The shadow of Euclid on architecture (Q2249489)

The authors carefully studied two early books about architecture namely ``De architectura libri decem'' by Vitruvius (20 BC) and ``Livre de portraiture'' by Villard de Honnecourt (1250 AD). They looked for evidence of explicit influence of the Euclidean geometry on Gothic architecture in northern Europe. The final conclusion is rather disappointing: ``There is no evidence of a fundamental concrete influence. The notions of theoretical geometry in the two books are no more than a shadow of Euclid's geometry''.