THE

LAMPS OF
- ARCH ITECTURE
 Contents
Foreword

Prologue

Lamp of Sacrifice

Lamp of Truth

Lamp of Power

Lamp of Beauty

Lamp of Life

Lamp of Memory

Lamp of Obedience

Epilogue
 Prologue
Virtues are generally considered an important part of society. It is a set of
principles to live ones life by in an orderly and morally acceptable manner.
Humans have virtues like nature virtue, theological virtue, cardinal virtues
etc. As societies grew and took shape and what is norm and what is
abnormal was shaping virtues were created by humans to differentiate
themselves from savages. A good society is said to be virtuous society.
What if virtues could be found in other practices like architecture? John
Ruskin asked this very question at the peak of the Victorian era when man
had just found the beauty of science and machine and there was a mad
fascination in everything ancient. He studied geology, ornithology,
mythology, art and of course architecture.
He studied architecture closely and furnished his thoughts in the book we
now today as The Seven Lamps of Architecture. He wrote his observations
and opinions on architecture as 7 virtues, with advices, opinions, numerous
examples and wonderful imagery, taking one from the sun kissed valleys
with lazy basking lizards to the minutest details on a Corinthian column.
From the bustling and crowded cities of Rome to the Scottish plains.
Lamp of Sacrifice
 INTRODUCTION

The lamp of sacrifice is the first lamp from the book of ‘The seven
lamps of architecture ‘ written by John Ruskin. The seven lamps of
architecture is a book with one chapter dedicated to each of the seven
lamps which represent the necessities of good architecture that must
be met .

This book of sacrifice is an expression of the ideas of the author on

sacrifice as a dedicated craft work from man to god and a proof of
man’s love and obedience to god .

Its very necessary , in the outset of all enquiry , to distinguish

carefully between architecture and building . The lamp not only
gives the differentiation between architecture and buildings but also
stresses that one must not overdo the type of ornamentation to be
done should create a connect with the building and god .It also
addresses devotional and memorial architecture. It clearly discusses
how a work to be done is to be dedicated to god and it puts the
statement, the work and effort we spend on it matters than the time
and labor .
 ARCHITECTURE AS ART

Architecture is an art which attracts people where as a building is a

structure which is made stable. Constructing a building which is stable is
not architecture. Architecture is the one which helps to differ one building
from the other.

For example a church, home and a library are all buildings but
architecture is the one which helps to differentiate such structures though
they are functionally different all these buildings can be easily identified
without knowing the function .Through their form , the materials used to
construct them , the ornamentation on them justifying their purpose .

“We have church building, house building, ship building, and coach
building. That one edifice stands, another floats, and another is suspended
on iron springs, makes no difference in the nature of the art, if so it may
be called, of building or edification”.
Architecture is a passionate activity though it requires a lot of energy, time
and thoughts the result makes it worth it. Sacrifice should not be done with
grudges as it will affect our final outcome. It is also important to know
whether the luxury is necessary. The most important thing is that the
sacrifice we do are worth it because minute details which are not noticed in
a huge structure which is a waste of time, money and labor. Work done in
vain is not considered as a sacrifice to God.
Architecture properly divides and , then, naturally arranges itself under five
heads: —

Devotional: including all buildings raised for God's service or honor.

Memorial: including both monuments and tombs.

Civil: including every edifice raised by nations or societies, for purposes of

common business or pleasure.

Military: including all private and public architecture of defense.

Domestic: including every rank and kind of dwelling place the justice of the
feeling concerned with arts is still more doubtful; it depends on the Deity
being honored by the presentation to GOD of any material objects of value,
or by any direction of zeal or wisdom which is not immediately beneficial to
men. it is now not the question whether the fairness and majesty of a building
may or may not answer any moral purpose and it is also not the result of
labor in any sort of which we are speaking the substance and labor and time
themselves are the one which matters as the offering for the god.
Ruskin points out that the idea of using low cost materials for the sake of low
cost construction is not appreciable. We should use good quality materials
because people trust in the builders to stay in these houses. Therefore the
materials should not be sacrificed since trust is much more important.

“I have said for every town: I do not want a marble church for every village;
nay, I do not want marble churches at all for their own sake, but for the sake of
the spirit that would build them.”

Here Ruskin mentions that the church a place of worship does not require
extravagant ornamentations or materials. The purpose of a church relies on the
spiritual belief and purity.

