The Building
The oldest known original work of architectural theory in our culture is considered to be the Ten Books on Architecture by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, better known simply as Vitruvius. He lived in the first century B.C. and was a citizen of the Roman Empire. The transcript of these instructive treatises is thought to date from the ninth century A.D. Vitruvius named three primary criteria of good architecture: firmitas, utilitas and venustas – durability, convenience and beauty. A structure should be well built and stable; it also has to suit the users’ needs, and finally it should be beautiful. It is interesting to note that Vitruvius gave equal weight to all three criteria: none is more important than the others – in other words: a good structure meets the demands of strength or stability, of functionality or usefulness, and of beauty.