Post 3: The 3 Principles

For the past three days we have had a lecture a day of the three properties that architecture should follow in order to make a building successful which are in Latin: Utilitas, Firmitas, and Venustas, which were thought by Marcus Vitruvius. These three properties are very important to make a building very successful. A building might not have all three properties all the time and that can cause the building to not be successful, so in my opinion it is very important that a building has those three properties.

The first of the 3 properties is Utilitas (utility) means “Form follows function” which means that when the building is made, it has to have a purpose. For example, a hospital building is to cure people and the way that the building is built through its color and size reflects the usage and purpose of that hospital. The form of the hospital follows the functionality.

The second property that Vitruvius made was Firmitas, which means firmness. The way the building was built must suit is purpose. For example, there can be solid and heavy buildings like the Alhambra Palace, light buildings made of glass, buildings that have vaults and domes like the Santa Maria del Flore Church, arches and trusses and that will have firmness because its making the building be stable.

Finally Venustas, which means beauty. In order for a building to have beauty it has to rank high in the following elements: proportion, scale, rhythm, symmetry, texture, light, and color. With out these elements a building can’t be beautiful. Proportion means that the building ha equal measurements or that they are reflected in parts of the building, scale means size and the people and the buildings around it have to be comfortable and fit perfectly. Rhythm means that there is a pattern in the building; symmetry means that one side of the building reflects the other side of the building. Texture means the material that the building are made of, light means the amount of light and how that light enters the building and color are the colors used to make the building welcoming and happy.

In the end, in order for a building to be a complete beauty it has to have the three properties that Marcus Vitruvius mentioned.