One factor a minimum of is evident: there was a deep and awful danger in it; a
danger that the God whom they thus adored, can be associated within the minds
of the serfs of Egypt with the gods to whom they'd seen similar gifts offered
and similar honors paid. The chance, in our times, of fellowship with the
emotions of the idolatrous Romanist is completely as nothing compared with
the danger to the Israelite of a sympathy with the idolatrous Egyptian; no
speculative, no unproven danger.
 ST.PETERS BASILICA

Materials color symbolizes

GOLD and WHITE – Purity, Heavenliness which are related to God

BROWN and WHITE – Earth

Ruskin mentions that ornamentation and light should be used in the

necessary place where it serves its purpose. It is needless to provide
these elements at inappropriate places.

Hence the greatness of the northern Gothic as contrasted with the newest
Italian. It reaches nearly identical extreme of detail; however it ne'er
loses sight of its field of study purpose, ne'er fails in its ornamental
power; not a leaflet in it however speaks, and speaks distant, too; so long
as this be the case, there's no limit to the lushness within which such
work might lawfully and nobly be given.

Devotional and Memorial architecture is very important because it

involves spirits in it . It is more an offering to god than a building. It is
a sacrifice of something which is very dear to us. It is always believed
that an offering which is expensive with more labor and time is chosen
over a less expensive offering saying that always the best should be
given to God. but that costliness is an acceptable condition as it is a
sacrifice of something very important to us
"God was a spirit and could be worshipped only in spirit and truth.” But
is it necessary for such an extravagant building is that the one god
expects?. A materialistic object is not considered as an offering to god.
Such luxury is not needed what is required is the comfort within the
building which is much more deeper than the material or the craftmanship
of the building.”

It is not the church we want, but the sacrifice; not the emotion of
admiration, but the act of adoration: not the gift, but the giving. "A good
sacrifice is one which was the result of the best work and hard labor of
the person.

When we do things with passion perfection can be obtained likewise

when we don’t have any passion for a work because that particular work
maybe looks like a trivial thing in our eyes leads to an imperfect work.
Architecture is a passionate activity though it requires a lot of energy,
time and thoughts the result makes it worth it. Sacrifice should not be
done with grudges as it will affect our final outcome.

It is also important to know whether the luxury is necessary. The most

important thing is that the sacrifice we do are worth it because minute
details which are not noticed in a huge structure which is a waste of time,
money and labour.

Work done in vain is not considered as a sacrifice to God. The ornament

should answer the purpose of its creation if not it is just a rough texture
on a surface. All the old works where results of hard work but all the work
done are money work which creates the difference in quality of the work
 COMPARISON

In central gate of Rouen all the minute details can be seen which help us to
appreciate the hard work of the sculptor .The ornamentation goes in blend
with the building and makes the building unique in its own way . The
workmanship of the sculptor add beauty to the material it can be clearly seen
that the work is not done in vain but with whole heart.

The other example is the Colleoni Sepulchral chapel at Bergamo here a lot
of details can be seen but there is no proper balance in the ornamentation
which is a result of working without any passion which leads to the
imperfection of work.

“The Lamp of Sacrifice”, first of the lamps, explains the need for “self
denial” and “the desire to honor or please some one else by the costliness of
the sacrifice” he explains that the use of decoration is what separates plain
building from architecture. However, ornament should only be used where
the viewer can see it and according to two principles: “the abstract beauty of
its forms” and “the sense of human labor and care spent upon it”

He believes that the principle of honesty must govern our treatment we must
not work any kind of ornament which is perhaps to cover the whole building
delicately where it is near the eye when it is removed from and that is trickery
and dishonesty.

