As one of the guiding principles of architecture, datum is an abstracted guide that serves as an anchor that ties seperate elements of a design together. Examples of datum could be a central axis or point that the elements of a structure revolve around. The use of datum is as old as the Roman Empire, as Roman military colonies would anchor their towns on two bisecting lines: the cardo line that runs from north to south and the decumanus line that runs from east to west. In the Roman city of Timgad, the cardo line and the decumanus line were used as a reference point for how the city would grow. Aerial pictures of Timgad show an outward spread from these two bisecting lines. Similarly, in a present day structure such as the Gasholder Apartments, the central circle seems to be the central point in which the rest of the structure is based off. The School in Paspels uses a reoccuring plane to anchor the different elements down, all of which seem to be windows.
9 // ABSTRACTION
George Steinmetz (Photographer) Unknown Aerial view of Roman military colony Timgad
DATUM
