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New England Chapter

The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical

A merica

Feeds:  Posts Commen

– Commodity, Firmness, and Delight, or Toward a New

Architectural Attitude

December 13, 2010 by David Brussat

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Vitruvius presents design of the Basilica at Fano to the Emperor Augustus; Claude Perraults’sinterpretation of Vitruvius’ design. Sebestian Le Clerc (1684)

* * * 

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By Eric Inman Daum AIA

Presented at the Traditional Building Conference, March 10, 2009

* * *

(https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0315/5aa9855b216b9/5aa9855d29357.jpg)WhenHaywood first called me to say she understood that I intended to talk on Commodity, Firmnessand Delight at the Traditional Building conference, I replied, trying not to sound alarmed,

“I did?”

Commodity, firmness and delight are words that come to us from a 17th Century translation of the Roman architect Vitruvius’ work, de Architectura. Known popularly today as The Ten Books of Architecture, it is the only treatise on Classical architecture surviving in its entirety from antiquity

These Ten Books,

(https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0315/5aa9855b216b9/5aa9855d660cb.jpg)whichsource of Classical design and construction, describe these essential criteria which must beobserved in order to create a “good building.” In my own practice and through my involvementwith the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, I profess a Classical sensibilityTherefore, these principles should underscore my own philosophy of practice. So, in themoments following Judy’s question, as my professional life flashed before my eyes, I realized thathese same criteria are as relevant today as they were long ago during the early days of the Roma

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Empire. These are relevant words to guide us, not just for the design of individual buildings, bualso for the design of communities, cities and regions. And in this moment, I also realized thatperhaps I myself had not paid these ideals as much heed as I should, and that they deserved myre-examination.

So as the silence hung between us on the phone, I came in my horror to realize all of this and Ireplied in a manner that I hope sounded nonchalant:

“Why, Judy, I’d be delighted.”

* * *

Architecture among all the arts is unique. As the art of building, it straddles the line between thetheoretical and the practical. Vitruvius himself states in the first chapter of Book I: “The arts areeach composed of two things, the manual work and the reasoning behind it.” Unlike the fine artsof painting, sculpture, dance, theater and music, architecture is a commercial art. It has aresponsibility to its audience to do more than just provoke it. It must satisfy basic needs of shelter. It must work in concert with its surroundings. It must adapt to the changing needs of its

users. When an audience does not like a performance, they are free to leave the play or concert. Ithey do not like a painting or sculpture, they are free to move on to the next gallery.

A building in a cityscape or a development in a landscape represents enormous resources thathave been invested in the commonweal. Unlike other commercial arts such as illustration orcinema, it is not ephemeral but serves a longstanding audience. When the audience forarchitecture occupies a work that does not satisfy its needs, it has two choices. Either be a captivaudience or destroy the work and waste the resources invested in its creation.

Surely, then, the sensible thing to do is to build well.

Geoffrey Scott commences his book The Architecture of Humanism with a discussion of commodityfirmness and delight. He describes architecture as a “focus where [these] three separate purposehave converged. They are blended in a single method; they are fulfilled in a single result; yet intheir own nature, they are distinguished from each other by a deep and permanent disparity.”

He goes on to describe the architect’s work as “synthetic,” “He must take into simultaneousaccount our three conditions of ‘well-building.’ ” The first of these, Firmness , he states, is relatedto science. An architect considers structural forces and material properties. Forms are governed

 by the material choices made.

For the second condition, Commodity , he states: “Architecture is subservient to the general uses oMankind …” and that “buildings may be judged by the success with which they supply thepractical ends they were designed to meet.”

For the third condition, Delight , Scott describes “an aesthetic impulse … by which architecture becomes art.” He illustrates conditions by which it may be guided by the other two conditions,firmness and commodity. Ultimately, “it has its own standard and claims its own authority.”Beauty is its own reward.