He also believes that bas reliefs and fine niches and capital should be kept
down and the common sense of this will always give a building dignity. A
simple blank wall with face shafts effect is tenfold better than a facade
covered with bad work. Generally, the best moldings and niches of French
Gothic are on its gates and low windows.
Lamp of Truth
 INTRODUCTION

“Your buildings should be honest in how they present themselves. No

fancy facades hiding poor construction. No wood pretending to be stone.”
The lamp of truth explores relationships between a buildings actual and
apparent construction. It focuses on the truthfulness of the materials. In
other words, an honest display of the construction process and structure.
Ruskin articulated three kinds of deceits: structural deceits, surface deceits
and operative deceits. Structural deceits occurred in several forms:
members such as columns, that appear to serve a structural role but they
don’t; the concealment of primary structural members; the use of structural
members that do not convey or contradict the vertical or horizontal forces
at work; and the use of iron as a reinforcement for masonry. Surface deceits
occur when one material is painted to look like another. Operative deceits
occurred from “the substitution of cast or machine work for that of the
hand.” However, there are sometimes exceptions. For example, painting is
acceptable as long as it goes along with the architectural form.
 STRUCTURAL TRUTH
Ruskin said that a sincere construction is described as a construction that does
not conceal its flaws below ornamental notions. Wood does not faux to be
stone, and home windows are home windows, not anything more.

Ruskin often to look to nature as an inspiration for good design. Just as a

skeleton is hidden underneath flesh and bone so an architect is not bound to
exhibit his means of support. Nevertheless, the widespread use of iron
reinforcement in the 19th century quickly began to supplant fundamental
principles of masonry construction that took thousands of years to develop.
Abuses such as cladding systems of veneer stone with iron supports truly
deceive the viewer as to the true nature of materials and the amount of work
required. Before long senseless designs that never could be realized in self-
supporting masonry became commonplace.

Ruskin frequently asked to observe nature as a suggestion for proper design.

Just as a skeleton is hidden beneath flesh and bone so an architect is not certain
to show off his approach of support. Nevertheless, the significant use of iron
reinforcement withinside the nineteenth century quick started out to supplant
essential ideas of masonry production that took lots of years to develop. Abuses
together with cladding structures of veneer stone with iron helps lie to the
viewer as to the actual nature of substances and the quantity of labor required.
Before lengthy mindless designs that by no means will be found out in self
assisting masonry have become commonplace.

Ruskin's lamp of reality is simple, and he argued that homes need to be sincere.
When Ruskin discusses the layout and production of a Gothic roof, he factors
out that it might be cheating if ''the intermediate shell have been fabricated
from timber as opposed to stone, and whitewashed to appear to be the rest, --
this would, of course, be direct deceit, and altogether unpardonable…‘’

The ceiling of Milan Cathedral. The vaults appear to be covered with a stone
fan tracery. Upon a more careful examination it can be perceived that the
traceries are merely painted on, lacking the depth and shadow of stone. Ruskin
felt that this destroys much of the dignity of a beautiful building. Next Ruskin
praises the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel because the figures that are painted
follow the architectural elements.
 SURFACE TRUTH

Ruskin hardly provides a universal condemnation. Rather, he admonishes

us to “be careful to observe that the evil of them consists always in
definitely attempted deception.” Ruskin goes on to contrast two
architecturally similar examples.

First the ceiling of Milan Cathedral. The vaults are covered with what from
the ground appear to be stone fan traceries. Upon a more careful
examination it can be perceived that the traceries are merely painted on,
lacking the depth and shadow of stone. This Ruskin felt destroys much of
the dignity of an otherwise beautiful building.

You find yourself wondering, what else here is fake? Next Ruskin praises
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. But why the change? Is not the ceiling full
of architectural ornament in grisaille mingled with the figures of its
frescoes?

Yet there is no deception. There is never even a moment when one would
question if it is really God Almighty touching the hand of a material Adam.
And if the figures are painted then it follows the architectural elements must
be as well. Ruskin rightly observes that “so great a painter as Michael
Angelo would never paint badly (or perfectly) enough to deceive.”
 THE POWER OF TRUTH: ORNAMENTATION TRUTH

In this portion he talks about how the machine or cast work dominated
the manual labor (the work of hands) to which he addresses it as the
grossest dishonesty.

He continues that even in the case of ornaments, man tends to seek the
integrity rather than the ornament itself. for which he correlates to the
concept of discovering Diamond which makes it more valuable before
it is found. In the same way the worth of an ornament is the time taken
with consciousness and truth before it is cut.

He goes on to say that each of these has its own valuation, where an
ornament would deceive a mason's eye whereas diamonds would
deceive a jeweler's eye. Just as a woman wouldn’t like the idea of
adorning herself with fake jewels just as a builder with honor wouldn’t
agree to the idea of fake ornaments which would be considered as a
downright lie according to him which he is referring to the idea of
domination of machine work over manual labor.

