CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 



Frtacinlei. 



Propor- 

 tions please 

 from an ex- 

 pression of 

 MM*, 



Principle) 

 applied to 

 the orders 

 f archi- 

 recture. 



! omjxwi- 

 r " n of <r- 

 der. 



fect from the original constitution of our nature, and 

 that they have endeavoured to support this opinion by 

 analogies drawn from proportions in music and numbers, 

 and remarking, that all reasonings from such analogies are 

 too futile to require any attention.^Mr Alison proceeds 

 to show, that the beauty of the proportions of this art is 

 resolvable into the principles which have been established, 

 and that they please us not from any original law of our 

 nature, but as expressive of fitness. The proportions of ar- 

 chitecture relate either to its external or internal members. 

 The beauty of external proportions, we are informed, 

 arises from their apparent fitness for the habitations of 

 men when viewed from without, and consists in sta- 

 bility and sufficiency for the support of the roof; 

 walls in every country, in the same period of time, are 

 nearly of an equal thickness for their stability, and to 

 the support of any weight laid upon them ; and when 

 their distance from each other is suitable, the build- 

 ing is considered as well proportioned ; but when the 

 walls are so thin or high, or placed at so great a dis- 

 tance from each other, as to appear insecure of them- 

 selves, or insufficient to support the roof, that building 

 ii reckoned to be ill proportioned. Proportion there- 

 fore, in those cases, is merely fitness, and this has never 

 been very precisely determined ; we are here guided en- 

 tirely by experience, and our sentiments respecting pro- 

 portions are influenced by the nature of the buildings, 

 and the materials of which they are composed. Edifices 

 constructed with wood or brick, admit not of the walls 

 being equally high as if built of stone. A house united 

 with others, may be carried higher than if placed alone. 

 A tower or spire having only itself to support, may with 

 propriety be carried to a much greater height than any 

 other species of building. These principles are all that 

 seem to regulate the external proportions of simple build- 

 ings, and all of them obviously depend upon fitness. 



Having discussed what relates to the proportion or fit- 

 ness of the general outlines of buildings, Mr Alison pro- 

 ceeds to treat of the orders of architecture, and to show, 

 that their proportions, instead of being intrinsically beau- 

 tiful of themselves, are regulated by the general princi- 

 ples which have been established in this essay, and de- 

 rive their merit solely from the expressions of fitness for 

 their several purposes. But as this important part of 

 the discussion overthrows established opinions, which 

 have a peculiarly strong possession of the minds of all 

 those who have paid attention to or are engaged in ar- 

 chitectural pursuits, we shall quote the precise words of 

 the author : 



" It is not in such (simple) buildings, accordingly, 

 that any very accurate external proportions have ever 

 been settled. This is peculiar to what are called the 

 orders of architecture, in which the whole genius of the 

 art has been displayed, and in which the proportions are 

 settled with a certainty, so absolute, as to forbid almost 

 ..tie attempt at innovation. 



" There are generally said to be five orders of archi- 

 tecture, viz. the Tuscan, the Doric, the Ionic, the Co- 

 rinthian, and the Composite. These are, however, pro- 

 perly only four, and some writers have farther reduced 

 them to three. What constitutes an order, is its pro- 

 portions, not its ornaments. The Composite having the 

 same proportions as the Corinthian, though very diffe- 

 rent in respect to its ornaments, is properly, therefore, 

 considered a corrupted Corinthian. 



" Every order consists of three great parts, or divi- 

 sions ; the base, the column, and the entablature ; and 

 the governing proportions relate to this division. The 

 2 



whole of them compose the wall, or what answers to the I'rinciiA-s. 

 wall of a common building, and supports the roof. ^- ^-^ 



" There is one great difference, however, to be obser- Diffcmicr 

 ved between a common wall, and that assemblage of between 

 parts which constitute an order. A common wall is in- or< ^ r ani! 

 tended to support a roof, and derives its proportions, in w 

 a great measure, from this destination. To an order, 

 the consideration of a roof is unnecessary ; it is generally 

 so contrived as not to appear : the weight which is sup- 

 ported, or appears to be supported, in an order, is the enta- 

 blature. The fitness of a wall consists in appearing ade- 

 quate to the support of the roof. The fitness of an or- 

 der, or of the proportions of an order, it should seem 

 also from analogy reasonable to conclude, consists in 

 their appearing adequate to the support of the entabla- 

 ture, or the weight which is imposed on them. 



" That this ia really the case, and that it is from their Beau:\ 

 being expressive to us of this fitness, that the proportions arises iro:r 

 of these different orders appear beautiful, may perhaps fi uer - 

 seem probable from the following observations : 



" 1. The appearance of these proportions themselves 

 seems very naturally to lead us to this conclusion. In all 

 the orders, the fitness of the parts to the support of the 

 peculiar weight, or appearance of weight of entabla- 

 ture, is apparent to every person, and constitutes an un- 

 doubted part of the pleasure we receive from them. In Illustr^- 

 the Tuscan, where the entablature is heavier than in the t ' on - 

 rest, the column and base are proportionably stronger. 

 In the Corinthian, where the entablature is lightest, the 

 column and base are proportionably slighter. In the 

 Doric and Ionic, which are between these extremes, the 

 forms of the column and base are, in the same manner, 

 proportioned to the reciprocal weights of their entabla- 

 tures ; being neither so strong as the one, nor so slight 

 as the other. If the btauty of such proportions is alto- 

 gether independent of fitness, and derived from the im- 

 mediate constitution of our nature, it is difficult to ac- 

 count for this coincidence ; and as the beauty of fitness, 

 in these several cases, is universally allowed, it is altoge- 

 ther unphiloEophical to substitute other causes of the 

 same effect, until the insufficiency of this is clearly point- 

 ed out. 



2. " The language of mankind upon this subject, 

 seems to confirm the same opinion. Whenever we either 



rak or think of the proportions of these different or- 

 s, the circumstances of weight and support enter both 

 into our consideration and our expression. The term 

 proportion, in its general acceptation, implies them ; and 

 if this term is not used, the same idea, and the same plea- 

 sure, may be communicated by terms expressive of the 

 fitness for support of weight. Heaviness and slight ness, Heavine . 

 or insufficiency, are the terms most generally used to ex- Slighti: <.--. 

 press a deviation on either side from the proper relation ; 

 both of them obviously including the consideration of 

 support, and expressing the want of proportion. When 

 it is said, that a base, or column, or entablature, is dis- 

 proportioned, it is the same thing as saying, that this part 

 is unfitted to the rest, and inadequate to the proper end Unfitne-',. 

 of the building. When it is said, on the other hand, 

 that all the several parts are properly adjusted to their 

 end, th.t the base appears just sufficient for the support 

 of the column, and both for that of the entablature, 

 every person immediately concludes, that the parts are 

 perfectly proportioned ; and I apprehend, it is very pos- 

 sible to give a man a very perfect conception of the 

 beauty of these proportions, and to make him feel it in 

 the strongest manner, without ever mentioning to him 

 the name of proportion, merely by explaining them to 



