Classical Architecture: The Poetics of Order

Tzonis, Alexander; Lefaivre, Liane

ISBN 10: 026270031X / ISBN 13: 9780262700313

Published by MIT Press, 1996

About this Item

8vo (23 cm), XII, 306 pp. Publisher's laminated wrappers (minor shelf-wear). "This fascinating introduction to classical art and architecture is the first book to investigate the way classical buildings are put together as formal structures. It researches the generative rules, the poetics of composition that classical architecture shares with classical music, poetry, and drama, and is enriched by a variety of examples and an extensive analysis of compositional rules. The 205 line drawings make up a discourse of their own, a pictorial text that serves as an introductory theory of composition or basic design aid. Drawing from Vitruvius, the poetics of Aristotle, the theories of classical architecture, music, and poetry since the Renaissance, and the poetics of the Russian formalists, the authors present classical architecture as a coherent system of architectural thinking that is capable of producing a tragic humanistic discourse, a public art with critical, moral, and philosophical meaning." (from the blurb).

Seller Inventory # 009217

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Classical Architecture: The Poetics of Order
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 026270031X
• ISBN 13: 9780262700313
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New
• Weight: 530 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Architecture

About this title

Synopsis

This fascinating introduction to classical art and architecture is the first book to investigate the way classical buildings are put together as formal structures. It researches the generative rules, the poetics of composition that classical architecture shares with classical music, poetry, and drama, and is enriched by a variety of examples and an extensive analysis of compositional rules. The 205 line drawings make up a discourse of their own, a pictorial text that serves as an introductory theory of composition or basic design aid.

Drawing from Vitruvius, the poetics of Aristotle, the theories of classical architecture, music, and poetry since the Renaissance, and the poetics of the Russian formalists, the authors present classical architecture as a coherent system of architectural thinking that is capable of producing a tragic humanistic discourse, a public art with critical, moral, and philosophical meaning.

About the Authors

Alexander Tzonis taught at Harvard from 1967 to 1981 and is the author of several books on architecture and design.

Liane Lefaivre is Professor and Chair of History and Theory of Architecture, University of Applied Art, Vienna, and Research Associate at the Technical University of Delft.