Divide, do not multiply

To unify a façade of two or more storeys, run a single order of pilasters or columns through all of them, from the base to the main cornice.

Proportion every step so that twice its height plus its depth equals the length of a natural pace on the level: two feet, or 24 pouces.

2 r + g = 24 pouces ≈ 65 cm (modern practice: 60–66 cm)

Hold that the beauty of the orders comes from fixed proportions that please by nature, as consonances do in music; where the ancients differ, the differences answer to circumstances such as distance and height.

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.

grid module = the interaxis of the columns; walls on grid lines; supports on grid points

Divide the whole front of the cornice into nine parts; give one of them to the height of the tympanum, measured at its centre.

tympanum height = cornice width ⁄ 9 (≈ 12½°)

An order consists of a column (base, shaft and capital) carrying an entablature (architrave, frieze and cornice), optionally raised on a pedestal (plinth, die and cap). Each part is proportioned to the lower diameter of the column.

order = [pedestal] + column(base, shaft, capital) + entablature(architrave, frieze, cornice)