According to Ruskin, a wall should be left bare planed rather than

adorning it with falsehood which he considers as an inessential thing.
With bricks being used to a large extent which is naturally molded he
thinks that there is no more necessity to further mold it into various
diverse forms.
Example of this is the brick moldings of Palazzo Peploi in Bologna
which makes it the richest in all of Italy. The external bas-reliefs by
Robbia family which he considers totally useless and worthless not by
the material but by the lack of human labor.

“A piece of terra cotta, or of plaster of Paris, which has been wrought

by the human hand, is worth all the stone in Carrara, cut by machinery.”
He concludes that each architecture has its own values and law. one is
bound to follow it to maintain its essence. He says that the medieval
architecture had fallen because it had lost its strength and disobeyed its
laws (order, consistency, organization.) which rushed for the need of
innovation.
 CONCLUSION

To conclude this lamp, Ruskin Bond wants the buildings to be honest.

Honest buildings are the ones which doesn’t hide its flaws in the name
of decoration. He points out the gothic buildings made of wood and
dressed like stones he calls it “deceit and unpardonable”.

Wood can never be stone. This is what he means my being honest. He

distinguishes between the building’s actual and apparent looks and tells
that latter is important for aesthetics. He tells that it's not dishonesty but
legitimate appeal to the imagination. It’s a question of conscience that
he leaves us to answer.
Lamp of Power
 INTRODUCTION
Power. It holds one in authority and inspires awe and respect from
the spectators. the same translates to buildings. According to John
Ruskin, architecture can be broadly classified into two facets, one
that is inviting and beautiful and one that is authoritative and
mysterious. The latter type of building leaves its spectators in awe
and generally has a more administrative function. The first kind of
architecture is inviting and has a property for “gathering” as Ruskin
put it, and the second kind of architecture is seen as imposing and
authoritative, in other words, powerful.
 HEIGHT
Rusking points out that the height of the building is another one of
its factors that make a building powerful, but in the given context. If
a tall building is placed amongst mountains, then its power is lost.
However, if placed in a meadow or low lying area with short
buildings around it then it will come off as imposing and powerful.
He also talks about redundancy of elements such as domes and
towers in a building. He takes the example of St. Peter’s Basilica’s
dome. While complimenting its huge expanse, he mentions that due
to its roundness it makes the building look short. Whereas, in person
the Basilica is at a towering height.
 WEIGHT
Ruskin talks about the weight of the building. He says that a building
need not be grand and wide to seem powerful. It needs to carry a
certain weight. This virtue can also be exhibited (or neglected) in the
details, the elements.

He describes how the Scottish cottages look so powerful and steady

despite being so much shorter than the Greek buildings. It is because
the raw chiselled stones, instead of the smooth ones that are on a so
called powerful building. The weight of the material used and its
tactile properties can convey the concept of power.
 SHADOW
Ruskin believed that the power of a building is directly proportional
to the amount of shadows it has. This could be to do with the fact that
shadows are rather ominous, especially when something is dark or
cool in the middle of the day, as opposed to when its dark. Thus this
adds to the mystery of the building which might add to the reverence
of fear one has for a building. At this point, Ruskin advices young
architects to keep the play of light in their minds and rather than look
a building as a play of lines and dots, he advised to view a building as
a collective of light and shade.
 ORNAMENTATION

Ornamentation generally don’t have an active function in the structural

strength of a building other than furnishing beauty to a building. However,
Ruskin was of the opinion that ornamentation are kryptonite to a building
of power and authority. Ornamentations invite one to look and gaze freely
upon a building. This act of lifting ones head to gaze openly at a building
would be, an act of impoliteness, if not to the extreme of disrespectful. The
power of the building is suppose to keep the spectator is awe, maybe even
fear and reverence.

Therefore ornamentation if not used wisely are not effective in rendering a

building power. One could look compare the Doric Column and the
Corinthian column, as an example, the Doric column with its plainness
seems to be more sober and more authoritative as there is not much to gaze
at. However, if we look at a Corinthian column, it is beautifully decorated
with the Acanthus leaves is beckoning ones gaze upon it. It is inviting and
pleasant to look at. The spectators would not be intimidated to look at it.
 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, for a building to be powerful an architect must pay close

attention to the context, materials, shadow and form and the ornamentation
of the particular building. They should also keep in mind the nature of the
building and accommodate natural materials and design according to the
functionality of the building.
Lamp of Beauty
 INTRODUCTION

To some degree Ruskin Bond was influenced by the times he lived in, yet to a
greater extent his philosophy contributed to defining the era. Certainly, he held
a view of beauty that was not “of his time”. If anything, Ruskin’s vision of beauty
was not temporal, rather physical, “of his place”, thereby transcending the
cultural milieu of the 19th century.

