Selected Bibliography Architecture - Form Space and Order | Page 321

R E G U L ATING LINES

Palazzo Farnese, Rome, 1515, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger

If the diagonals of two rectangles are either parallel or perpendicular to each
other, they indicate that the two rectangles have similar proportions. These
diagonals, as well as lines that indicate the common alignment of elements,
are called regulating lines. They were seen previously in the discussion of
the Golden Section, but they can also be used to control the proportion and
placement of elements in other proportioning systems as well. Le Corbusier,
in Towards a New Architecture, stated the following:

The Pantheon, Rome, A.D. 120–124

306 / A R C H I TE C TU R E : F O R M , S PA C E , & O R D E R

“A regulating line is an assurance against capriciousness; it is a means of
verification which can ratify all work created in fervour . . . It confers on the
work the quality of rhythm. The regulating line brings in this tangible form of
mathematics which gives the reassuring perception of order. The choice of a
regulating line fixes the fundamental geometry of the work . . . It is a means
to an end; it is not a recipe.”