W R LETHAjfiY AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF THE.'AHI OF BUILDING 720.9 Architecture 61-17UO ARCHITECTURE i i?^ Oxford University Press, Amen House, London E.C.4 GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOUBNE WELLINGTON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI CAPE TOWN LBADAN Publisher Geoffrey Cumkrlege, to the University WILLIAM RICHARD LETHABY C W R LETHABY ARCHITECTURE An Introduction to the History and Theory of the Art of Building With a new BASIL Preface and Epilogue by WARD, F.R.I.B.A Lethaby Professor of Architecture at the Royal College of Art, London GEOFFREY CUMBERLEGE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO 1955 First published in the Home and reUniversity Library in 1911 in 1919, 1924, 1925, printed reprinted Third edition in and 1927 Second edition 1929, 1930, 1935 wt *937- with new Preface and Epilogue by Basil Ward, and plates, 1955- Primed by Butler & in Great Britain Tanner Ltd., Frome and London Contents PREFACE BY BASIL w R WARD ix LETHABY'S PRINCIPAL LITERARY WORKS I xxix ARCHAEOLOGY, ARCHITECTURE, AND ORNAMENT I / II ORIGINS OF ARCHITECTURE [II EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS IV EGYPTIAN BUILDING 22 METHODS AND IDEAS V BABYLONIA AND CRETE ASIA VI 37 AND EUROPE BUILDING ART IN GREECE EARLY ART IN ' 4-8 THE EFFORT AFTER PERFECTION VII HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN ARTS 5^ EN- 80 GINEERING BUILDING VIII EARLY IX AND BYZANTINE A NEW DEPARTURE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 120 THE EASTERN CYCLE X ROMANESQUE ART NEW BLOOD ARCHITECTURE 100 IN 130 CONTENTS VI XI SAXON AND NORMAN SCHOOLS XH GOTHIC BUILDING IN FRANCE ARCHITECTURE OF ENERGY 141 THE XHI ENGLISH GOTHIC XIV 154 THE RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE OF RHETORIC AND ARCHITECTURE OF 163 FIRST PRINCIPLES XV THE MODERN POSITION EPILOGUE BY BASIL PLATES INDEX 177 WARD 183 Ip5 following p 214 215 PLATE SIDEBOARD DESIGNED BY W Photograph by Victoria R LETHABY and Albert Museum Crown Copyright WORKING DRAWING FOR DRAWER FRONTS OB WOOD INLAY by W R Lethaly III PLATE IV SKETCHES EROM NOTEBOOKS OF W T//e drawings R LETHABY of the horses are minute PLATE V WATER COLOURS AND A PEN DRAWING I)}/ W R Lethaby PLATE VI PLATE VII MAIN RAILWAY TERMINUS, ROME Architects: Montuori and Associates THE LEVER BUILDING, NEW YORK Architects: Skidmore, Qivings UNITED NATIONS BUILDING, NEW YORK and Merrill Architects: Wallace K Harrison and Associates PLATE VIII MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH, RIO DE JANEIRO Architects: L Costa and Associates LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENT, CHICAGO Architects: Mies van de Rohe and Associates L UNITE D HABITATION, MARSEILLES Architect: Le Corbusier Index Abbeys, 138, 142, 143, 149; West- 206, 207; Rome's minster, 145, 149, 150, 151, 152, 163, 66; Gothic, 160, 175; to, 94, Cistercian, 164 199 89, contribution 113; the 97-9, modern problem, 98, 187-94, Christianity and, 100 if, ancient compared with fT; Acroteria, 65, 74, 75 119; Apses, Hellenistic, 86, 93; early Christian, 101; Romanesque, medieval, in; Romanesque contribution to, 139; the place of Gothic art in, 155, 161; as a discovery, 159-60; medieval 136; Saxon and Norman, 142, 144, 149 Aqueducts, 87 Arches: Egyptian, 37-9, 82; their construction, 37-8, 83; Babylonian, 50, 51, 52; the Greeks and, 81; Hellenistic, 82, 104-5; in Roman architecture, 83, 88-9; Byzantine and Syrian, no, in, 114, 116, 119; Gothic, iio-n, 156; cusped and lobed, ill, 148; Arabian, 125, 126, 127; trefoil, 147; Norman, 148 Architecture: Lethaby and, ixff, xixfF, 1-3, 195, 200, 201-2; morality and, xv, 204; its origins and scope, 1-3, 9-10; definition of, 3-6; Ruskin and, 184-5, 198, 205; and magic, 6-7, 9; and building materials, 7-8; and decoration, 8; in Egypt, 13-21, 47; and the worship of size, 34, 85; in terminology and chronology, 167-74; the Renaissance and, 178-82; the medievalists and, 183-4; dangers of aesthetic theories, 185-7, *93 I 99 204; need for education in, 191-4, 200; new developments in, 195; modern individualism in, 203 5; structural forms and, 206 fjf Architecture, Arabian, 121-4, 125-9; and English decoration, 128, 147-8 Architecture, Baroque, xvii Architecture, Byzantine, 94, 104, 113-19, 131-2; and Christian- and Egypt, 108, 109; in Syria, 109-12; in Arabia, 120; and the mosque, 121; and Romanesque, 132, 133 ity, 105; 5, Architecture, Cistercian, 163, 164, 165 Asia, 48; Aegean, 56, 57, 5; Doric, 