Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a famous Roman architect in the 1st century BC. Little is known about his childhood. He is thought to have been born in Verona, even though this has not been entirely proofed. In his lifetime, Vitruvius became famous as an architect to the emperor Augustus and his work 'De architectura', which is a summary of his own experience in the field of architecture. The work, consisting of 10 volumes, was written around 15 BC and dedicated to the emperor. It is thought to be the only direct source on antique architecture and had a considerable influence on the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In the books, Vitruvius explained the theory of the architectural order of pillars, as well as shapes and types of temples and introduced rules for the design of houses. Alongside actual architecture, he also dealt with technical objects, e.g. the so-called Tympanum (for the transport of water), flour mills, waterscrews, thermal springs, sundials and various technical tools aiding construction. Great architectural writers of the 15th to 17th century, including Alberti, Vignola, Palladio and Selio based their theories on Vitruvius's 'De architectura'. The first printed edition of Vitruvius' work appeared in Rome in 1486, the first illustrated edition was published in 1511 Venice. In 1548 J. Petreius published the first German translation of Virtuvius's work in Nuremberg. This volume was annotated by Walter Ryffs (Rivius) and contained woodcuts by Peter Flötner and others.
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Life: Vitruvius is known only as the author of the first and most famous text (De architectura) in the history of western landscape architecture, architecture, enginering and town planning. The book is dedicated to an un-named emperor, assumed to be Augustus. It is based on Vitruvius own experience as a designer and on other books by Greek architects, which have not survived. Pliny the Elder's remarks on construction methods, in his Natural History, appear to be based on De architectura. Vitruvius book became the chief reference on classical architecture throughout the Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical periods. He provided the basis for Alberti's Ten Books on Architecture (1452) and also for Henry Wotton's Elements of Architecture (1624). With regard to colonades and walks, Vitruvius advises 'The space in the middle, between the colonnades and open to the sky, ought to be embellished with green things; for walking in the open air is very healthy, particularly for the eyes, since the refined and rarefied air that comes from green things, finding its way in because of the physical exercise, gives a clean-cut image, and, by clearing away the gross humours from the eyes, leaves the sight keen and the image distinct.' With regard to entrance courts he advises 'Propriety arises from usage when buildings having magnificent interiors are provided with elegant entrance-courts to correspond; for there will be no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low, mean entrance.' The first of Vitruvius' Ten Books (all published without titles) could well have been Landscape Architecture. There are extracts from Vitruvius Ten Books on Architecture on the CD.
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Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born ca. 80/70 BC?; died ca. 25 BC) was a Roman writer, architect and engineer (possibly praefectus fabrum or architectus armamentarius of the apparitor status group), active in the 1st century BC.
Biography
Little is known about Vitruvius' life. His first name Marcus and his cognomen Pollio are uncertain as they are only mentioned by Cetius Faventinus. Most inferences about his life are extracted from his only surviving work De Architectura.
Design for a Vitruvian water-screw
Design for a Vitruvian water-screw
Born a free Roman citizen, most likely at Formiae in Campania, he served the Roman army under Julius Caesar in Hispania and Gaul. As an army engineer he specialized in the construction of war machines for sieges. In later years the emperor Augustus, through his sister Octavia Minor, sponsored Vitruvius, entitling him with a pension to guarantee his financial independence.[citation needed] His date of death is unknown, which suggests that he had enjoyed only little popularity during his lifetime.[citation needed]
The author of De architectura, known today as The Ten Books on Architecture, a treatise written of Latin and Greek on architecture, dedicated to the emperor Augustus, is the only surviving major book on architecture from classical antiquity. Mainly known for his writings, Vitruvius was himself an architect. Frontinus mentions him in connection with the standard sizes of pipes.[1] The only building, however, that we know Vitruvius to have worked on is, as he himself tells us,[2] a basilica at Fanum Fortunae, now the modern town of Fano. The basilica has disappeared so completely that its very site is a matter of conjecture.
Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci
Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci
Vitruvius is most famous for asserting in his book De architectura that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas, utilitas, venustas - that is, it must be strong or durable, useful, and beautiful. According to Vitruvius, architecture is an imitation of nature. As birds and bees built their nests, so humans constructed housing from natural materials, that gave them shelter against the elements. When perfecting this art of building, the ancient Greek invented the architectural orders: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. It gave them a sense of proportion, culminating in understanding the proportions of the greatest work of art: the human body. This led Vitruvius in defining his Vitruvian Man, as drawn magnificently by Leonardo da Vinci: the human body inscribed in the circle and the square (the fundamental geometric patterns of the cosmic order).
Vitruvius is sometimes loosely referred to as the first architect, but it is more accurate to describe him as the first Roman architect to have written on his field. He himself cites older but less complete works. He was less an original thinker or creative intellect than a codifier of existing architectural practice. It should also be noted that Vitruvius had a much wider scope than modern architects. Roman architects practised a wide variety of disciplines; in modern terms, they could be described as being engineers, architects, landscape architects, artists, and craftsmen combined. Etymologically the word architect derives from Greek words meaning 'master' and 'builder'. The first of the Ten Books deals with many subjects which now come within the scope of landscape architecture.
It is something to note that Vitruvius advises that lead should not be used to conduct drinking water. He comes to this conclusion in Book VIII of De Architectura after observing the apparent laborer illnesses in the plumbum founderies of his time. In 1986 the United States banned the use of lead in plumbing due to lead poisonings neurological damage.
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