Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

Page concordance

< >
< >
page |< < of 320 > >|
CHAP. III.
But as the Members or Parts of a Houſe
are
very different one from the other both
in
Nature and Species, it may now be proper
to
ſay ſomething of each, having indeed pur­
poſely
reſerved them for this very Place: For
there
are many Parts which it matters very
little
whether you make round or ſquare, pro­
vided
they are fit for the Purpoſes to which they
are
intended; but it is not equally indifferent
what
Number they are in, and how they are
diſpoſed
; and it is neceſſary that ſome ſhould
be
larger, as the inner Courts, while ſome re­
quire
a ſmaller Area, as the Chambers and all
the
private Apartments.
Some others muſt be
in
a Medium between the others, as Eating­
parlours
and the Veſtibule.
We have already
in
another Place given our Thoughts of the
apt
Diſpoſition of each Member of a Houſe,
and
as to the reſpective Difference of their
Areas
, there is no Occaſion to ſpeak here, be­
cauſe
they are infinite both from the different
Humours
of Men, and the different Ways of
Living
in different Places.
The Ancients, be­
fore
their Houſes made either a Portico, or at
leaſt
a Porch, not always with ſtraight Lines,
but
ſometimes with curve, after the Manner of
the
Theatre.
Next to the Portico lay the Veſ­
tibule
, which was almoſt conſtantly circular;
behind
that was the Paſſage into the inner Court,
and
thoſe other Parts of the Houſe which we
have
already ſpoken of in their proper Places,
whereof
to enter upon a freſh Deſcription
would
make us too prolix.
The Things that
we
ought not to omit are theſe.
Where the
Area
is round it muſt be proportioned accord­
ing
to the Deſign of the Temple; unleſs there
be
this Difference, that here the Height of the
Walls
muſt be greater than in the Temple, for
Reaſons
which you ſhall know ſhortly.
If it
be
quadrangular, then in ſome Particulars it
will
differ from thoſe Inſtructions which we
have
given for ſacred Edifices, as alſo for pro­
fane
ones of a publick Nature; but yet in
ſome
others it will agree with the Council­
chambers
and Courts.
According to the ge­
neral
Cuſtom of the Ancients, the Breadth of
the
Porch was either two thirds of its Length,
or
elſe the Length was one whole Breadth and
two
thirds more, or elſe the Length was one
whole
Breadth with the Addition of two fifths.
To each of theſe Proportions the Ancients ſeem
always
to have allowed the Height of the Wall to
be
equal to its whole Length, and one third more.
By taking the actual Dimenſion of a great many
Structures
, I find that ſquare Platforms require
a
different Height of Wall where they are to
be
covered with vaulted Roofs, from what they
do
when their Roof is to be flat: As alſo that
ſome
Difference is to be made between the
Proportions
of a large Building and thoſe of a
ſmall
one: Which ariſes from the different In­
terval
that there is from the Beholder's Eye,
which
muſt in this Caſe be conſidered as the
Center
, to the extreme Height which it ſur­
veys
: But of thoſe Things we ſhall treat elſe­
where
.
We muſt Proportion the Areas of our
Apartments
to our Roof, and our Roof to the
Length
of the Rafters with which it is to be
covered
in.
I call that a moderate Roof which
may
be ſupported by a Piece of Timber of a
moderate
Length.
But beſides the Proportions
which
I have already treated of, there are ſeve­
ral
other proper Dimenſions and Agreements of
Lines
which I ſhall here endeavour to explain
as
clearly and ſuccinctly as poſſible.
If the
Length
of the Platform be twice its Breadth;

Text layer

  • Dictionary
  • Places

Text normalization

  • Original
  • Regularized
  • Normalized

Search


  • Exact
  • All forms
  • Fulltext index
  • Morphological index