“The Classical Language of Architecture” by John Summerson was first published in 1966. In this book, the author dwells upon the detailed grammatical workings of architectural language. The reason why classical architecture was chosen as a basis for the detailed analysis is very simple: it is that kind of “language” the grammatical rules of which are understandable to the majority of people interested in the field of architecture.
When you take a look at an example of classical architecture in Italy, it becomes obvious that the so-called ‘Latin architecture’ has existed for a very long time. Those buildings are large and wide. As soon as you start conducting an academic study on the history of classical architecture, you realize that it’s language is rather simple. Yet, this style was considered to be the common language of Western architecture until recent times. These days, creativity and diversity are more significant than the desire to adhere to a set of rules. The importance of unique approach is highlighted in almost every architecture essay.
The purpose of this book is not only to help students dwell upon the language of classical architecture in their architecture essay writing assignments, but also to explain what the grammatical workings of this language are. If you are aiming to get one of the well-paid architecture jobs, reading this book is a must. No essay about architect will tell you more about the rules that are applied in classical architecture that this book. The author mentions ancient Greece and ancient Rome as the places where the development of classical architecture began. However, he is more interested in the ways in which the style has developed during the period of Renaissance.
Before this book was published, it existed in the form of a series of six scripts that were created for BBC Radio. The writing style of John Summerson is not only informative, but also very entertaining. Yet, his main goal of the book remains the same: to provide readers with a clear understanding of what classical architecture is; to explain its impact on the development of architectural design and to present the so-called set of grammatical rules that make up a classical building. The author pays a lot of attention to the way in which classical architectural ideas have progressed over time. Such aspects as proportion and fenestration of facade are discussed in detail. At the end of the book, John Summerson sums up his thoughts on classical architecture saying that this architectural style is all about achieving visible harmony among all parts.
Apart from that, John Summerson dwells upon architectural deviations during the Baroque period and explains the relationship between classical and modern architecture. This book will be particularly useful to architecture students, especially freshmen and sophomores who are currently studying such discipline as the history of architecture. They often find it hard to write a proper conclusion architecture essay, so this book may help them do it better. What is more, mentioning this book will look good on the references page of an essay about architecture. The more useful resources a student has access to, the less often they will have to type something like do my architecture paper into Google search. If the topic of your paper is classical architecture and you do not know how to write a conclusion architecture essay, reading this book may help you come up with a couple of ideas. In general, the whole point of the conclusion architecture essay part is to summarize everything you have already mentioned in previous paragraphs. If you have conducted a research study, your conclusion architecture essay paragraph should contain the results. All in all, “The Classical Language of Architecture” by John Summeson will come in handy to every student who has decided to major in architecture.
