Structural study
Before I decide to read a book, I always look at its cover. If I find it appealing, the chances of reading it are pretty big. In this case the cover is not anything special, however its first page shows an ancient frill with the theme of the book. This page tells me as an aspiring architect that it contains incredibly detailed and exact information about old Roman buildings. For me these are particularly important. While flipping through the pages one notices that there belongs to every text a picture of the described component with its measurements. This structure is very precious for an educational book. While reading something about for example an architrave one can see what was meant and explained.
Each chapter deals with another ancient Roman building and its characteristics. All are set up in the same way. Each first picture of a building shows its floor plan and at the end of the chapter there are explained the characteristics and their decorations. On one double page there is situated a describing text and its corresponding picture (image 1, DU PANTHEON). Only for some huge images of whole buildings or floor plans the author used a double page (image 2, DU TEMPLE DE BACCHUS.). This very simple concepts makes the understanding of the book very easy. It also reminds me of a guide of the ancient Roman buildings. Therefore, one could walk through Rome with this book in one’s hand and read much about the history of architecture of this ancient city. Thus, we could say its an analysis of the ancient buildings of Rome. It also makes me think of a dictionary. I am really impressed how the author managed to write a short text and place a corresponding picture next to it.
I am really astonished by how precise every building and its characteristics are explained. However, the precision of the drawings and its measurements made by Desgodetz are even more impressing. The fact that he made them by hand makes them even more special because he worked with such an accuracy that I and probably many other students would not never achieve. I base this presumption on the fact that we all rely probably too much on the ArchiCAD.
Keywords: structured, detailed, accurate

