1 Research Approach
In my research process, I proceeded as follows; the first step for a successful search was to keep my word selection as specific as possible. However, the words could not be too specific, otherwise there would be too little or no selection of results at all available.
First of all I chose “grecian order”, a relatively general term, but one that specifically limits the search area in the term architecture and it is also part of the title, which already roughly describes the content of the book. As a further step I decided to include a personality: “Sir Christopher Wren”, who was specifically mentioned in the book. However, selecting too many names has turned out to be a dead end in my research. In the second part of the book only pictures and sketches are shown. in order to get a result that also includes these, i have inserted word describing the shown sketches into the search engine. Examples are “daviler’s comparison of profiles” or “ionic collonade”.
2 Related Work
The first book I ended up choosing was “Modern Architectural Theory: A Historical Survey” (1673–1968) written by Harry Francis Mallgrave. In his book he established a taste for Grecian chasteness and elegance in Architecture throughout the civilized world. His architectural theory focuses mainly on Europe and the United States and contextualizes an architectural discourse within its social and political atmosphere over three centuries of development. Personalities like Philibert de L’Orme and Claude Perrault in France, lnigo Jones and Christopher Wren in England, as well as William Chambers and James Stuart are mentioned.
My second choice was the book “British Architectural Theory: An Anthology of Texts” edited by Caroline Van Eck. This collection of English writing on architecture from 1540 to 1750 offers a large selection of fragments, some of them never published before. They discuss the nature of architecture, the practicalities of building, the sense of the past, religious architecture and classicism.