October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month.
Marc Antoine Laugier was an 18th century Jesuit Priest and architectural theorist. He developed the idea that architecture, the human act of building, and the classical language of architecture, were based in nature. The illustration below illustrates the birth of architecture: the woman reclining on the classical architectural fragments, points the putti who represents the human creative spirit, toward the temple form built of trees and branches. And architecture was born!
Laugier was an apologist for classicism: the architectural language of classical Greece and Rome. He wanted to argue that classical architecture was more legitimate than Gothic, or other styles. His Essay on Architecture, published in 1753, is STILL a good read for architects and the interested layman.
What I like about his architectural birth story, and the image presented, is the idea that building architecture is a natural act, it is part of nature. Architects are still inspired by what they see in nature. Many architectural theorists have looked to nature to postulate on the nature of the beginnings of Architecture and the human need to build.by