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* * *

(https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0315/5aa9855b216b9/5aa9855e605e5.jpg)The pcommodity, firmness and delight actually comes to us not from Vitruvius but rather from SirHenry Wotton (left), whose The Elements of Architecture. published in 1624, is a loose translation oVitruvius’ de Architectura.

Wotton’s version of Vitruvius’ frequently quoted line is: “The end is to build well. Well buildinghath three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight.” Scholars debate whether Wotten’sElements is a paraphrase or a true translation, but the quote is popularly attributed to Vitruvius.

 Joseph Gwilt, in his 1826 edition of Vitruvius writings, published in London, uses the words

“strength, utility, and beauty.” The venerable translation of Vitruvius’ The Ten Books onArchitecture by Morris Hickey Morgan, originally published in 1914 and still available throughDover Publications, states: “All these must be built with due reference to durability, convenienceand beauty.”

In 2003, Thomas Gordon Smith published an emendation of Morgan’s work and framed thephrase in more contemporary language: “All of these [architectural works] must be built so thataccount is taken of Strength, Function and Beauty.” This is very close to Gwilt’s strength, utilityand beauty, but the substitution of function for utility is a clear reference to Louis Sullivan’s “form

follows function.”Sullivan’s Modernist dictum has come to represent the Modern emphasis upon firmness andcommodity as criteria to judge the merits of an architectural work without consideration of 

 beauty.

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, who was born between 80–70 B.C. and died sometime after 15 B.C.,himself used the words “ firmitatis utilitatis venustatis.”

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Whether we say, “Firmitatis utilitatis venustatis” … strength, utility and beauty … durability,convenience and beauty … strength, function and beauty … or commodity, firmness and delighwe are describing the fundamental standards we should aim to meet when we build. Let us lookat each of these concepts in turn.

* * *

Firmness: We must build buildings with strength to survive the elements and the forces of nature

A building needs to stand up, to protect its occupants – keep them dry and warm in the winterand cool in the summer. It also needs to be built to protect itself. It must shed water away from itstructure to prevent rot in organic materials, decay in masonry, and corrosion in metals. It iswasteful to replace building materials frequently.

Commodity: A building must be well designed, laid out efficiently so that spaces for relatedactivities are adjacent. The building must be composed not just in plan but in section, with regardto the hierarchy of its spaces. A building should be laid out so that the most important activitiestake place in the most important spaces. We must consider how to use building materialsefficiently, and know the most suitable materials for that building in that particular location  interms of availability and durability.

Delight: This represents the most difficult of the Vitruvian ideals to define. With our liberalsensibilities and a prevailing politically correct attitude of relativism, we espouse the idea that“I’m okay; you must be even better.” We are trained to believe that beauty is subjective, that itrests in the eye of the beholder. Vitruvius held a very different idea. He believed thatarchitectural beauty was quantifiable, stating that “account will have been taken of … Beauty …so the relative measurements of the members will give the work a pleasing and elegant purpose.”

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“Architecture, Painting and Sculpture Protected by Athena from the Ravages of Time” (1921) by JohnSinger Sargent

* * * 

In the first book of De Architectura , he describes techniques to be used by architects in order toachieve “Beauty,” declaring that “architecture depends on ordinatio, dispositio, eurythmia,

symmetria, decor and distributio.” In the recent edition of De Architectura by Thomas Gordan Smiththe author’s commentary describes each of these in depth. I will touch upon them briefly, but Iwould like to direct you to his commentary for further elaboration.

Ordinatio: Morris Hickey Morgan uses the word “order.” This is simply the process of creatingincremental units of measure within an object. We determine a consistent unit of measure basedupon a part and construct the entire work using that part as the underlying guide for the whole.This creates a sense of visual harmony.

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Smith chooses to avoid use of the word “order.” In contemporary English usage, it describes thetypes of column, their entablatures and pedestals. In fact, there is a proportional relation amongthese larger parts, but Smith argues that this expands the meaning of Vitruvius’ use of the termand prefers the words “type” or “kind” to describe the genus of columns.

