Marcus vitruvius pollio
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman architect in the 1st century BC. Little is known about his life. Information about him was only got from his works. There are two guesses about his birthplace, one is Fundi (now Fondi), the other is Verona. And even his name Marcus and Pollio are uncertain. People can only be sure of Vitruvius. He was born in a prominent Roman family. He was probably a military engineer and has been to many places with the army.
Vitruvius became famous as an architect because of his work De architectura. Today we call it the Ten Books on Architecture. This book was written around 15 BC and was a summary of his own experience. This book is very valuable, because it is the only direct source about architecture at that time. He influenced the architecture in the Middle Age and Renaissance.In the books, Vitruvius explained the theory of the architectural order of pillars, the shapes and types of temples, and rules for the design of houses. He also solve many technical problems.
The subjects of Vitruvius Ten Books, using modern terminology, are:
Landscape architecture
Construction materials
Temples (Part 1)
Temples (Part 2)
Public places: square, meeting hall, theatre, park, gymnasium, harbour
Private dwellings
Finishes and colours
Water supply
Sundials and clocks
Mechanical engineering
Sources:
http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Vitruvius.html