2. Introduction
• Was an architect, professor and French theorist of architecture.
• Was important figure in Neoclassicism.
• His most famous treatise, Précis des leçons d'architecture (Specific architectural
lessons) presents a schematic and rational way to design buildings, used by
Beauxartiana Architecture until the arrival of modern architecture.
3. 1760
• Born in Paris, September 18
1778
• Started to work at the office of Étienne-Louis Boullée(1728-1799) for some
time, where he trained as an architect.
1796
• Became a professor of Architecture at École polytechnique(1796-1833).
1800
• He pubished Receuil et parallele des édifices en tout genre, anciens et
modernes (Series and parallel buildings of all kinds, ancient and modern).
• An encyclopedia of historical architecture.
1802-
1805
• Précis des leçons d'architecture (Specific architectural lessons).
• Durand’s lectures to his students.
1835
• Died in Thiais, December 31
4. Receuil et parallele des édifices en tout genre,
anciens et modernes
(Series and parallel buildings of all kinds,
ancient and modern)
6. • This book contains ancient and modern architectural examples.
• It was an extensive attempt to place the world architecture of former days in
an historical context.
• A real "imaginary museum" of world architecture.
• Its aim was to compare the different architectures throughout history to learn
from them.
• Drawings (plan, elevation and section) were uniformly scaled and arranged.
• It comes down to the same scale and shown as horizontal plans and / or
elevations in detailed.
• Systematic categorization of the worlds architecture.
• For example, "central domed buildings" or "peristyle courtyards” etc.
• Every building and every reproduction are accompanied by a brief
description that specifies the location, name, sometimes the date of
construction or the author of reproduction.
10. Orders:
• The capitals are classified as not in
the traditional order but as a
historical chronology,
archaeological examples from
Egypt, Greece and Rome.
• Although such a procedure returns to
finally conclude in traditional
succession of the Doric to Corinthian,
the main ordering principle no longer
why historical and topographical.
12. • Has teaching vocation and is a sort of collection of highly illustrated
notes.
• Standardization and systemization of the concept of architecture.
13.
14. Main goal of architecture:
― social utility is the primary purpose of architecture.
2 kinds of buildings:
- Public
- Private
“The aim of architecture is public and private utility, the happiness and the
protection of individuals and of society”. (Durand p.84)
3 Parts of Architecture:
1. Decoration
2. Distribution
3. Construction
15. Main Principles:
• The "convenience" of any building and the "economy" of the figure of the project
and its construction should be subject to principle.
• Convenience:
- Stability,
- Health and
- Comfort:
- Symmetry,
- Regularity and
- Simplicity.
• Economy: The principle of profitability therefore relates to the efficiency of
the design , clear technical computation, and the logistical execution of
building work.
• Economies and rationality of the design was the deciding factor.
• For example, Crystal Palace, London.
16.
17. • His formal systematization of plans, elevations, and sections transformed
architectural design into a selective modular typology in which symmetry and
simple geometrical forms prevailed.
• Strictly symmetrical, one that provides square grid as the basis of walls and
support.
• Organized on a axial basis.
• Durand also developed the idea that form depends on the properties of
materials.
18. Elements of Buildings: Qualities of Materials, Uses of Materials, Forms and Proportions.
20. Examinations of the Principal Kinds of Buildings:
Principal Parts of Cities - approaches to Cities, Tombs, Streets, Bridges, ect.
Public Buildings – Temples, Palaces, Museums, Theaters, ect.
Private Buildings – Townhouses, Apartments, Inns, ect.
26. Conclusion:
• Durand was an important figure in architecture, was a theorist who cared too
much about the economy and the rationality of the projects.
He had three outstanding contributions:
― The graph paper, which to date is still used.
― The initiative to worry about the economy; crucial aspect of any work.
― The book "analogy collection and all kinds of old and modern buildings" was
dedicated to exposing the correct construction of buildings.
27. Works Cited:
•Evers, Bernd. Architectural Theory: From the Renaissance to the Present. Cologne:
Taschen, 2006.
•Kruft, Hanno-Walter. A History of Architectural Theory: From Vitruvius to the present.
New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994.
Durand, Jean-Nicolas-Louis. Précis: of the Lectures on Architecture. Los Angeles:
Getty Research Institute, 2000.
