Leon Battista Alberti
An Italian humanist, architect, and art theorist, his treatise 'De re aedificatoria' was the first modern book on the theory of architecture.
Quotes by Leon Battista Alberti
Beauty is the adjustment of all parts proportionately so that one cannot add or subtract or change anything without impairing the harmony of the whole.
A building is a kind of body, which, like all other bodies, is composed of its parts and its members.
The architect, in order to be a good architect, must be a good man.
We shall therefore lay it down as a certain and undoubted truth, that a building is a body consisting of its parts, which are all disposed in such a manner, that they answer to a certain proportion and correspondence, and are all so connected together, that they contribute to the beauty and convenience of the whole.
The whole force and art of building lies in the design and in the contrivance of the work.
Nature is the best guide to all things.
The greatest ornament of a building is the proper distribution of its parts.
Whatever is beautiful is also useful.
The architect must be a man of universal knowledge.
Architecture is not a trade, but a science.
The architect must be a master of drawing, for without it he can do nothing.
The most beautiful things are those which are most useful.
The architect should be a man of good morals, and of a liberal education.
The architect must be a man of great judgment and discretion.
The architect must be a man of great industry and application.
The architect must be a man of great experience.
The architect must be a man of great sagacity and prudence.
The architect must be a man of great integrity and honesty.
The architect must be a man of great modesty and humility.
The architect must be a man of great patience and perseverance.