Dispositio: Morgan uses the word “arrangement.” What this really means is to design not just ithe graphic sense but in the conceptual intellectual sense as well. Vitruvius describes the practicof drawing floor plans and elevations, and also perspective drawings as tools to understand theconceptual form of a building. However, these graphic techniques are informed by “reflection”and “invention.” Essentially, reflection is the careful consideration of all aspects of the design,analysis of site, program and the client’s tastes among them. Invention is the ability to adapt therules of design to issues unique to each architectural problem.

Eurythmia: Eurythmia is the graceful arrangement of the elements of a building, so that the heighof the parts is suitable to their width, and their width to their breadth. In other words, each part iin harmony with itself. Looking at a classical building, the proportions of the columns in relationto the weight they must bear, the entablature, we see that they comfortably support the weight o

the load above. In fact, this is not an engineering exercise, but a simple intuitive understandingthat the proportion of the bearing and the borne “works.”

Symmetria: This is the methodology of determining ratios of proportion between differentelements in a design. In a sense, the Classical “types” of columns suggest this, both at large andsmaller scales. On the large scale, when we lay out a column, we understand that its height is aproportion of its diameter. The heights of columns are multiples of their widths. The measuringmodules are either the diameter or the radius of the base of a column. Getting architects throughhistory to agree on what those proportions are has been difficult, but they all have begun with amodule based on the column width. The basic elements of the entablature, the architrave, the

cornice and the frieze are proportioned as ratios of that same column-based module. Even theproportions of the individual elements within the column base and capital, and within theentablature, are all fractions of the base module.

Decor: Smith describes this almost as a form of architectural etiquette. Vitruvius discusses the uof the appropriate elements for the design of temples for each deity. For instance, in his textVitruvius describes the Doric as embodying masculine and rational characteristics, the Ionic as

 being more feminine, and the Corinthian as the most delicate. Temples for virile deities – Mars,Hercules and Athena – should be Doric. Temples for Juno and Diana should be Ionic. Notingthat these goddesses are mature feminine beings, the restrained and elegant Ionic is the

appropriate choice. The Corinthian is appropriate for “delicate divinities,” such as Venus and thNymphs.

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Rotunda of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, featuring Sargent’s protective Athena (detail above)

But the idea of decor extends beyond the choice of the appropriate classical order. Ornament can be chosen for its symbolism. The Ionic, with its fecund articulation, the egg and dart is anappropriate choice to celebrate motherhood. Bucrania in the metope of the Doric are a perfectcomplement to a dining room.

In contemporary terms, decor suggests that we need to consider the forms we choose. We need tounderstand their meanings and to make choices appropriate to the site, the client and the needs othe building. One common theme we see in contemporary practice is the use of the Tuscan ordeas a catch-all decorative column in many projects, added to lend a traditional flavor. Because it ithe most austere of the orders and free of what seems, to Modern sensibilities, fussy ornament, itis the easiest to draw, the least expensive to build and the most palatable to those architects who

 believe that “ornament is a crime.” However, it is suggestive of utilitarian purposes and usuallynot appropriate to the entrance of a house or within the interior of any significant room. Decoralso relates to the appropriate disposition of rooms according to their exposure; bedrooms andlibraries face east and picture galleries north for even diffuse light.

Distributio: Vitruvius’ principle of distributio describes the organizational skills an architect needto get a building built. “The proper management of materials and site as well as the thrifty balancing of expense. … This will be observed if the Architect does not demand things that cann be found or made ready without great expense.” Of course, he says nothing about our client’swish lists. But his sense is clear: we need to build what is appropriate by considering climate, siteand occupants. A building built in the desert is different from a building built for a wet, tropicalclimate.

