The Four Books of Architecture

finally (to leave out many others who could rightly be placed in this number), Mr. Valerio Barbarano Valerio Barbarano was a Vicentine nobleman and a close associate of Palladio, a most diligent observer of everything that belongs to this profession. But to return to our purpose; since I am to bring to light those labors which I have performed from my youth until now in investigating and measuring, with all the greatest diligence I could, those ancient buildings that have come to my knowledge, and on this occasion briefly treat Architecture as orderly and distinctly as possible; I thought it very appropriate to begin with private houses. This is because it is believed that these provided the principles for public buildings, it being very likely that before man lived by himself, and later, seeing he had need of the help of other men to achieve those things that can make him happy (if any happiness is found down here), he naturally desired and loved the company of other men. From many houses, villages were made, and from many villages then Cities, and in those the public places and buildings. Also, because among all parts of Architecture, none is more necessary to men, nor more frequently practiced than this. I will therefore treat first private houses, and then come to public buildings; and I will briefly treat streets, bridges, squares, prisons, Basilicas (which are places of judgment), Xysti covered porticos or garden walks used by the Greeks for exercise, and Palaestrae ancient wrestling schools or gyms, which were places where men exercised; of Temples, Theaters, and Amphitheaters, of Arches, Baths, Aqueducts, and finally the way to fortify Cities and Ports. And in all these books I will avoid long-windedness, and simply give those warnings that seem most necessary to me; and I will use those names that craftsmen commonly use today. And because I can promise nothing of myself but long labor, great diligence, and the love I have placed in understanding and practicing what I promise, if it shall have pleased God that I have not labored in vain, I will thank His goodness with all my heart; remaining thereafter much obliged to those who, through their beautiful inventions and experiences, have left us the precepts of such art; for they have opened a easier and more direct path to the investigation of new things, and of many (thanks to them) we have knowledge that would perhaps otherwise be hidden from us. This first part will be divided into two books: in the first, I will treat the preparation of materials, and once prepared, how and in what form they should be put to use from the foundations to the roof; where there will be those universal precepts that are to be observed in all buildings, both public and private. In the second, I will treat the quality of buildings that suit different ranks of men, and first those of the City, and then the appropriate and convenient sites for those of the Villa country estates, and how they should be divided. And because in this part we have very few ancient examples that we can use, I will provide the plans original: "piante"; horizontal drawings of the floor layout and elevations original: "impiedi"; vertical drawings of the building's facade or height of many buildings ordered by me for various Gentlemen, and the drawings of the houses of the Ancients, and of those parts that are most notable in them, in the manner that Vitruvius teaches us they used to do.

WHAT THINGS OUGHT TO BE CONSIDERED AND PREPARED

before arriving at the building. Chapter I.

Decorative drop cap 'D' with ornate floral and foliage patterns within a square border.
ONE OUGHT, before beginning to build, to diligently consider every part of the plan and elevation of the building that is to be made. Three things (as Vitruvius says) must be considered in every building, without which no edifice will deserve to be praised, and these are: utility or convenience, durability, and beauty the famous Vitruvian triad: utilitas, firmitas, and venustas. For an work could not be called perfect if it were useful but only for a short time; or if for a long time it were not convenient; or if having both of these, it contained no grace within itself. Convenience will be achieved when to each member is given a suitable place and an accommodated site, not smaller than dignity requires, nor larger than use demands, and is placed in its proper location; that is, when the Loggias, Halls, Rooms, Cellars, and Granaries are placed in their appropriate places. Regarding durability, consideration will be given when all the walls are perfectly plumb, thicker at the bottom than at the top, and have good and sufficient foundations; and besides this, the columns above are directly over those below, and all the openings, such as doors and windows, are one above the other, so that the solid is above the solid, and the void above the void. Beauty will result from the beautiful form and the correspondence of the whole to the parts, of the parts to each other, and of those to the whole: since buildings must appear as one entire and well-finished body, in which one member agrees with the other, and all members are necessary to what one wishes to make. Having considered these things in the drawing and in the model, one must