THE IMAGE OF THE ORDER. Figurative Reconstruction of the Architecture in the Recueil Elementaire d'Architecture by Jean François de Neufforge

In the Recueil Èlémentaire d’Architecture, J.F. de Neufforge writes a syllabus about all the building styles, analysed according to the formal idea of a classic architecture that can create the identity of the growing middle class of the Eighteen century. Though employing complex geometries which, for their centre,define the position of the archetype elements, such as the base, the peristyle, walled cell and the pediment, Neufforge creates generative processes of the figurative architectures based on the ratio given by the module. In this paper, the possible metric inconsistency between the use of the system of the order—as building algorithm of the architecture in the vertical elements—and the role of the construction of the plan—as a representative and constitutive matrix of the entire building—are investigated. The author questions the value of the order in its practical and aesthetical use.