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Describing these Vitruvian ideals of strength, utility and beauty is somewhat like stating atautology: Of course we want to build well, of course we want to serve our clients by laying out

 building well, of course we want to make beautiful things. It’s obvious, isn’t it? In fact, were wechoose to reduce these terms to a simple phrase, we might say that the source of good building issimply “common sense.” And yet, if we survey the current state of the built environment and ofthe architectural profession, it is obvious that our culture has not embraced these ideals.

* * * 

Below are Louis Sullivan’s Carson Pirie Scott & Co. Building (1899), in Chicago; the cover of Adolf Loos’“Ornament and Crime” (1908); and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye (1929)

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(https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0315/5aa9855b216b9/5aa985614ed97.jpg)(https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0315/5aa9855b216b9/5aa98561894cb.jpg)The gModernism, which we all learned by rote at the knees of our teachers, do not tell us to consider

 beauty in our designs. We learned the First Commandment of Modernism, “Form followsfunction,” from Louis Sullivan, the late 19th Century American architect, whose buildingsembraced a florid ornamentalism; then the same people who quote Sullivan turn around and,missing the irony, quote Adolf Loos and his Second Commandment of Modernism: “Ornament ia crime.” Le Corbusier’s simple Third Commandment of Modernism stated: “A house is a

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machine for living in.” Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s FuturistManifesto is the Fourth Commandment of Modernism: “Beautyexists only in struggle. There is no masterpiece that has not anaggressive character.”

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The Modernist commandments speak of disposing of the past and building in the “Spirit of theNew Age.” Marinetti, writing in his Futurist Manifesto of 1909, told us to “leave good sense

 behind like a hideous husk and let us hurl ourselves, like fruit spiced with pride, into the

immense mouth and breast of the world! Let us feed the unknown, not from despair, but simplyto enrich the unfathomable reservoirs of the Absurd.”

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“Carica di Lancieri” (1915), by Umberto Boccioni

The enduring poison of this nihilistic point of view is the constant quest for the “New.” Innovation is heralded as the most important aspect of the design profession. Most of us are herat the Traditional Building Conference because we believe in tradition and because we respect thaccumulated knowledge of millennia of builders before us. We know that architecture is muchmore than mere fashion.

But to the Cult of the New, who believe that what is trendy today will be obsolete tomorrow, I

would suggest that innovation is highly overrated.

The ongoing tradition of building is part of the endless human quest for immortality. We hope toleave behind something of ourselves that will mold and shape the lives of future generations.Because we seek to leave something of ourselves behind, we aim to build well; not just withirmness to guarantee its survival for future generations, but with commodity and delight to make i

worth preserving.

Simply put, Vitruvius tells us that when we build, we should not to lose sight of common sense.If we are going to make the investment of time and resources in order to build, then it is in our

 best interests to listen to the Vitruvian ideal. Resources have always been scarce. It has always been expensive to build. This should make us question why so much of the contemporary builtenvironment is disposable.

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Demolition in 2007 of Paul Rudolph’s Micheel Residence, built 1972

We realize that the legacy of sprawl and its Big Box stores and cul-de-sac developments iswasteful of resources. We understand intuitively that “good building” is nothing more than theexercise of common sense. Yet in our consumerist greed, we have ignored the obvious truth. It iwasteful to cleave into yet more open land, spreading a motoring culture further across thelandscape.

It is a self-fulfilling prophecy in futility as we extend a vacuous, soulless wasteland across thisnation.

We ignore “Firmitatis” when we build the boxes described by James Howard Kunstler aschipboard and vinyl Mcbuildings. We ignore “Venustatis” when we plunk a Mediterranean-styleDryvit McMansion into New England, or a shingle-style house on the Gulf Coast, and we deny“Beauty” when we persist in building places no one wishes to inhabit.