For Ruskin, beauty was primarily an objective matter and thus a shared value
amongst humanity. The uniting bridge between an objective view and a sensory
experience was a profound sacredness, an intrinsic knowledge of beauty
intimately imbued in our very humanity as fundamental and universal as our
understanding of the sweet- ness of sugar or the bitterness of wormwood.
 MONSTROSITIES

Ruskin firmly held the position that the purest sources of beauty were “derived
chiefly from the external appearances of organic nature. "With that he has went
on say with examples about conventionalizing of the decorative patterns by
recycling previous forms with artificial,

THE MEANDER

Ruskin talks about the Greek Key which was part of the Greek revival period and
was used in the ornamentation of iron gates or in plinth blocks. The pattern of the
Greek Key is found on extremely rare minerals, which is formed by the cooling
of molten bismuth. Ruskin talks about how the Greek Key was a good fit for the
texture at a small scale such as that of coins or jewelery, but on larger scales for
architectural ornamentation, the Greek Key was just ugly.
man made forms.
 HERALDRY

Ruskin acknowledge the Heraldic Decoration, he credited the

beautiful sculpted forms of animals and flowers. He also had a
caution note that unnatural arrangement and using them repeatedly
will destroy the power and beauty of the building.

THE FESTOON

With respect to Festoon as a monstrosity, Ruskin talks about

appropriateness in architecture. He has elaborated this with the
example of St. Paul's in Lon- don. Festoons are placed in abundance
at a high elevation thus decreasing its sublimity making the
architecture bare and less severe than it should be.

THE PORTCULLIS

Ruskin believed that the definition of beauty is nothing but the direct
imitation of elements from nature. Here he takes an example of a
Portcullis, a strong heavy grating that has lowered grooves on each
side of gateway to block it. So the design of the Portcullis is defined
as unmitigatedly frightful, and compared with a contrasting subject
of a cobweb or wing of insect.
 DRAPERY

Drapery is folds of cloth hanging as clothing or curtains. It becomes a

monstrosity when its use becomes ignoble. Drapery in architecture has been
exploited to its potential by Bernini in his sculptures. It wields a dynamic forces
breathes life to his sculptures. It also wields powers and sense of sublimity that
it lacks when it is hung close to blank wall.

RIBANDS

Beauty lies in the structure and form. Ruskin makes it evident by disagreeing
with the use of ribands as architectural ornamental elements. Beauty lies in
nature and the closest thing to a Ribbon in nature is tapeworm. In term of its
structure, the ribbon, unlike leaf or even free-floating weed, lacks a skeleton,
strength or elasticity. It becomes flat and dead.

SCROLLS AND INSCRIPTIONS

Ruskin talks about, like heraldry, there should be a purpose and meaning to any
writing that is introduced into a composition. Ruskin goes on talking that
neither the writings itself nor the scrolls on which the inscriptions are written
on are natural and beautiful.
 THE CLASSICAL ODERS

Ruskin illustrated the deliberation of the three principal orders of the

Greco-Roman or Classical architecture

DORIC
The order is delivered as follows: “past a sure point, and that a completely
low one, a man cannot boost within side the invention of beauty, without a
natural form. Thus, within side the Doric temple the triglyph and cornice are
not imitative, only imitative for the most effective of artificial cuttings of
wood. The columns have fluting and which resembles the bark of a tree. The
shaft has shallow flutes which resembles the channels which are
encountered in the sea scallop

CORINTHIAN
Corinthian order is specifically with the resemblance of the acanthus leaf.
The Ro- mans would embrace the acanthus form as well as expanding its
use beyond capitals for a variety of uses most notably delicately carved
foliated scroll-work.
Thus, the Corinthian capital is beautiful,
as it expands below the abacus simply as nature could have increased it. And
the flowery leaf moldings nestle and run up the hollow spaces, and fill all
the angles, and hold the shaft. They’re naturally, and consequently
beautifully, placed.

