Parti (architecture)

Producing a quick sketch (esquisse) of the parti was a critical part of architectural training at the Beaux-Arts de Paris during the 19th and early part of the 20th Century.^[5]

In architecture school during the 1900s in the United States, one would have understood the term ‘parti’ as the "main idea" for the planimetric layout of a building. Its roots in the American architectural education system are derived from the Beaux-Arts de Paris. The word "parti" refers to the concept of ‘parti pris’, and refers to the main ‘idea’ of the organizing principle that is embodied in a design and often expressed by a simple geometric diagram. The "parti" often expresses the essence of an architectural design reduced to its essence.^[6]

The parti ^[6] of the Lonja del Comercio building in Havana (in plan) is a perfect square and based on the classic 9 square problem that was used, [1] ^[7][a] among others, by Peter Eisenman to design some of his houses [2] and Andrea Palladio in the design of many of his villas. [3] ^{[8] [b][9]} [4]

• 
  Roman house plan after Vitruvius
• 
  Palladio's plan of the Villa in I quattro libri dell'architettura, 1570
• 
  Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola
• 
  Sebastiano Serlio
• 
  Plan of the Villa Cornaro

• Colin Rowe, “Mathematics of the Ideal Villa,” Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1976). First published in Architectural Review, 1947.
• Wittkower, Rudolf, "Architectural principles in the age of humanism," London, Warburg Institute, University of London, 1949.

• Parti Diagram with Kyle
• How To Think Like An Architect: The Design Process
• Architecture + Diagramming | Let’s Parti On | Vol. 01 | feat. Glenn Murcutt House and Casa da Musica
• Architecture + Diagramming | Let’s Parti On | Vol. 02 | feat. Seattle Library and Chichu Art Museum