Architecture Principles
text
manual
illustrations
The concept I chose for my book “Livre D’Architecture” from the author Germain Boffrand are the Principles of Architecture. I took this concept because of the title of the book. As we know, many books that claim to be books of architecture deal with the principles of architecture.
The book, which is dedicated to the king, acts as a reference work for the principles of architecture. Despite the many illustrations, it was not the author’s aim to create a construction manual. Because it does not contain exact plans with dimensioned drawings, but only nicely drawn illustrations which should show the application of the principles of architecture using examples.
The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, which introduces the book, the Text gives us information about the principles of architecture. The second part, which takes up two thirds of the book, is dominated by illustrations. However, you can still find pages with texts in the second part. Because before each floor plan you will find a brief description of the illustrated building and a list of the rooms and their names. In the second part of the book the author tries to illustrate the principles of architecture, which he introduced at the beginning of the book, using examples of built buildings. The examples are residential buildings of various types – palaces, castles, hotels, residents. However, one can also find drawings of bridges and building fronts. Nevertheless, the book is dominated by residential buildings of the upper class, which can also tell us something about the target customers.
The text in the book is divided into two columns of text. The text on the left of the page is in French and the text next to it is in Latin. I am assuming that they have the same content. The two text columns are also written in a different font, so you will immediately notice a visual difference. The page has large columns at the top left and bottom. Could be columns for notes. The plans in this book seem to be glued into it. As already mentioned, they don’t look very technical as they hardly contain any labeling or dimensions, which leads me to assume that they were not drawn as construction plans, but rather for illustration. After each plan there is a blank double page. Perhaps the author didn’t want some text or other layout on the back to disrupt with the Plan on the other side. Because as you can see, the sides are relatively thin and permeable, showing what’s on the back. But it could also be bursts for notes. Or space for additions.