Vitruvius Quotes


Bricks will be most serviceable if made two years before using; for they cannot dry thoroughly in less time. When fresh undried bricks are used in a wall, the stucco covering stiffens and hardens into a permanent mass, but the bricks settle and the motion caused by their shrinking prevents them from adhering to it, and they are separated from their union with it. At Utica in constructing walls they use brick only if it is dry and made five years previously, and approved as such by the authority of a magistrate.


Citations

Vitruvius. The Ten Books on Architecture. Translated by Morris Hicky Morgan, Harvard University Press, 1914, p. 43.

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Vitruvius
Vitruvius
  • Born:
  • Nationality: Roman
  • Profession: Author, Architect, Civil Engineer, Military Engineer

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (/vɪˈtruːviəs ˈpɒlioʊ/; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC), commonly known as Vitruvius, was a Roman author, architect, and civil and military engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled De architectura. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attributes: firmitas, utilitas, and venustas ("strength", "utility", and "beauty"). These principles were later widely adopted in Roman architecture. His discussion of perfect proportion in architecture and the human body led to the famous Renaissance drawing of the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci.