Abbe Marc-Antoine Laugier 1713-1769

1. Abbe Marc-Antoine Laugier 1713-1769 • Born January 22, 1713 in Manosque, Provence • Family of upper-class bourgeoisie • Studied at ages 14-17 at college at Avignon to become a Jesuit priest, then on to Lyons, Province. • Participated in public education with the Jesuits • Developed interest in architecture and began discovering buildings on his own. • Spoke publicly to the king and his consorts regarding religious and political problems • Wrote the Essai. Easy for people to read and understand. • Became “l’Abbe Laugier” by appeal and worked on his own • Worked with embassy and devoted his time to writing • Wrote Essai sur l'architecture (1753) among others including: Observations sur l’architecture, Venetian history, Peace of Belgrade, Art criticism, History of troubadours, Commerce of the Levant, History of Malta, History of the Popes. • Died April 5, 1769 in Paris, France

2. The Enlightenment (The Age of Reason): 1680s to 1790s • International, intellectual movement likely beginning with the political, economical, moral and religious struggles in Britain and France. • Believed in reason (science and thinking), rather than faith or tradition: The Rationalist movement • The Enlightenment’s Creed: “Sapere aude!” (“Dare to know!) • Enlightenment is man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man’s inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another.” Immanuel Kant, 1784 Jean-Jacques Rosseau Denis Diderot Immanuel Kant Voltaire “…it is above all important to think.” -Laugier

3. Essay on Architecture • Chapter III: Observations on the Art of Building • Article I: On the Solidity of Buildings • Article II: On Convenience • Article III: On How to Observe Bienseance in Buildings • Chapter I: General Principles of Architecture • Article I: The Column • Article II: The Entablature • Article III: The Pediment • Article IV: The Different Stories of a Building • Article V: Windows and Doors • Chapter IV: On the Style in Which to Build Churches • Chapter V: On the Embellishment of Towns • Article I: On Entries of Towns • Article II: On the Layout of Streets • Article III: On the Decoration of Buildings • Chapter II: The Different Architectural Orders • Article I: What All Orders Have in Common • Article II: The Doric Order • Article III: The Ionic Order • Article IV: The Corinthian Order • Article V: The Different Kinds of Composite • Article VI: How to Enrich the Various Orders • Article VII: On Buildings without any Orders • Chapter VI: On the Embellishment of Gardens

4. Chapter I: General Principles of Architecture • Founded on simple nature. Nature indicates its rules. • Example: The Primitive Hut • Tells story of primitive man seeking shelter and building out of necessity. • What this man built became the basis for all architecture • The Hut is made of the following architectural elements: • The column • The entablature • The pediment

5. Chapter I: General Principles of ArchitectureThe Primitive Hut • Architecture was founded on simple nature. • Laugier wanted a "more rigorous" understanding of architecture and ornament: look for precedents for classical architecture at the absolute roots of history. • He searched for absolute beauty, which in his primitive hut came from nature. • Was rooted in functional or structural basis. (This theory was the basis of the so-called Rationalist movement.) • Little basis in archeology or fact, and tangental basis in historical text

6. The Primitive Hut • Like Vitruvius, Laugier places the origins of architectural forms in nature: the first dwelling was built in the forest, with branches and trees. • This differs from the previous theories of Vitruvius in one important aspect: the hutis an abstract concept as much as it is a material construction. • The Primitive Hut represents the first architectural idea. • Shows beginnings of an understanding of column, entablature, and pediments. Future architecture is based on these principles.

7. Article I: The Column • Columns must: • Be strictly perpendicular to the ground • Be free-standing, to be expressed in a natural way • Be round, because nature makes nothing square • Be tapered from bottom to top in imitation of plants in nature • Rest directly on the floor • The faults: • “Being engaged in the wall” is a fault because it detracts from the overall beauty and aesthetic nature of columns. • The use of pilasters should strictly be frowned upon especially since in nearly every case columns could be used instead. • Setting columns upon pedestals is “like adding a second set of legs beneath the first pair.”

8. Article II: The Entablature • The Entablature must: • always rest on its columns like a lintel • In its whole length it must not have any corner or projection • The Faults: • Instead of a beam-like structure it becomes an arch • Against nature because: • require massive piers and imposts • They become pilasters • Force columns to give lateral support; columns are meant to give vertical support only. • Not straight, but broken with angles and projections • Why? “Never put anything into a building for which one cannot give a sound reason.” Nature is so, buildings should also be.

9. Article III: The Pediment • The Pediment must: • represent the gable of the roof • never be anywhere except across the width of a building. • be above the entablature • The faults: • To erect the pediment on the long side of a building. • To make non-triangular pediments • Should not be curved, broken nor scrolled • To pile pediments on top of each other

10. Chapter II: The Different Architectural Orders • The Doric Order (in columns): • Has the most beautiful base, but is difficult to use: • Doric columns can never be coupled successfully • Interior angles become difficult because of the bases and capitals must penetrate each other • The Ionic Order: • Almost faultless, lighter and more delicate than the Doric • The column suffers because nature dictates that the heaviest part must always be at the bottom, but the Ionic column is heavy at top • The base is ill-formed and could be eliminated • Offends against the true principles of nature • The Corinthian Order: • The greatest, most majestic order • Beautiful, harmonious composition • Architects should stop using anything by the acanthus leaf which “has by nature the contour and curves which suit the leaves of the Corinthian capital.”

11. Chapter III: Observations on the Art of Building(Laugier’s Commodity, Firmness and Delight) • Article I: On the Solidity of Buildings • Building must be solid for long life, much like the ancients did • Solidity depends on two things: Choice of material and its efficient use • Article II: On Convenience • The situation (site) must be considered to include views and ventilation • The planning (exterior and interior) must be suitable, comfortable, have good circulation, and always include a courtyard • The internal communications (servants halls, stairways, etc) must be located for quick access • Article III: On How to Observe Bienseance in Buildings • A building must be neither more nor less magnificent than is appropriate to its purpose • “Beauty of buildings depends on three things: accuracy of proportions, elegance of forms, and choice and distribution of ornaments.”