61, 63; and Ionic, 63, 64, 69; and Greek proportions, 70; Architecture, and the Greek and engineering, Architecture, spirit, 77-9; Christian, and Byzantine its art, 100-5; 105, 119; debt to Egypt, 105, 107, 108 Gothic, xvi, 139, 147, 151, 177, 183, 184-5, 193; 80, 197, 198, 215 INDEX 2l6 definition of, 155, 158, 166-76; French, 155-62, 164, 165, 1734; ideals of, 158-60; English, 163-6, 173; its chronology, 166-76 Norman, Architecture, 138, 141, 145, 149-53, 163 Renaissance: Architecture, style as a of boredom, 180; a study of the antique, 180-2, 183 Architecture, Romanesque, 104, 131-40; its modern way, 196, 209; the constructional factor in, 206 fF Building materials, xvii, 7-8; in the Egypt, 14, 17, 33, 37, 4* 81; of the Pyramids, 24; Babylonian, 52-3; Cretan, 56; Doric, 61; Greek, 66; Roman, 90; modem, 197; historic forms, modern 207 and fT Buttresses, 96-7; flying, 157, 161, 166 origins, 132; early Hel- 132-3; its churches, 135 fF; and Roman monuments, 137 Architecture, Saracenic, 124-5, 147-8, 160 Capitals: Byzantine, 105-7; Architecture, Saxon, 141, 142-7 Caryatides, 74 Cathedrals, 138, 139, 143, 150-3; Babylonia: origins of art in, 48; her temples, 49-52; as the home Canterbury, 142, 149, 152, 163, 164; Gothic, 155, 159, 160, 161, 163, 164-6, 174-5 Ceilings: Egyptian, 24, 35-6, 46; Assyrian and Cretan, 55; of the Parthenon, 66-7; in "Greek masonry, 72 Chimneys, 4-5, 17, 181 schools, of building inventions, 52-3; of Greek art on, 53 influence Basilicas, 101-2, 109, 112, 114, 141 Baths, 84-5, 86, 90, 92 Bricks, 7-8, 14, 23; 38, 39, 40; in and arches, Egyptian masonry, 41-2; in Babylonia, 52-3; in Crete, 56; in Doric architecture, 61; in Roman 107-8; Gothic, 165-6 Carving, 104; in Egypt, 22-3; Byzantine, 106-7; Arabian, 122; Saxon, 142-3, 145, 146 lenistic, Chronology, Egyptian, 11-13; of Gothic architecture, 166 rT Churches: their origin, 100-1, architecture, 90, 91; patterned, 118; 116 120; Bronze, use of, 55, 57, 66, 73, 76, 88, 97, 133, 134 135 Building: and architecture, 1, 3-6, 78; in Egypt, 10-11, 13, 37; circular, 13, 39-40, 63, 86; square, 14, 41; domed, 39-40, 81; Greek procedure in, 71-7; in Rome, 90-4, 98; Byzantine, 113, 118; Romanesque, 135; Gothic art and, 154-5; the Renaissance and, 181; the need for education in, 191-4, 202; early examples, 101-4, Byzantine influence on, 105-7; Egyptian and Syrian, 108-12; Byzantine, 114-18; Arabian, 120; Romanesque, 135-40; Saxon, 141-5; Norman, 149-53; Gothic, 155, 160, 165 Columns, 7; Egyptian, 15-16, 18-20, 34; Assyrian, 53; Ionic, 53, 63, 64-6, 69; Cretan, 55, 62; Doric, 57, 61, 63, 67, 68; Greek, 62-3, 65-7, 74, 78; Corinthian, 69-70, 104; build- INDEX Roman, 89, 90, ing Byzantine, in; Arabian, of, 72; Romanesque, 104; 125; Norman, 137; Concrete, 38, 191, 192, 196 n2, 208, 209; in Roman construc- Decoration, and Greece, 59, 64; Christian art, 105, 107, 108-9 16; Egyptian, 19, 24, 35, 46-7; Babylonian, 51, 8, 5, Cretan, 102, Ionic, 65; ture and, 98; an essential to 97; architecture, 197, 198, 206, Saxon, 142, 146; the quatrefoil, 146; Arabian, 147; modern, 188 Design and building, 158-9, 193 Domes, xvii; Egyptian, 37, 3941, 1-2, 108; their construction, 38; Babylonian, 51-2, 81; Roman, 54, 55, 56; S3-5, 92-4, 96; in Christian architecture, 103, 105, 108, 109; Byzantine, 114, 116-17; and the Mosque, 122-4; Renaissance, 123, 139, 140; Saracenic, 124, 126; Romanesque, lonian, 54; 138, 139 17, 39; Greek, Baby- 66, 77; Roman, 97; Romanesque, 133, 137; Gothic, 165, 166 East, the, and Hellenistic its Egyptian, 46; Babylon- ian, 53, 54-5; Cretan, 56; Doric, 63, 66-7; Hellenistic, 85 Gables, 61, 66, 74-5, no, 145 Glass: in mosaic work, 97, 126; stained, 128, 135, 161, 165, 176; painted, 134 Gothic revival, xxii, 184-5 Greece, xvi; and Asian art, 53; Aegean art and, 58-9, 62, 63, 64, 65; her use of earlier art, 60; her architecture, 63; her ideals, 68-71, 77-9, 187, 190; her gifts to architecture, 78-9, 193; utilitarianism, 80; and Hellenistic architecture, 80, 85-8, 104-5, architecture and, 113; Roman art, influence sance, 179 Egypt, Friezes: 87-9; the 8th century and, 183 on Western art, 128-9, HS* 3-47-8; and Romanesque architecture, 132, 137, 139; and Gothic architecture, 160; and the RenaisI20-I ; 207 114-15; 103, Doors: Egyptian, the Renaissance Engineering, and, xvii, 182; Greek architecture and, So; Roman architec- Roman, 54-6; 86; Hellenistic, Christian, sculpture, 46; and Asian art, 48, 50; and Crete, 54, 55, 56; and tion, 90-3 Crete, 48, 53-7 Cretan, obelisks, 33-4, 35, 45, 4