“Architectura” by Gabriel Kramer focuses on drawings of the four ancient styles of the column. Except of the introduction, there is almost no text to find in the first 60 pages. Those full-page illustrations show Kramers interpretation of, shape, relation and proportion for the perfect column. It also shows different techniques to reproduce/ redraw them rightly.
The drawings are very detailed and exact, but kept in a plan-like 2D perspective.
Since the book is written in Ancient-German, i can hardly understand a word of it. So it’s almost impossible for me to evaluate the importance of the text itself. Moreover the OCR didn’t work with the old lettering, so i had to use another book for this task.
“Essai sur l’architecture” is a book by Marc-Antoine Laugier, written in French. Laugier was a Jesuit priest and an architectural theorist.
Description found on Xenotheka;
“Laugier is best known for his Essay on Architecture published in 1753. In 1755 he published the second edition with a famous, often reproduced illustration of a primitive hut. His approach is to discuss some familiar aspects of Renaissance and post-Renaissance architectural practice, which he describes as ‘faults’. These ‘faults’ induce his commentary on columns, the entablature, and on pediments. Among faults he lists for columns are that of “being engaged in the wall”, the use of pilasters, incorrect entasis (swelling of the column), and setting columns on pedestals. Being embedded in the wall detracts from the overall beauty and aesthetic nature of columns; Laugier states that columns should be free. He goes on to assert that the use of pilasters should strictly be frowned upon especially since in nearly every case columns could be used instead. The second fault is created by incorrect proportion, and the last he believes is more of an unintelligible design. Resting columns on pedestals, he says, is like adding a second set of legs beneath the first pair. The Essai sur l’Architecture includes his thoughts on several other topics, ranging from solidity, the different orders, and how to construct different buildings”