Durand’s grid
J.-N.-L. Durand’s method of composition (1802–05): draw the axes, put walls on them, columns at their intersections, and combine the parts into buildings.
The rules it illustrates
Fitness and economy. Seek in every building only fitness (solidity, healthiness, convenience) and economy (symmetry, regularity, simplicity); a building that has these will please, and ornament added for its own sake is waste.
Axes first, then walls, then columns. Compose any building on squared paper: first draw its principal axes, then a grid of equal squares; place the walls on the axes and the columns at their intersections; only then open the walls and combine the parts.
Few elements, many combinations. Build every type (temple, museum, college, hospital, barracks) from the same small set of elements, combined about axes parallel, perpendicular or concentric to one another.
Begin with the plan, on a geometrical basis. Compose from the plan: base it on the elemental figures (circle, square, rectangle and their derivatives), arrange its parts symmetrically about axes, and develop section and elevation from it together.
Where it appears in the book
In the styles Neoclassical, Beaux-Arts.
In the chapters Enlightenment and Revival.