IONIC
The main defining feature of the column is the conspicuous volutes which
represents the spiral growth patterns of many invertebrates and vegetation.
It is simply a form of an egg which is flattened at the higher surface, with a
delicacy and eager feel of range within side the curve. The flattened,
imperfect oval, which, in 9 instances out of ten, might be the shape of the
pebble. It has a rounded shape within side the hollowed plumage of the
Argus pheasant, whose feathers are so shaded as precisely to symbolize an
oval shape positioned in a hollow.
 CONCLUSION

In the beauty section of the essay, Ruskin relies heavily on the designs seen in
nature and points out that architecture should stem from the natural
environment. Nature is the model for beauty. Lines and shapes should be
derived from the natural world.
Ruskin states that ‘’the column, which I doubt was not a Greek symbol of the
bark of the tree, was imitative in its origin, and feebly resembled much
canaliculated organic structure. ... The decoration proper was sought in the true
forms of organic life, and those chiefly human.
Lamp of Life
 INTRODUCTION

The lamp of life is the fifth lamp in the seven lamps. The lamp of life
is all but forgotten. In this chapter, one see's how and why John Ruskin
insists that significant buildings are made by the hand of skilled
masonry and architects as opposed to mass production.
 A MAN’S MIND
A man is very much attuned to life, in that we won't mistake something
living for death, warmth for cold, spring for winter so on and so forth.
When concerned with the energies of man, we encounter something
called a true and a false, live the living and the dead. Every man has
true and false faith, true and false hope and true and false life. A true-
life is one where one mold and assimilates the external factors,
whereas a false life is one that conditions death and stupor and is not
easily differentiable from the true life.
The life of a nation can be compared to that of lava, bright and fierce
at first and slowly turning into nothing but rocks over time. The life of
the lava can be compared not only in art but architecture as well, which
are heavily dependent on the warmth on the so-called true life.
In our own acts of creation, even though we cannot animate, we can
impress our intellectual vigor, our instinctive vividness in what we do.
Contrariwise, we could also create stillborn things, sterile, cold,
unfeeling. Intelligible things can also be insensitive, dead things.
What we build and how we do these things can have the most personal
effect on us, bring us joy, enliven our souls or drain us dry, oppress
our spirits.
 IMITATION
But there is something to my mind more majestic yet in the life of an
architecture like that of the Lombard's, rude and infantine in itself, and
surrounded by fragments of a nobler art of which it is quick in admiration and
ready in imitation, and yet so strong in its own new instincts that it re-
constructs and re-arranges every fragment that it copies or borrows into
harmony with its own thoughts, - a harmony at first disjointed and awkward,
but completed in the end, and fused into perfect organization; all the borrowed
elements being subordinated to its own primal, unchanged life.
There is at least a presumption, when we find this frank acceptance, that there
is a sense within the mind of power capable of transforming and renewing
whatever it adopts; - too certain that it can prove, and has proved, its
independence, to be afraid of expressing its homage to what it admires in the
most open and indubitable way; and the necessary consequence of this sense
of power is the other sign I have named - the audacity of treatment when it
finds treatment necessary, the unhesitating and sweeping sacrifice of
precedent where precedent becomes inconvenient.

