Vitruvius opens De Architectura with a dedication to Augustus Caesar, warning that poorly designed buildings ultimately reflect upon those who allow them to be built.

Vitruvius did not invent classical principles. He studied the Greeks—geometry, proportion, sculpture, and building—and preserved their knowledge in written form. His work is a transmission of standards, not personal expression.

In Book I, Chapter 2, Vitruvius defines the principles that govern order, placement, and propriety:

• Ordinatio — Order

• Dispositio — Proper placement and planning

• Eurythmia — Grace through proportion

• Symmetria — Measured relationships of parts

• Decor — Propriety; what is appropriate and fitting

• Distributio — Economy of means and materials

Decor does not mean ornament.
It means fitness.

A form may be skillfully executed and still be wrong—if it is improperly placed, wrongly scaled, or unsuitable to its purpose.

Vitruvius treats propriety as a moral and spatial principle, not an aesthetic one.

Vitruvius insists the architect be educated in geometry, drawing, history, philosophy, and the sciences.

This education applies equally to the sculptor.

We work with:

• The same proportional systems

• The same tools of geometry

• The same control of space and light

• The same responsibility to permanence

The sculptor is not a decorator.
The sculptor is a builder in space.