Alberti Notes That is, while ornament is not crime (cf.

Loos and Books 6-10 of De re), for Alberti, it is non-essential. Alberti is saying that the architect must, in order to produce a beautiful building, be sure that the lineaments have approximated beauty. As the process goes: think, draw, model, think, draw model, etc. This process is to be repeated until that unutterable harmonious quality, concinnitas, is achieved in the model. t is that immediately recogni!ed quality which arises out of the material appearance of beautiful form "#$%&. This is that state of any artistic work wherein the artist is finally satisfied that 'nothing may be added, taken away, or altered, but for the worse.( ")*+&. The organi!ational structure of De re aedificatoria gives systematic order to the ma,or concepts of Alberti-s architectural aesthetic: lineaments, concinnitas, and beauty. The fourth and fifth books explore the application of these ideas to public and private works, and include a sustained consideration of ideal buildings and ideal cities "a discussion which will guide an investigation into the utopian dimensions of lineaments, below&. The Ontological Status of Lineaments .ineaments govern the act of construction. /ut another way, construction is 'the ordered and skillful composition of various materials(i into buildings according to lineaments. The first three books of Alberti-s treatise explore this architectural analog to Aristotle-s triad of form, matter, and motion: lineaments "lineamenta&, materials "materia&, and construction "structura&. .ang is right to imply, though, that a particular building has a particular lineament, for Alberti, and it think that the notion of ad,ustment, as well as an acknowledgement of Alberti-s mereology, can account for this. '0uildings are composed of form and matter, like bodies.( 1hat this doesn-t acknowledge, and the reason that .ang-s interpretation is ultimately unsuccessful, is that it does not take into account Alberti-s basic mereological understanding of buildings. 2or Alberti, buildings are bodies. The elements of buildings 3 rooms, openings etc. 3 are also bodies composed of smaller bodies. 0uildings, too, are nested, within larger bodies. 0odies are beautiful to the extent that their parts are harmonious. 4ach part, insofar as it is conceived of as sharing lines, boundaries and angles with other parts,

is an integrated, geometrical, architectural form 3 a lineament. The aim of all this is beauty. The value of conceiving of lineaments as parts to be ad,usted rather than plans to be used is that in this way the goal of architecture, beauty, remains as he defines it: regulative. 2orms of bodies t goes without question that Alberti was been influenced by /lato. .ineaments serve the purpose of the latter-s forms in the architectural realm: they are intellectual and the same lineaments can be found in more than one building, and they are achieved through a process of intellectual consideration and experimentation. .ineaments part from /latonic forms in several ways, too. They are not arranged in a hierarchical way, although it is clear that they are in some sense subordinate to beauty which plays a role analogous to /lato-s 5ood. The Utopian Dimension of De re aedificatoria There is a utopic and ecological tone in Alberti-s description of lineaments insofar as it pro,ects internally harmonious and environmentally integrated architectural bodies. There is a utopian dimension to Alberti-s text, and to the extent that his whole pro,ect depends upon the success of the lineaments, the utopian elements, too, rely upon them. 4ssential to understanding the task of an architect, on Alberti-s picture, is an understanding lineaments and their role in facilitating the architectural ideal. This leads naturally to a discussion of ideal buildings inevitably leads to a discussion of the ideal city, in the Ten 0ooks, and here Alberti does not hesitate to make reference to /lato-s Republic. 6et, his attitude toward /lato is ambivalent. 7e makes use of many arguments from /lato, since they serve his purposes, but he re,ects /lato-s transcendent and metaphysical pro,ect. n Alberti-s satirical novel Momus, for instance, Apollo curses himself for having asked the philosophers rather than the architects about the ideal city. The protagonist, 8haron, even mentions that painters know more than philosophers because they see the lineaments of bodies and do not merely engage in subtle verbal squibbles. .ineament is the more earthly analog, in Alberti-s thought, to /lato-s 2orms. n so being, a lineament requires rigorous intellectual pursuit and ingenuity to be found "cf. /lato-s dialectical discussion&. 2urthermore, the lineaments along with their formal pursuit are accompanied by a strong appraisal of architects as being extremely virtuous and as possessing the means, more so than /lato-s philosopher, of sustained and appropriate reflection upon 9topias. Conclusion 5adamer has stated that to understand a sentence, one must understand it as an answer to a question. The same of course will go for concepts. :uestions, furthermore, reveal biases in their inability to provide proper answers. .ineaments and the process they must go through in the artist-s mind, are much like questions. ;ather than

philosophical questions, though, they are architectural ones. 5reat philosophical questions withstand the test of time. Their capacity for invoking wonder does not grow dull with any amount of temporal distance. .ineaments are formal, architectural questions in the same way. They are discussed, always open to interpretation, and given answers in the individual buildings to which they give rise. To understand a building we might say, is to understand its architectural question. Those buildings whose form remains beautiful, even at a distance are those which answer the best architectural questions.

