Architecture is in general the art of building.

Architecture is usually divided into three types, to wit, civil , which one simply calls architecture , military , and naval .

The location of each within the Encyclopedia differs. See the Tree at the end of the Preliminary Discourse.

By civil architecture is meant the art of composing and constructing buildings for convenience and different purposes, such as sacred edifices, royal palaces, and dwellings for individuals; bridges, public squares, theatres, triumphal arches, etc. By military architecture is meant the art of fortifying spaces, protecting them from harm with solid construction that will withstand enemy assault, bombing, bullets, etc., and it is this type of construction that is called fortification . See the article Fortification. By naval architecture is meant that focused on the construction of ships, galleys, and all floating buildings in general, as well as ports, moles, jetties, places where rope is made, warehouses, etc., that are built on the seashore or by the sea. See the article Marine.

In speaking of civil architecture , as we will here, we will say that in general it is as old as the world; that necessity taught the first men to build huts, tents, and sheds for themselves; with time, finding themselves obliged to buy and sell, they gathered together and, living under communal laws, came to make their dwellings more consistent.

According to ancient authors, the Egyptians were the first to construct buildings that were symmetrical and proportional; for this reason, it is said, Solomon went to them for help in building the temple of Jerusalem, although [Juan Bautista] Villalpanda assures us that he brought from Tyre only those who worked in gold, silver, and copper, and that it was God Himself who gave the principles of architecture to the king (if this was so, according to this author, it would be an extremely honorable attribute for this art). But without entering into this discussion, we regard Greece as the cradle of good architecture , either because the rules followed by the Egyptians have not come down to us, or because what remains of their works shows us only solid and colossal architecture (such as the famous pyramids that have triumphed over time for so many centuries) that do not affect us as do the remains of the monuments that we have from Ancient Greece. This leads us to believe that we owe to the Greeks the proportions of architecture , that is the three Orders—Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—that we have from them, the Romans having produced only the other two which are rather imperfect imitations, although we make good use of them in our buildings, each in its way expressing perfectly the genres of rustic, solid, medium, delicate, and combination architecture , known by the names of Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian , and Composite , which, together, encompass everything that is best in architecture . In France, despite the obvious occasions for building over the last century, we have been unable to develop orders that approach those of the Greeks and Romans. I say approach , because many able men have tried, such as [Libéral] Bruant, [Charles] Le Brun, [Sébastien] Leclerc, etc., without being either lauded or imitated by their contemporaries or successors. This shows us the limits not only of architecture , but of the other arts as well. But without speaking here of Greek works, which are far removed from us and have been described by many famous authors, let us look at a less distant time; and say that architecture in Rome came to its highest degree of perfection during the reign of Augustus; that it began to be neglected under Tiberius, his successor; that even Nero, who despite all his vices had an extraordinary passion for the arts, did not employ the taste he had for architecture except in prodigal display of luxury and vanity, rather than munificence. Trajan also showed a great affection for the arts, and although architecture was in decline, it was during his reign that Apollodorus [of Damascus] erected the famous column in Rome that still carries the name of this emperor. Although architecture was supported by the love for the arts shown by Alexander Severus, he could not prevent it from being degraded as the Western Empire fell, nor from several centuries of neglect while the Visigoths destroyed the most beautiful monuments of antiquity, and reduced architecture to such barbarism that its practitioners entirely abandoned the just proportion, convention, and accuracy of design that constitute all the merit of this art.

From these abuses came a new way of building that was called gothic , and that endured until Charlemagne undertook to reestablish ancient ways. With some success, France then took up the cause, encouraged by Hugues Capet, who also had great taste for this science, as did his son Robert, who succeeded him. By degrees, the appearance of architecture was reversed [and] became too light, the Architects of that time believing the beauty of their buildings lay in delicacy and a hitherto unknown profusion of ornament, probably falling into these excesses by rejecting the gothic that preceded them, or by accepting forms taken from the Arabs and Moors who brought them to the southern provinces, just as the Vandals and Goths had brought the ponderous gothic style from the north.

It is only within the last two centuries that Architects in France and Italy have worked to rediscover the simplicity, beauty, and proportions fundamental to ancient architecture . Similarly, it is only since this time that our buildings have been executed by imitating and following the precepts of ancient architecture . We will say here that civil architecture —divided according to these different epochs and their variations into antique , ancient , gothic , and modern —can also be classified according to the differing characters of the Orders of which we have spoken. See Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite.

To get an idea of architecture and the elementary principles of material, form, proportion, siting, planning, and decoration, see the definition of these different words, as well as those of the arts which stem from architecture , such as Sculpture, Painting, Gilding, Masonry, Carpentry, Cabinetry, etc. See these articles.

