STUDY AND PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE/RARE 1st Edition/1756/MARC ANTOINE LAUGIER/

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Double your traffic. STUDY AND PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE/RARE 1st Edition/1756/MARC ANTOINE LAUGIER/ Album Album Album VERY RARE - SCARCE FIRST EDITION - FIRST ISSUE. 5 ORIGINAL COPPER ENGRAVED ARCHITECTURAL PLATES FINE ORIGINAL LEATHER BINDING - RARE FIRST EDITION ESSAY ON THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE Explaining the true Principles of the Science...,by [MARC ANTOINE LAUGIER] LONDON: Printed for Stanley Crowder, 1756, [published date: 1756]. Rare First edition. 8vo. 7" x 4.75" inches (LxB). Pp. xvi, (2), 272, (8, index) pages + Engraved frontispiece + five copper engraved architectural plates. Fine original contemporary full calf leather boards, gilt ruled spine sympathetically rebacked in antique style, using matching brown calf leather with 5 raised bands, & red & black gilt lettered morocco labels. Views on architecture that hold a significant position in architectural theory are the ones by Marc-Antoine Laugier, a French theoretician from the 18th century. Laugier is best known for his "Essai sur l'Architecture" first published in French, in 1755 he published the famous, often reproduced illustration of a primitive hut. His approach is to discuss some familiar aspects of Renaissance and post-Renaissance architectural practice, which he describes as "faults." These faults induce his commentary on columns, the entablature, and on pediments. Among faults he lists for columns are that of being engaged in the wall, the use of pilasters, incorrect entasis (swelling of the column), and setting columns on pedestals. Being embedded in the wall detracts from the overall beauty and aesthetic nature of columns; Laugier states that columns should be free. He goes on to assert that the use of pilasters should strictly be frowned upon especially since nearly in every case columns could be used instead. The second fault is created by incorrect proportion, and the last he believes is more of an unintelligible design. Resting columns on pedestals, he says, is like adding a second set of legs beneath the first pair. The ''Essai sur l'Architecture'' includes his thoughts on several other topics, ranging from solidity, the different orders, and how to construct different buildings.The research on his architectural theory that have been carried out so far are quite stereotypical and concern Laugier�s concept of primitive hut as his only significant contribution to architectural theory. It is well-known that the concept of primitive hut plays an important role in Laugier�s theory and it is what actually maintained his reputation up to now. However, by singling out this concept as an independent one, one actually neglects all the other aspects of Laugier�s theory. The multidimensionality of Laugier�s architectural aesthetics may be understood by crossing the borders of architecture and viewing Laugier�s ideas in cultural, philosophical, religious and historical context, as well as applying the integrative process and considering the spiritual paths of the enlightenment movement in the mid-18th century. A special attention is paid to considering the aesthetic aspect which represents the gist and an inevitable part of Laugier�s architectural theory. His aesthetic theory is important in forming the classicist style, and despite its radical character, it influenced many architects in France and the rest of Europe. We may see Laugier as one of the first modernists considering his structuralist logic of the constructive circuit of architecture and aesthetic modesty of decoration. Laugier�s functionalist attitude that the constructive circuit should at the same time represent a decorative element of architecture confirms the thesis that modernist approach has its roots in the 18th century. A classic work. There are numerous close-up pictures of the contents given below; please Please take some time to view the 50+ pict... read more

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