Architecture inside out

3 minute read

Vitruvius first introduced the world to his three classical orders Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. With the later addition of Tuscan from the Etruscans and Composite, architecture established its five classical orders.

Vitruvius’ mathematical formulas brought symmetry, proportion, order, relationship of individual parts and mathematical logic to the art of architecture. Since the first century B.C. no other orders have been added to the canon of architecture. Unless this version from Caligula’s Horti Lamiani, the imperial pleasure garden, qualifies.

Only styles emerged after Vutruvius’ orders. You’d think at least one new order after twenty centuries would appear. So I look for sign of the emergent style. Something outside the box, a crossover. Nothing has blown me away with that “Oh wow” moment BUT this photo…

It is a tropic location found on the Verawa World website and the provenance attributed I think is Panama local architect George Moreno and Partners.

The architecture is abstracted to an extent that it turns architecture inside out. Wall as window and glass into wall or column. Glass moves to obscure, to reflect and as decor. It is a paradigm shift in established practices and the accepted art that breaks out of its venacular.