As a culture, we have been blessed with technological advancements and growing wealth that haallowed us to undertake the impossible. Our hubris is our realization that anything is possible an

therefore anything is justified. We have lost sight of the basic fact that architecture is about morethan changing fashion. It is the art of building, and part of a long tradition. When we endeavor  build, we must take it seriously. We must be cognizant of its costs and its impact on both thenatural and the built environment. We should consider the practice of good building applicablenot only to the creation of a single building, but also, a neighborhood, a city, a region, and eventhe nation.

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Residences foreclosed upon before completion, in Las Vegas (2009)

Recall a portion of the Marinetti quote I repeated moments ago: “Let us leave good sense behind… and enrich the unfathomable reservoirs of the Absurd.” Certainly for America in the earlyyears of the 21st Century, exactly 100 years after Marinetti wrote those words in 1909, that legacyof the absurd is continuing.

* * *

Ultimately, the act of building is about so much more than assets and property value. It is aninvestment not just of materials but of time and of human lives. How we choose to build is asimportant as what we choose to build. We leave a mark in time and space on this planet which

speaks to future generations. It tells of who we were and what we valued. James Kunstlercomments that we persist in making places that no one actually wants to inhabit. Strip malls andBig Box stores, highway interchanges and expansive parking lots, cul-de-sacs and McMansionsare not places whose passing anyone will mourn. They are the legacy of a culture that does notvalue the civic realm. With the ongoing economic downturn, these nowheresvilles are beingabandoned, and we won’t even have the prospect of their beautiful ruins to contemplate.

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magined ruins of John Soane’s Bank of England, by Joseph Michael Gandy (1830)

During the Romantic period of the early 19th Century, architects would prepare renderings of their proposed buildings not just as they would appear fully realized, but also ruined as aprojection of a distant future. It was a nostalgia for that which was yet to be. They hoped thatfuture architects would learn from the ruins of their buildings just as they themselves werelearning from the ruins of antiquity. The excavations of Herculaneum, and Pompeii, and of Stuaand Revett’s documentations of Athenian antiquities not only provided a tangible laboratory tomeasure Vitruvian ideas, but also to shape the forms of Romantic Neo-Classicism.

In one hand these 19th Century architects held the ancient text, Vitruvius’ ten books that told how

to build correctly, and in the other a sketchbook, the tool to document the surviving fragments ofGreece and Rome. By preparing drawings of ruins of their own work, they sought to reach for theternal and to connect to a distant future. They hoped to mold that future just as their presentwas molded by the Master Builders of Greece and Rome.

One wonders if on some distant day, long after we all gone, a future architect will uncover aWalmart design manual and bother to attempt match it to some overgrown ruin of Dryvit andlight-gauge steel trusses. If this is the legacy we are leaving to future scholars, then we deserve t

 be forgotten.

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on December 22, 2010 at 7:52 pm | Rep

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“Apollo and the Muses” (1921), by John Singer Sargent

Roman architect Vitruvius, as interpreted by Wotten, described the essential characteristics of good building as commodity, firmness and delight. Too often, contemporary architects lose sighof these basic principles. The signatures of their individual styles have become more importantthan the work of architecture itself. There are explicit and implicit criteria against which all

 buildings can to be judged. Architecture, as the art of building, needs to be grounded in itstraditions in order to accomplish these Vitruvian ideals. We must build for the ages within thecontemporary constraints of declining resources and we must build with an eye toward Beauty. “Delight,” which has come to be viewed as irrelevant or unimportant by the Modern movementcan and should become again an essential criterion of good building today.

 

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4 Responses

simontdurrant

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on January 3, 2011 at 9:19 pm | Rep

on January 27, 2011 at 9:20 pm | Rep

on June 27, 2011 at 2:05 pm | Rep

This is very inspirational and I would like to quote for my dissertation!

Eric Daum

Please do!

James Welwood

You have articulated what many stuggle to say. Eloquent, persuasive, cogent andtimely. Thankyou.

Cormac Phalen

Great Article – and to me it isn’t about the stylistic result but the quality andpermanence of the building. Again, great read…thanks.

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