writing about architecture. This is a classic, no doubt about that - but it's not dry and boring like I assumed it would be since it was assigned reading for a class. Alberti's genial personality and sense of humor shine through and enliven this text.