The three rules of building haven't changed in 2,000 years
Every skyscraper and home built today still follows a 2,000-year-old Roman checklist that balances brute strength with the human soul.
In 15 BC, the Roman architect Vitruvius wrote 'De architectura,' the only surviving major treatise on architecture from antiquity. In it, he argued that a building is only successful if it achieves the 'Vitruvian Triad': Firmitas (strength), Utilitas (function), and Venustas (beauty). He believed that if a structure was strong and useful but ugly, or beautiful but unstable, it failed as a piece of architecture.
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