0eauty, importantly, is formal. <rnament inheres in beauty, while the This is not a contradiction in terms, either. 1hile adding ornament may add to the charm of something already pleasing because of its beauty, the beautiful form itself is that to which nothing can be added except for the worse. This interpretation is confirmed in the seventh book, where Alberti speaks of the constraints on lineaments in various types of columns "%$)=%$%&. As the guiding ideal in this art, theori!ing about beauty finds its n other words, beauty is decidedly not material, it is formal. 6et, it comes to fruition in an architectural body. And since the form of an architectural body depends upon lineaments, beauty itself must depend upon lineaments. 0eauty plays the role of a regulative ideal on this theory, guiding the practice of the architect in conceiving architectural bodies. This paper offers an interpretation of Alberti-s use of >lineamentand The concepts Alberti employs to explain the arising of a beautiful architectural body a beautiful architectural body lineaments, materials, and construction are employed in the service of beautiful architectural bodies. 0eauty is an ideali!ed form, which depends, t is unclear what lineaments, ares a less straightforward term that designates whatever it is that forms the intellectual and imaginative basis for construction. 2or Alberti, the beautiful form of a building precedes its ornamentation and lineaments inevitably precede the perfected beautiful form. Thus, buildings and cities in particular are only said to be beautiful to the extent that their lineaments achieve a harmony. in discussing the utopias of past thinkers, he even makes direct reference to /lato-s Republic. 5iven the strong resonances between Alberti-s idea of beauty and /latonic ideas, it is not surprising. and the scene where ?ocrates- character is made to defend his utopian city,

@allipolis, against the charge that it is an impossibility. ?tructure of /aper , .ineaments: translations and issues T74? ?: and the proposal of lineaments, perhaps, can be seen as architectural rather than philosophical questions. is a flexible term, encapsulating a wide range of significations, from theory to form. .oos, <rnament is 8rime This goal serves as the regulative ideal toward which achievements or actions of any architect will strive. This paper offers an interpretation of Alberti-s 'lineaments,( and attempts to situate it amongst his other, more readily understandable aesthetic concepts. n doing so, the significance of this term in relation to his architectural ideal of a beautiful city will become apparent and will serve to clarify Alberti-s position with respect to the discipline of philosophy and his use of its self=apologies for the purposes of validating architecture. This, finally, is shown to be in ,uxtaposition with what seems to be its self=conscious, philosophical predecessor: /lato-s '@allipolis.( Alberti conceives of buildings as bodies. Aust as other bodies, buil, dings consist of both matter and form "*&. t is clear that lineaments are, in contrast to materials, 'of thought.( They are not of nature in the way that materials are, and require ingenuity of the mind rather than simple selection and preparation.ii 2urthermore, they are developed and integrated into a complex whole in the imagination and intellect of a learned visual artist. 0eyond this Alberti defines general aim of lineaments. .ineaments have the 'intent and purpose( of fitting together perfectly "B&, and their 'duty( is thus to 'prescribe an appropriate place, exact numbers, a proper scale, and a graceful order for whole buildings and for each of their constituent parts.( "B&. They are created, furthermore, through some sort of sustained process of geometrical imagination. Leon Battista Albertis concept of lineamenta has been the most significant of his contributions to the philosophy of art. It lies at the basis of his radical arguments found in his satirical Momus as well as On the Art of Building in Ten Books which ele ate the kind of knowledge possessed by the isual artist abo e that knowledge possessed by the philosopher. This is a radical claim to consider in a world where! often! standards of clarity and persuasi eness in speech are seen as benchmarks of knowledge. The "uality of ideas are #udged! that is! by the "uality of their linguistic e$pression! especially in the political realm. On the Art of Building in Ten Books %&'%. (Book )* +%&)),

