Robert Chitham (1935 or 36 – 13 September 2017) was a British architect and writer. He was the author of ''The Classical Orders of Architecture'' published in 1985. A revised edition was published in 2005.British Library catalogue
accessed 11 April 2011 He drew from the diagramming and harmony of proportions of classical forms starting from

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

, to

Palladio Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one ...

, and foremost to

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was a Scottish architect. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transition between English Ba ...

. Chitham was the most recent architect to spell out extensively a more updated, modern, and refined version of classical architecture. Chitham was also the author of ''Measured drawing for architects'', published in 1980. Chitham was a consultant architect to Chapman Taylor, a London-based architectural practice. In this capacity he was responsible in the early 1980s for a scheme to save a large number of historic buildings in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, near the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. He served as chairman of the Register of Architects Accredited in Building Conservation, and was head of the historic buildings division of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

. He was the author of "The Classical Orders of Architecture" (Architectural Press, updated 2005) which provided "an accessible introduction" to the basics of

Classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

.Petter, Hugh,
The Classical Orders of Architecture By Robert Chitham
, ''

Architects' Journal ''Architects' Journal'' is a professional architecture magazine, published monthly in London by Metropolis International. Each issue includes in-depth features on relevant current affairs, alongside profiles of recently completed buildings. Ten t ...

'', 3 March 2005. Retrieved 22 September 2014.

Notes

References

*Chitham, Robert,
The classical orders of architecture
' (2nd edition), Oxford: Architectural Press, 2005, Architects from London 2017 deaths Year of birth uncertain 1930s births {{UK-architect-stub