The frontispiece illustration

An illustration of Charles Dominique Eisen's primitive hut was the frontispiece to the second edition of Laugier's Essai sur L'Architecture (1755). That frontispiece was undoubtedly one of the most famous images in the history of architecture, an image that helped make the essay more accessible and, consequently, widely received by the public. The message that the illustration suggested was clear; that the essay showed a new direction or a new order for architecture. In the image, a young woman who personifies Architecture draws the attention of an angelic child to the primitive cabin. The architecture points toward a new structural clarity found in nature, rather than in the ironic ruins of the past.

Premise

Laugier wanted to conceive an architecture entirely in accordance with reason, without the need for rigid formal rules, but rather to defend himself against the ideas of the architectural imagination that were necessary to reject given that their effects could not be controlled by reason. The Essai sur L'Architecture provides a history of man in his "primitive" state to explain how the creation of the "house of primitive man" appeared instinctively from man's need to protect himself from hostile nature, an account in which Laugier takes the side of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "bon sauvage."

Laugier believed that this model of early man's hut provided ideal principles for architecture and any other building. And from that perspective, Laugier formed his general principles of architecture, describing the standard form of architecture and what he believed should be its general principles, the natural and intrinsic nature of natural processes.

Summary

Laugier's Essay on Architecture is divided into six chapters that focus on the different constituents and considerations of architecture. Methodologically identifies the key components of a building, describes their fundamental importance and how they should be addressed.

In chapter 1, "The general principles of architecture", Laugier divides and analyzes buildings into five main "articles": the column "Column (architecture)"), the entablature, the pediment "Front (architecture)"), the different floors of architecture, the window and the door. In article 1, for example, Laugier gives four general rules for the construction of columns, one of which is that the column "must be strictly perpendicular, because being intended to support the entire load, perfect verticality gives it its greatest strength."[5] For Laugier these articles highlighted the fundamental components of a building and what he identified as its basic needs, that is, the model of the primitive hut. Laugier emphasized the point that nature provides the rules for architecture.

Laugier used the frontispiece to illustrate that architecture generally only needs three main elements: freestanding columns, horizontal beams (entablature), and a simple pediment (the triangular end of a pitched roof).

Laugier also noted that deviation from or misuse of these principles led to "errors" in common buildings and architectural practice. In particular, he recognized as errors issues arising from unintelligent proportions and designs. Instead, he advocated that "by approaching the simplicity of the model, fundamental errors are avoided and true perfection is achieved."[5]​.

These "errors" also included comments on the design and arrangement of the columns, entablature, and pediments. The list of "errors" about the columns were: being embedded in the wall; the use of pilasters; incorrect entasis (spinal swelling); and support on pedestals. The first ruling was contrary to the general beauty and aesthetics of the nature of the columns that should be exempt; The use of pilasters had to be frowned upon since in almost all cases the columns could perform their resistant function; The third defect is quite self-explanatory; the latter makes the design unintelligible: resting columns on pedestals, he said, was like adding a second set of legs beneath the first pair.

The essay also states that ancient Greek temples owed their shape to the first dwellings erected by man. In the primitive hut, the horizontal beam was supported by logs planted vertically in the ground and the roof was inclined to expel rainwater. This was an extension of the primitive hut concept and the inspiration behind the basic Doric order.

The essay defends that architecture approaches perfection through the search for absolute beauty, especially by returning to the hypothetical original hut as a construction model.

The frontispiece illustration

An illustration of Charles Dominique Eisen's primitive hut was the frontispiece to the second edition of Laugier's Essai sur L'Architecture (1755). That frontispiece was undoubtedly one of the most famous images in the history of architecture, an image that helped make the essay more accessible and, consequently, widely received by the public. The message that the illustration suggested was clear; that the essay showed a new direction or a new order for architecture. In the image, a young woman who personifies Architecture draws the attention of an angelic child to the primitive cabin. The architecture points toward a new structural clarity found in nature, rather than in the ironic ruins of the past.

Premise

Laugier wanted to conceive an architecture entirely in accordance with reason, without the need for rigid formal rules, but rather to defend himself against the ideas of the architectural imagination that were necessary to reject given that their effects could not be controlled by reason. The Essai sur L'Architecture provides a history of man in his "primitive" state to explain how the creation of the "house of primitive man" appeared instinctively from man's need to protect himself from hostile nature, an account in which Laugier takes the side of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "bon sauvage."

Laugier believed that this model of early man's hut provided ideal principles for architecture and any other building. And from that perspective, Laugier formed his general principles of architecture, describing the standard form of architecture and what he believed should be its general principles, the natural and intrinsic nature of natural processes.

Summary

Laugier's Essay on Architecture is divided into six chapters that focus on the different constituents and considerations of architecture. Methodologically identifies the key components of a building, describes their fundamental importance and how they should be addressed.

In chapter 1, "The general principles of architecture", Laugier divides and analyzes buildings into five main "articles": the column "Column (architecture)"), the entablature, the pediment "Front (architecture)"), the different floors of architecture, the window and the door. In article 1, for example, Laugier gives four general rules for the construction of columns, one of which is that the column "must be strictly perpendicular, because being intended to support the entire load, perfect verticality gives it its greatest strength."[5] For Laugier these articles highlighted the fundamental components of a building and what he identified as its basic needs, that is, the model of the primitive hut. Laugier emphasized the point that nature provides the rules for architecture.

Laugier used the frontispiece to illustrate that architecture generally only needs three main elements: freestanding columns, horizontal beams (entablature), and a simple pediment (the triangular end of a pitched roof).

Laugier also noted that deviation from or misuse of these principles led to "errors" in common buildings and architectural practice. In particular, he recognized as errors issues arising from unintelligent proportions and designs. Instead, he advocated that "by approaching the simplicity of the model, fundamental errors are avoided and true perfection is achieved."[5]​.

These "errors" also included comments on the design and arrangement of the columns, entablature, and pediments. The list of "errors" about the columns were: being embedded in the wall; the use of pilasters; incorrect entasis (spinal swelling); and support on pedestals. The first ruling was contrary to the general beauty and aesthetics of the nature of the columns that should be exempt; The use of pilasters had to be frowned upon since in almost all cases the columns could perform their resistant function; The third defect is quite self-explanatory; the latter makes the design unintelligible: resting columns on pedestals, he said, was like adding a second set of legs beneath the first pair.

The essay also states that ancient Greek temples owed their shape to the first dwellings erected by man. In the primitive hut, the horizontal beam was supported by logs planted vertically in the ground and the roof was inclined to expel rainwater. This was an extension of the primitive hut concept and the inspiration behind the basic Doric order.

The essay defends that architecture approaches perfection through the search for absolute beauty, especially by returning to the hypothetical original hut as a construction model.