-heck Inde$ on .lato -oncepts Lineamenta /ants 0chematisms 12314TO5 Teachers of mathematics were called upon in 6uattrocento 7lorence to be general craftsmen. 1dgerton notes! too! that 8they had to ha e an unusual sense of what is today called 9depth perception! for it was their #ob to imagine comple$ mechanical de ices completely in the abstract! and then commit these designs to paper with a con incing illusion of three dimensions.: 1dgerton goes on to not that it is not suprising that the first system of linear perspecti e to come out of 1urope was from one of these craftsmen (Alberti*. (';* Albertis understanding of painting! as a deeply intellectual e$ercise in critical communion with an ideal world! (<=* reeks of .latonism! yet finds no place in it. (cf. .latos Republic! Bk. >! when he commits painting to being thrice remo ed from the truth.* Albertis efforts may be seen! perhaps! as a direct response to this. ALB14TI5I 4ennaisance artists where often also art theorists! and they had great interest in aesthetic principles (Albertini! )',*. Leon Battista Albertis borderline obsession with aesthetic principles! from ingenium to materia! to lineamenta! to coincinnatis. 0ome attention has been paid to The intellectual borders of the 4enaissance were ha?y. Intellectuals and artisans alike were in ol ed in producing the literature theoretical or otherwise of 6uattrocento Italy. @
Lang, S. (1965). De Lineamentis: L. B. Albertis Use of a Technical Term. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 28, 331335. What exactly does de lineamenta mean? This question is, for me, first one of translation. But more than any term I have ever seen, 'de lineamenta' term admits of almost universal disagreement in this regard (cf. footnote 8). It may have been a counterpart to Vitruvius' dispositio (332). 'Between the representation of the painter and that of the architect is this difference: the former achieves depth by working with shadows and diminished lines and angles. The architect does not use shadows but indicates the projecting parts on the delineations of the foundations. The intervals and the shape (or decorations) of the facade and the side elevations he demonstrates separately with true lines and correct angles, so that he indicates not what one believes one sees, but what can be perceived in definite unalterable measures.' (Lang's translation of II.i.) To indicate not what you believe is seen but what can be perceived in permanent measures... Alberti, supposedly, was "not concerned with the creation of space" (335) The ground plan is considered the key to the building

Elevation is ignored. Only the ground plan can prevent certain things, so it is seen as constitutive of the buildings possibilities. Lineamenta are essentially ground-plans and designs, from which the proper proportions of the rest could be deduced. (334-335) They are like forms which once ascended to, lead back down to more definite conclusions (cf. Plato's Republic 508 or 9 or something) Constructing a ground plan is like asking a question. It sets boundaries for what can follow, definite but open limits on what can emerge. While many possibilities remain not just any remain. And beyond even that, it seems that there are possibilities more appropriate, more elegant, than others. Alberti conceived of beautiful buildings, and this beauty was a state of equilibrium and proportion, of strength and ease. This can be put to the notion of a question, what are the aesthetics of a good question?. I not just any remain. Learning how to conceive of the right lineamenta, in this sense, is like asking a good question.

think about the significance of a one dimensional ground plan to the overall project of designing a building...what do you think its role is/should be/etc.? it's lineamenta in alberti's architectural aesthetics. I think I can show that this concept is the Alberti's architectural analogue to asking a good philosophical question What does it mean to ask an architectural question? Key Passages: IX, iii, (333) - ground plan I, viii, philosophorum? Preface, matter and form (334)

.aper 0tructureA Intro Alberti and Lineaments 0ignificance in aesthetics! philosophy! etc. 4enaissance engagement in debate about utopiasBthe republicBand artists in the city .lato and .hilosophers (4epublic*BAlberti and Architects (Comus* Are Lineaments Immanent 7ormsD Co ing from Ontology (7orms* to 6uestionsD 3adamerB.lato and .hilosophical 6uestions Lineaments as .hilosophical 6uestions

Leon Battista Alberti! On the Art of Building in Ten Books! trans. Eoseph 4ykwert! 5eil Leach! and 4obert Filliam Ta ernor (-ambridgeA The CIT .ress! )+;;*! ,). ii It may be significant here to point out resources which document an increased attempt to materiali?e lineaments by making them a matter of selection preparation rather than otherwise.