VITRUVIUS DE ARCHITECTURA

TREATISE ON ARCHITECTURE

BOOKS 5-8

Book V – Civil Buildings CHAPTER I - The Forum and Basilica CHAPTER II - The treasury, prison & senate CHAPTER III - The theatre CHAPTER IV - Baths CHAPTER V - The Palaestra CHAPTER VI - Harbour and Shipyards

Forum Outdoor public space Square plan Surrounded by colonades 1st floor is a walking

space (stoa) Proportionate scale B = 2/3 L 1st floor height will be ¼

times less than the ground floor height

Basilica Indoor meeting place Adjacent to forum (on the

warmest side) 1/3 L < B < 1/2 L Height of basilica =

breadth of side aisle Breadth of aisle = 1/3

times breadth of nave

Treasury and Senate Must be proportionate to the

forum Senate

If L = B, then H = L If L ≠ B, then H = (L+B)/2

Theatre Healthy site Less sun exposure Strong foundation Various entrances but

connected Acoustics of theatre Clear sound

l

Baths Located at the warmest

position The warm room must

share the same furnace The floor of the room

must be sloping towards the furnace

Size of bath depends upon the occupants

Harbors and Shipyards

Located where natural advantages are maximum

Book VI – Domestic Buildings CHAPTER I - climate and style of the house CHAPTER II - Modification to suit the site CHAPTER III - Proportions of principal rooms CHAPTER IV - Proper exposures of rooms CHAPTER V - Rooms suiting station of owner CHAPTER VI - Farmhouse CHAPTER VII - The Greek house CHAPTER VIII – Foundations and sub-structures

On CLIMATE one part of the world is under the sun's course, another is

distant from it, and another, between the two, is temperate. Therefore the earth varies in temperature in different parts, so the form of buildings must be varied according to the temperature of the place, and the various aspects of the heavens.

Houses in North should be heavily sheltered, having warm exposures

In southern countries which suffer form heat houses must be built more open with northern exposures

Dining rooms and bathrooms should have south western exposure

Bedrooms and Libraries ought to have an eastern exposure

Kitchen at the warmest side of courtyard adjoined by the stable facing east

Wine room with windows to the north to save it from direct heat

Oil room to the south to keep warm Leave places for windows on all

sides on which a clear view of the sky can be had, to make our building light.In dining rooms, passages, stairs etc

Proper Exposure of room in Farmhouse

Greek House No atriums, but passageways. One between two peristyles called

‘mesauloe’ (situated midway) aka ‘andrones’ by Romans.

Peristyle with colonnades on 3 sides

A recess called ‘prostas’ of distance 1/3 less than the space between the antae.

To the right and left are chambers called ‘thalamos’ and ‘Amphithalamos’

Large rooms for mistress of house This part of house is called

‘gynaeconitis’

`

On either side of peristyle are dining rooms

On other side of mesauloe is a Rhodian peristyle.

Colonnades that face north have dining rooms and galleries; to east, libraries; exadrae to the west and to the south large rooms.

There are Men’s apartments.Where men can enjoy without the interruption of women

Sometimes small sets of apartments are built as guest chambers with separate entrances.

Stables and doorkeepers rooms are on the either side of the thirorpion.

Book VII –Floors & Decorative plaster worksChapter 1 : Floors For concrete flooring utmost precaution must be taken for its durability

thus the soil is tested, leveled and stone bedding is laid Wooden flooring, winter oak is used the most. It must be taken care that

there is no wall under the floor or it will cause fissures on the left and the right of the flooring.

 Chapter 2 : Slaking of limePrecautions :Lime must be burnt long time before it is wanted for use.

If not properly slaked, it will throw out blisters on application which in execution, break and destroy the smoothness of the stucco.

