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Précis of the Lectures on Architecture: With Graphic Portion of the Lectures on Architecture (Texts & Documents) Paperback – October 12, 2000

by Jean-Nicholas-Louis Durand (Author), David Britt (Translator), Antoine Picon (Introduction)

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Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand Durand (1760-1834) regarded the Précis of the Lectures on Architecture (1802-5) and its companion volume, the Graphic Portion (1821), as both a basic course for future civil engineers and a treatise. Focusing the practice of architecture on utilitarian and economic values, he assailed the rationale behind classical architectural training: beauty, proportionality, and symbolism. His formal systematization of plans, elevations, and sections transformed architectural design into a selective modular typology in which symmetry and simple geometrical forms prevailed. His emphasis on pragmatic values, to the exclusion of metaphysical concerns, represented architecture as a closed system that subjected its own formal language to logical processes. Now published in English for the first time, the Précis and the Graphic Portion are classics of architectural education.

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About the Author

Antoine Picon is professor of the history of architecture and engineering at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, and author of French Architects and Engineers in the Age of the Enlightenment. David Britt has translated numerous books, including The Renewal of Pagan Antiquity by Aby Warburg.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Getty Research Institute; 1st edition (October 12, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 360 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0892365803
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0892365807
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.47 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1 x 9.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,791,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,691 in Architectural Criticism
- #8,749 in Architectural History

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Jaime Correa, Knight Professor in Community Design

Finally a good translation!!!

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2001

This is one of the most comprehensive documents in the history of architectural design. J.N.L. Durand's infatuation with design methods and classification marked the beginning of a new rational architecture. This magnificent work of architectural literature must be read and reviewed by every person involved in the fields of architecture and urbanism. Mr. David Pritt's translation is impecable and must be seen as a welcome addition to the architectural confusion of the last twenty years.