I was lucky enough to be able to build a friendship with The Four Books of Andrea Palladio’s Architecture by Isaac Ware. The year-long friendship with my book has taught me a lot. It is surprising how well you can get to know a book’s content and the way it was written without ever reading said book. Thanks to the friendship with my book, I have learnt about the important factors of architecture, as perceived in ancient Rome, building materials and architectural techniques, and of course the five orders of architecture; these being Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. He also goes into detail about the different order’s characteristics of the buildings, as well as other elements. Throughout the book, many different illustrations can be found. Architectural illustrations varying from vertical section drawings, detailed illustrations of the inside of buildings, in addition to their external features, as well as bridges, and not only that but also about many of Palladio’s works.
It is evident that the illustrations in this book have a significant meaning, as they about equal the amount of text throughout the book. The combination of descriptive text and their corresponding images give the reader an additional insight in Palladio’s intentions and opinions.
Through my encounter with my book, I have learnt to appreciate the beauty of books in this online/e-book era, especially with task 2. During the time I filmed myself browsing through the book I did not really realize the history and work that was in my hands. Although I had difficulties understanding my book at times, due to the way it is written, I slowly started to get used to the font, in which it was written and now I perceive it as a beautiful way to write. Throughout the past year, this understanding bloomed to an utter appreciation not only of the book itself, but its content and the author as well. now I understand the importance of the book’s history and am able to appreciate the work that was put into the writing of this book.
The fact that my book is an English translation made it easier to build a friendship, as I could understand the book, not only by its illustrations and format, but also by actually understanding what was written.
Task 5 was especially fun to do, as everyone in the group knew their books in a way, in which we could portray the book through ourselves. I think one of the difficulties I had was that I had a hard time relating to the tasks, as it was difficult for me only knowing some aspects of the book. I am personally used to reading a book and getting to know it in that way. However, getting to know the book through analyzing its different aspects (format, font, different editions, etc.) was not something I had ever tried.