Chapter 3 : Vaulting and stucco work For arched ceilings, parallel ribs must not be 2 feet apart and are fixed to

the ties of the floor or the roof with iron nails Fixation and bounding of the ribs Application of sand on the arches and polish by chalk or marble Coating of cornices Coating of marble dust

Chapter 4 : Stucco work in damp places Cavities in the walls and pavements must be left with opening.Chapter 5 : Decadence of Fresco Paintings From stucco, to inlaid marbles to cornices and then red and yellow frames of

panels and later wards came fresco’s. Walls were decorated with sceneries, landscapes, animals, nature, tragic and

satiric comics, figures representing Gods and stories of battles. Fresco’s were also used for hiding the defective plaster and the cracks of

stucco.Chapter 6 : Marble for use in stucco Marble is laid in three coats. First coat consist of larger particles of marble combined with sand and

limestoneNext coat is of limestone and sand with chips of marbles called assulæFinal coat has fine particles of marbles with limestone and sand in a smaller proportion

Chapter 7 : Natural Colors Some are found in natural state by digging while some are composed by mixing Colors like red ochre, red lead, green chalk were the first to be used.

Chapter 8 and 9 : Cinnabar and Quicksilver Cinnabar is a powdered mineral from which vermilion (brilliant red or scarlet

pigment) is made Cinnabar is also used for extracting quicksilver (mercury). It is done by

roasting crushed cinnabar ore in rotary furnace. Quicksilver is used in silver and brass plating. Also for collecting gold from

ashes of clothes containing gold embroidery.Chapter 10 : Artificial colors, Black Black color is made by drying and burning lees of wine in a furnace, and

grinding the result with size.Chapter 11 : Blue burnt ochre Blue pigment is made from the mixture of sand, sulfur and Cyprian copper in

a furnace. Heating yellow earth and quenching with vinegar a similar blue pigment but

with a purplish shade. Chapter 12: White lead, Verdigris and Artificial Sandarac Layer of twigs with vinegar and layer of lead placed in vessels are covered

for preventing evaporation and after some time these masses turn into white lead.

Book VIII – Water Supplies & Aqueducts Water is the Principle element in all things. No moisture means no blood,

the vessels would dry. As priests, philosophers and physicist declare, all the things depend upon water power.

Water sources: springs of running water, underground reserves, clay (less amount and bad taste), fine gravel (more but bad taste), veins of pebbles( moderate quantity but sweet taste), at mountain foot, lava and rain.

Valleys in the mountains receive most rain water which eventually turns to snow. The gushing springs then emerge at the foot of the mountains as the snow melts slowly filtering and hence purifying through the fissures in the ground.

The hot air collects the moisture from its surroundings, makes it rise and converts the moisture into clouds. Hence the winds from the south are mostly damp and always bring rain while those from the north come in blasts as they are cooler as well as dry.

When the alum or asphalt or sulphur are set on fire on ground, they make the springs in earth to rise in temperature making the water move in the upper layer known as the hot spring and the lower strata called the cold spring

The hot spring is generally sweet as water is emitted out in pure form in boiling state but the cold one is bad in taste as well as color and odour as it passes through a large distance to seep out.

Most hot springs have healings properties as it is boiled with foreign salts such as asphalt (cure internal maladies), sulphur (cures pain) etc. Some acidic springs are said to be able to dissolve stones in bladder.

The water generally have different flavors due to the difference in the properties of soil.

If an open spring is to be tested, frames and health of people living around it should be taken in account. Also the boiling rate of vegetable, the amount of solid impurities can serve the purpose.

water leveling can be done with an instrument called chorobate which is straightedge joined together with legs through cross pieces having vertical lines upon it

If the water is to be conducted through lead pipes into the city then a reservoir should be made at the source, connected to another reservoir through lead pipes inside the city’s walls and the water then distributed through more pipes from there.

Levels should be considered (can be natural or artificially

introduced) from source to destination while using lead pipes because any water blockage can cause the joints to burst.

Clay pipes are a cheaper alternative to lead ones but their thickness is generally in 2 digits. These pipes are joined together by tongue and groove joint.

These pipes later on can be joined with the aqueducts to form another water supply system. An aqueduct can receive water from a well if not a spring.

Clay pipes have certain advantages over the lead one as the labor for clay pipe construction is local and cheap and also it is safer health wise.

if the ground in the locality is too hard then water can be collected from the roofs or higher ground through the cisterns that can collect rain water and provide a clean supply.

It is obvious that a man can survive without food stuff for some days and can even find an alternative but survival is impossible without water, even the production of food is not possible without it hence one should keep looking for clean water resources.