For instance, in the characteristic forms of Italian Romanesque, in which the

hypothermal portion of the heathen temple was replaced by the towering
nave, and where, in consequence, the pediment of the west front became
divided into three portions of which the central one, like the apex of a ridge
of sloping starts lifted by a sudden fault, was broken away from and raised
above the wings; there remained at the extremities of the aisles two triangular
fragments of pediment, which could not now be filled by any of difficulty
became greater, when the central portion of the front was occupied by
columnar ranges, which could not, without painful abruptness, terminate
short of the extremities of the wings.
Frankness, however, is in itself no excuse for repetition, nor Audacity for
innovation. Nobler and surer signs of vitality must be sought, - signs
independent alike of the decorative or original character of the style, and
constant in every style that is determinedly progressive.
 WORKMANSHIP
Architecture and crafts are sacred to Ruskin, he believed that skill is the most
enduring gift that we have receive from our forefathers. According to him
buildings should be made by human hands, the joy of masons and stone
carvers is associated with the expressive freedom given to them.
Ruskin valued the contribution of individual artist and craftsmen.
Man’s mind and heart works together to create art, and this makes everything
fall in the right place.
The developed world now lives in a predominantly modernist built
environment, architects started compromising for the pursuit of beauty for
the cheap imitation that machine work does, to reduce the labor. The hard
work of man will always be known from the machine work.
Mans work is done with care, skill and his heart in it, which puts power into
the form. They work with hand and chisel, some fast bits, some places where
chisel strikes hard and some places light. This brings up the touch of light
and shadow in the art.
The author compares the a mans work to a poetry that is well read and deeply
felt. The quality of mans work and machine work maybe imperceptible for
some, but man gives life to the art while machine work is lifeless.
The carvers work becomes harder as man puts more pleasure into the work.
man is blessed to create the ideas of his own mind. As long as man and his
heart work together, they produce the best.
 CONCLUSION
John Ruskin's views on architecture is classified under three categories
1. Man as Machine
2. Poetry
3. Social Responsibility
Man as Machine Ruskin happens to see a self-proclaimed master stone
carver. He seems to explain the process of making a fountain using the
machine whereas at the end he admits that his work was all about "just a
bit of cleanup, sanding and honing." He seems to be very proud for what
he has done. But when Ruskin sees the fountain, he couldn't find any
ornamentation in it. He says that it was cut deadly. That is it was made
with an idea of showing up rather than adding life to the fountain. Which
means it was completely made in the idea of boasting up. Later this same
stone carver seems to justify his work in 19th century saying that his
carving was made under various labors, where there are few to do basics
like measuring and pointing and few specialists to make certain important
details and the so called sculptor to make the face of the sculpture.
However the factory system, the 19th century master, worked under left
little opportunity to pass on a complete understanding of the art and
generate true masters for a subsequent generation. Which meant few
apprentices who work under some masters and learn few things about
sculpture are now called as Sculptors. So at that age Ruskin says that
handwork or machine work that is done with "putting their heart into what
they do, and doing their best, it matters not how bad workmen they may
be, there will be that in the handling which is above all price"
Lamp of Memory
 INTRODUCTION

John Ruskin ideas about art and architecture, arguing that ancient
buildings must be conserved for their deep, mystical links with the past
and that creative design is not essential for financial gain, but to
communicate eternal human truths.
 ART AND ARCHITECTURE

“See! This our father did for us”. We have to build forever. The stones
we lay must be considered sacred where one must notice the labor and
wrought substance and also thank us in the future for what we have
done.

The true value lies in the age value of the building as it retains in itself
the traditional character of the building through the rise and fall of
dynasties, changing of the face of earth, rise and fall of the seas, and
through this it has gained the identity and sympathy of the nations.

The preciousness of architecture is revealed through the golden stain

of time and when we are able to find out the real color and light of the
building. It gains fame more than the possession of language or of life
when the walls bears witness to the suffering and the pillars rise out of
the shadow of death.
 RESTORATION

Towards the end of the lamp of memory, John Ruskin shares his rather
strong views on Restoration. He believes that neither the general public nor
those that care for public monuments truly understand the meaning of
restoration.

According to him what restoration is, and I quote; “It means the most total
destruction that a building can suffer: a destruction out of which no remnants
can be gathered, a destruction accompanied by the false description of the
thing destroyed.”

He also goes onto say that no matter how you preserve them its alright as
long as you do not replicate or recreate because according to him, ‘better a
crutch than a lost limb’.
 CONCLUSION

The lamp of Memory is a rather befitting name for this chapter. By talking about
how a building is not merely a structure but rather the physical existence of a
mem01y, feeling or thought and later moving onto explain how this timeless
piece of mem01y must be prese1ved and not tampered with, Ruskin paves the
way of truth for the future. He shows us that memory exists as a link between
the past present and future and but remain uncorrupted.
Lamp of Obedience
 INTRODUCTION

The last guideline, yet unquestionably not the least. Freedom, can never be a
predominant rule, since that makes a space for misinterpretations with regards
to how the guideline ought to be thought of. On the off chance that engineering
isn't joined with English law, at that point it's a sheer misuse of work, which
ought not be. Design will become powerless, with time and must be re-
established, until the main guideline of good judgment is complied. Much the
same as some other subject, design ought to likewise be instructed by causing
the understudies to follow the style, that is acknowledged in their territory.
 FREEDOM AND EXPRESSION

Independence from nature, for example, the "law" of gravity and the
properties of materials. Unquestionably there was the inclination to disregard
customary materials for mechanically delivered ones. The dismissal of
conventional materials and relating grasp of mechanical materials alongside
the new structures made conceivable by them would just give a fleeting dream
of opportunity.

