The Art of Building in the Classical World Vision, Craftsmanship, and Linear Perspective in Greek and Roman Architecture

This book examines the application of drawing in the design process of classical architecture, exploring how the tools and techniques of drawing developed for architecture subsequently shaped theories of vision and representations of the universe in science and philosophy. Building on recent scholarship that examines and reconstructs the design process of classical architecture, John R. Senseney focuses on technical drawing in the building trade as a model for the expression of visual order, showing that the techniques of ancient Greek drawing actively determined concepts about the world. He argues that the uniquely Greek innovations of graphic construction determined principles that shaped the massing, special qualities and refinements of buildings and the manner in which order itself was envisioned.

Introduction: challenges of analysis and interpretation; 1. The ideas of architecture; 2. Vision and spatial representation; 3. The genesis of scale drawing and linear perspective; 4. Architectural vision; Excursus: envisioning cosmic mechanism in Plato and Vitruvius; Appendix A: analysis of the dimensions of the blueprint for entasis at Didyma; Appendix B: analysis of the hypothetical working drawing for platform curvature at Segesta; Appendix C: analysis of the hypothetical working drawing for platform curvature in the Parthenon.

John R. Senseney is Assistant Professor of Ancient History in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research has ranged from ancient methods of surveying and planning to Plato and book culture, with publications appearing in Hesperia, Sacred Landscapes in Anatolia and Neighboring Regions, the International Journal of the Classical Tradition, and the American Journal of Archaeology.