POINT: THEORIES

One of the first few days of our history class Patrick mentioned the powers of three and things that come in three’s; such as three french hens, three little pigs, three feet in a yard, three ring circus, three laws of motion and just as he suggested the list can continue on forever. But this list in my mind has one set that surpasses them all and that would be what Vitruvius wrote in De Architectura somewhere around 25 BC and what Sir Henry Wotton then translated and published in The Elements Of Architecture in 1624. "Well building hath three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight,” I think even at this time when Vitruvius proclaimed this that he was onto something that would prove true until this day. Our overall building process here in the 21st century is so technology driven and so complex but the overall fundamentals within the structure are just as embedded as they were when Vitruvius and Wotton were around. A building now days is used for many, many things but it still has intact firmness, commodity, and delight (sometimes). Let’s break down these three parts though, what do all of them mean? Firmness, the first one meaning does the structure/building support itself; it’s overall physical boundaries one could say. The next one being commodity, how does it accommodate the user, how do the people interact with this and does the building function like it should. Lastly you’ve got delight, which would be the one where people would definitely disagree. How does it make the people feel, does it provide an experience that’s a good one and I guess is it delightful? That’s my interpretation of these terms, and I like to think that all architecture I cherish has these three components. And I like to think that all good architects, considerate architects consider these things and try to provide the structure that encompasses these things. But perhaps my favorite part of the quote is before firmness, commodity and delight are said. Wotton says, “the end is to build well.” I’m not sure why that is but I really like that and overall that’s really what a designer is trying to accomplish. Something that is well built, something that is useful, something that supports all the operations that will go on in this particular place whether its function changes as years pass. One piece that comes to my mind that would apply to firmness, commodity and delight would be the Barcelona Chair designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich in 1929. 

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In my opinion the stainless steel frame and leather that embody this piece of furniture have made this one the most famous pieces of furniture around even till this day. I don’t think even a building has to incorporate commodity, firmness and delight I think any sort of operative art can incorporate those things. I think furniture, structural, product, interior and even fashion design all can have those three vital parts attached to them: commodity, firmness and delight.