Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman architect and engineer who lived around 80 - 15 BC. He is best known for his Ten Books on Architecture, a treatise on Architecture, dedicated to his patron Caesar, as a guide for building projects.
The ten books provides a great perspective on various aspects of architecture. In Book 1, Vitruvius writes about the education of an architect, which is summarized below.
The Education of the Architect
1. An architect should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and varied kinds of learning. This knowledge comes from the combination of practice and theory,
2. The architect should be thorough in this knowledge, which comes from both scholarship as well as manual skill. One without the other does not make an effective architect.
3. One who calls himself an architect should be well-versed in both defining the architecture of something, but also be able to demonstrate its significance through scientific principles. For this, an architect not only needs to have the natural abilities, but also be amenable to instruction.
4. An architect needs to be able to describe the architecture (e.g. through drawings) and be well versed in the tools (e.g. geometry).
5. An architect needs to be a philosopher and not self-assuming. Philosophy makes him courteous, just, and honest without avariciousness. This is very important, for no work can be rightly done without honesty and incorruptibility. He should not be grasping nor have his mind preoccupied with the idea of receiving perquisites.
6. An architect needs a good understanding of the functional attributes of technologies used in building. Vitruvius refers to bronze vessels, which were placed in under the seats in theatre in accordance with the musical intervals to improve the fidelity of sound affects.
7. An architect should be aware of environmental constraints. Vitruvius talks about the need for architects to be aware of law regulations that can constrain the design of buildings.
8. People have no right to call themselves architects hastily, without having climbed from the bottom of the steps of the knowledge necessary, then educating themselves by the knowledge of many subjects, and reaching the heights of the architecture profession. In essence, it takes time and experience to become an architect.
9. It is difficult for someone to gain expertise in the breadth of areas needed for a good architect. Good architects are therefore rare. While an architect may not be the best in all these areas, they will be good in understanding and focusing on the principles that brings these areas together. They will depend on the experts in these areas when necessary. What is interesting to note is the realization of the need for architects to understand domains and work with domain experts closely.
More on Architecture by Vitruvius in upcoming posts.