Vitruvius's requirement that building satisfy three things at once: firmitas, utilitas, venustas, rendered in the classic English of Henry Wotton as firmness, commodity and delight. It remains the shortest complete definition of what architecture must do, and every era's arguments are at bottom arguments about the weighting of the three.
Facts
Concept Domain Formulated YearWikipedia's De architectura article states the work was "probably written between 30 and 20 BC"; 25 BC is recorded as the circa midpoint of that stated range, using the atlas's circa and BCE era-label convention rather than a false-precision single year. FAQs
What are the three qualities in the Vitruvian triad?
Firmitas, utilitas and venustas: firmness, commodity and delight in Henry Wotton's rendering.
Vitruvius required a building to satisfy firmitas, utilitas and venustas at once, rendered in the classic English of Henry Wotton as firmness, commodity and delight.
Connections
Associated With
Source The Ten Books on ArchitectureMarcus Vitruvius Pollio, translated by Morris Hicky Morgan
Source The Ten Books on ArchitectureMarcus Vitruvius Pollio, translated by Morris Hicky Morgan
Disputed
Why this is disputed. The golden ratio is often claimed as a version of Vitruvius's system of rational proportion; the attribution itself is contested and traced to a documented 1799 error
Source Wikipedia
Open Questions
Source The Ten Books on ArchitectureMarcus Vitruvius Pollio, translated by Morris Hicky Morgan
Sources
1. The Ten Books on Architecture
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, translated by Morris Hicky Morgan, Harvard University Press, 1914
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationDe architectura, Origin and contents sectionQuote, De architectura, Origin and contents section
Probably written between 30 and 20 BC, it combines the knowledge and views of many antique writers, Greek and Roman, on architecture, the arts, natural history and building technology.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Wikipedia
Associated With: The Golden Ratio in Architecture, History sectionQuote, Associated With: The Golden Ratio in Architecture, History section
Pacioli actually advocated the Vitruvian system of rational proportions.
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