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INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I: ON SYMMETRY: IN TEMPLES AND IN THE HUMAN BODY
CHAPTER II: CLASSIFICATION OF TEMPLES
CHAPTER 3: THE PROPORTIONS OF INTERCOLUMNIATIONS AND OF COLUMNS
CHAPTER IV: THE FOUNDATIONS AND SUBSTRUCTURES OF TEMPLES
CHAPTER V: PROPORTIONS OF THE BASE, CAPITALS, AND ENTABLATURE IN THE IONIC ORDER
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BOOK I
BOOK II
BOOK III
BOOK IV
BOOK V
BOOK VI
BOOK VII
BOOK IX
9. For the higher that the eye has to climb, the less easily can it make its way through the thicker and thicker mass of air. So it fails when the height is great, its strength is sucked out of it, and it conveys to the mind only a confused estimate of the dimensions. Hence there must always be a corresponding increase in the symmetrical proportions of the members, so that whether the buildings are on unusually lofty sites or are themselves somewhat colossal, the size of the parts may seem in due proportion. The depth of the architrave on its under side just above the capital, is to be equivalent to the thickness of the top of the column just under the capital, and on its uppermost side equivalent to the foot of the shaft.
Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture. Vitruvius. Morris Hicky Morgan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. London: Humphrey Milford. Oxford University Press. 1914.
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- Lewis & Short, cŏlossĭcus
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