In Resolution des quatre principaux problemes d’architecture (1673) then in Cours d’architecture (1683), the architect–mathematician Nicolas-Francois Blondel addresses one of the most famous architectural problems of all times, that of the reduction in columns (entasis). The interest of the text lies in the variety of subjects that are linked to this issue. (1) The text is a response to the challenge launched by Curabelle in 1664 under the name Etrenne a tous les architectes; (2) Blondel mathematicizes the problem in the “style of the Ancients”; (3) The problem is reformulated and solved through the continuous drawing of the curve; (4) Blondel refutes the uniqueness of the curve by enumerating a variety of solutions (conchoid, spiral, parabola, ellipse, circle, hyperbola). This exuberance responds to an intention that does not coincide with the state of the art of mathematics at the end of the seventeenth century, nor with the taste for geometry of the Ancients, nor with any pedagogical project. This feature is explained by Blondel’s plan to found architecture on scientific bases. The reasons for his failure are analysed.

中文翻译：

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数学与建筑：le trace de l'entasis par Nicolas-François Blondel

在 Resolution des quatre principaux problemes d'architecture (1673) 和 Cours d'architecture (1683) 中，建筑师兼数学家 Nicolas-Francois Blondel 解决了有史以来最著名的建筑问题之一，即柱子的减少（entasis ）。文本的兴趣在于与这个问题相关的各种主题。(1) 文本是对 Curabelle 于 1664 年以 Etrenne a tous les architectes 的名义发起的挑战的回应；(2) Blondel 以“古人的风格”将问题数学化；(3) 通过连续绘制曲线，重新表述和解决问题；(4) Blondel 通过列举各种解（贝壳状、螺旋状、抛物线、椭圆、圆、双曲线）来驳斥曲线的唯一性。这种繁荣与一种与 17 世纪末数学艺术的状态、古代人对几何学的品味以及任何教学计划都不相符的意图做出了回应。Blondel 在科学基础上建立架构的计划解释了这一特征。分析了他失败的原因。