The engineers' investigation of structure before long got depleted, obviously

being dependent upon the actual properties of the new materials. The go to
industry for opportunity subverted customary production and specialty,
unexpectedly decreasing the accessible materials, means and strategies
accessible to the field of engineering.

The development materials of industry have since been progressively

normalized prompting further union of creation through worldwide
appropriation. Truly, progresses in designing is regularly at extraordinary
financial and environmental expense. At last there is today insufficient
possibilities to free design from the consistently restricted material
determination of industry.
 STYLE AS A SEMANTIC METAPHOR

“Style" is a term that has been tarnished, denounced truly in contemporary

structural practice. It has been criticized as influenced, copyist, predictable
and each other disparaging name that can be summoned. However, style is
simply a show, design in nature.

Likenesses can be attracted to language, a show semantic in nature. For

instance, out of the relative multitude of potential sounds inside the scope
of what can be actually voiced and heard by individuals, during the time
spent development we "duplicate" a couple and dispose of the rest which
establish our language or you could even say our "style" of correspondence.

This language is restricted and uncontroversial. That a completely evolved

language has a boundless scope of articulation is moreover uncontroversial.
The way that numerous others utilize a similar correspondence style,
"language" is the social advantage that makes it exceptionally
advantageous. Our lives are better a result of it. Ruskin puts forth the
defence that the comparable social advantages remain constant for our
fabricated climate, a culture sticking to an engineering style.
Arnolfini Wedding, Jan van Eyck
 LACK OF AUTHENTICITY

What however about the charge of copyism, doesn't learning a style

repress innovativeness, a significant self-awareness for the craftsman or
draftsman? Ruskin reacts to this thinking thus, "When we start to instruct
youngsters composing, we drive them to outright copyism, and require
total exactness in the development of the letters; as they get order of the
got methods of strict articulation, we can't forestall their falling into such
varieties as are steady with their believing, their conditions, or their
characters.”

This is effectively perceived as the underlying way to proficiency that

the vast majority of us have attempted. Endless supply of the letter set,
content, sentence structure and punctuation of a language we leave upon
organization and at times even verse where freedoms with the language
and individual articulation go to the front, again as experts of the style.

Disclosing the connection to structural style Ruskin continues,

"Inventiveness in articulation doesn't rely upon creation of new words;
nor creativity in verse on development of new measures...a man who has
the blessing, will take up any style that is going, the style of his day, and
will work in that, and be incredible in that, and make all that he does in
it look as new as though every considered it had recently descended from
paradise."
 Leon Perrault -Leon Bazile Perrault
Young seamstress

Eugenia Maria Salason -Eugenie Maria Salanson

Fisherwoman
 CONCLUSION

To draw a close consideration of the seventh and last of John Ruskin's "Lamps"
or expositions on design. Living from the sunrise through the development of
the Industrial Revolution he saw the two sides of the gap between a
conventional versus a mechanical economy, with its extreme effects on
engineering and human culture all the more for the most part. He supported for
engineering not to forego its moral, moral commitment to the social request as
watchmen, trustees of the fabricate climate. Concerning experts, we've never
had a more articulate and energetic promoter, ardently publicizing our
important commitment to the city domain.

“Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we
have the eyes to see them.” - John Ruskin
 Epilogue
The seven lamps of architecture spoke about; A man’s dedication to the craft
of god. His honest approach towards the display of materials in their purest
forms. The physical effort put into the making of a powerful structure. The
aspirations and admiration towards the nature drawn creations that expressed
God. The joy of life found within on creating one’s own structure by hand.

Giving a space life by mere presence of mankind. The inculcation of

traditions and cultures. Regarding originality and developing the existing.
But are these the only factors that light up the values hidden in architecture?
Does architecture have its own essence that’s yet to be discovered by
mankind? Such questions can only be answered by a curious mind and some
self-introspection. What is it that architectural factor that feeds and satisfies
the guilty pleasures of your soul?
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