Of all the Greek Architects who have written on architecture , such as Agatarchus the Athenian, Democritus, Theophrastus, etc., none of their treatises have reached us, nor have those of Latin authors such as Fussitius, Terentius [Terence], [Marcus Terentius] Va[r]ro, Publius Septimus, Epaproditus, etc., so that Vitruvius can be regarded as the only ancient Architect from whom we have the written precepts, although Vegece [Flavius Vegetius Renatus] reports that Rome had nearly seven hundred Architects at the time. Vitruvius lived in the reign of Augustus, whom he served as engineer, and composed ten Books of architecture dedicated to this prince. But his lack of system and clarity, and the mixture of Latin and Greek found throughout his work, has caused many Architects—among them [Guillaume] Philander, [Daniele] Barbaro, etc.—to add notes. But of all those that have been made on this author, those of [Claude] Perrault, man of letters and knowledgeable Architect, are those that do the most honor to commentators on Vitruvius. Those who have since written on architecture are [Leone Battista] Alberti, who published ten Books of architecture [ De re ædificatoria , 1485], in imitation of Vitruvius but in which the doctrine of the Orders is inexact; Sebastian[o] Serlio has also given one, and follows the precepts of Vitruvius more closely; [Andrea] Palladio, Philibert de Lorme, and [Giacomo] Barozzi Vignola have done some as well. Daviler [Augustin-Charles d'Aviler] has given us very useful notes on this last individual. We can add to this list of well-known works on architecture , l'idée universelle de cet Art [ L’Idea dell’Architettura universale , 1615] by Vincen[zo] Scamozzi; parallèle de l’ancienne architecture avec la moderne [ Parallèle de l’architecture antique et de la moderne ... , 1650] by [Roland Fréart] de Chambray; Cours d’architecture , by François Blondel, professor and director of the Académie royale d’architecture , which can be seen as a collection of everything the best authors have written on the five Orders; l’Architecture , by Goldman [?Nikolaus Goldmann], who has shown how easy it is to reach perfection in the art of building with the help of certain instruments that he has invented; that of [Sir Henry] Wotton [ The Elements of Architecture , 1624], abridged into demonstrations by Volsius, to whom we are obliged—as we are to François Blondel—for having applied mathematical demonstrations to architecture .

In addition to the authors we have just mentioned, many of our French Architects have also dealt with architecture , among them [Claude] Perrault, who has given us Vitruvius's Five Orders, with additions and highly interesting observations [ Les Dix Livres d'architecture de Vitruve, corrigez et traduits nouvellement en François avec des notes et des figures , 1673, 1684]; Father Dairan, who has given us an excellent traité de la coupe des pierres [treatise on stone-cutting], which the royal Architect [Jean-Baptiste de] La Rue has commented, clarified, and rendered useful for practice; M. Fraizier [Amédée-François Frézier], who gave La Théorie ce cet art [ La Théorie et la pratique de la coupe des pierres ... , 1737], previously almost unknown; [Germain] Boffrand, who has given us his œuvres [ Livre d’Architecture, contenant des principes généraux de cet art , 1745] in which this able man has demonstrated his erudition and experience in the art of architecture ; [Charles-Etienne] Briseux has also given us a traité de la distribution & de la décoration des maisons de campagne [L’ Art de bâtir des maisons de campgane , 1756]; and d’Aviler, who not only interpreted Vignola [ Cours d’architecture, qui comprend les Ordres de Vignole ..., 1730, 38, ’50, ’56, ‘60], but has given us a valuable traité d’architecture , with additions by [Alexandre-Jean-Baptiste] Le Blond (from whom we have an excellent traité du Jardinage [ La Théorie et la Pratique de jardinage ..., 1722]), and since then, from Jacques-François Blondel, professor of architecture, we also have a Traité de la distribution & de la décoration des édifices [ De la distribution des maisons de plaisance, et de la décoration des édfices en général, 1737], without forgetting [Pierre] Bullet, [Pierre] Le Muet, [Abraham] Bosse, etc., who have also given us several works on architecture .

The term architecture has still other meanings, according to the way in which it is executed. We say perspectival architecture when elements are proportioned and sized to make them seem larger or further away than is actually the case, such as is we see in the famous stairway at the Vatican, designed by the Cavaliere [Gian Lorenzo] Bernini and built during the pontificate of Alexander VII. We say feigned architecture when the object is to represent the planes, projections, and reliefs of real architecture by color alone, such as we see on fronts in Italy and the twelve pavilions of the Château of Marly, or in theatrical decoration or triumphal arches, painted in either perspective or geometric projection on canvas or wood for processions, public festivals, funerals, fireworks, etc.