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Classical Architecture: The Poetics of Order

Classical Architecture: The Poetics of Order

by Tzonis, Alexander
No customer reviews yet ISBN 9780262700313 MIT Press

This fascinating introduction to classical art and architecture is the first book to investigate the way classical buildings are put together as formal structures. It researches the generative rules, the poetics of composition that classical architecture shares with classical music, poetry, and drama, and is enriched by a variety of examples and an extensive analysis of compositional rules. The 205 line drawings make up a discourse of their own, a pictorial text that serves as an introductory theory of composition or basic design aid.

Drawing from Vitruvius, the poetics of Aristotle, the theories of classical architecture, music, and poetry since the Renaissance, and the poetics of the Russian formalists, the authors present classical architecture as a coherent system of architectural thinking that is capable of producing a tragic humanistic discourse, a public art with critical, moral, and philosophical meaning.

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Product details

BrandMIT Press
Pub dateOct 16, 1986
ISBN-10026270031X
ISBN-139780262700313
Pages306
LanguageEnglish
Dimensions9.1 × 5.94 × 0.63 in
Weight1 lb
Last updated 2026-07-27 00:37
$46.50
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