Essence

The essence of a building, is seen where it matters the most, at the places where parts intersect.

Yet, embellishment might mutate what we perceive as its essence. That is, we can only start to read meaning when we move up to the next layer of articulation.

Architecture is quantitative. Funnily enough, that is a linguistic term, even though it sounds mathematical. Numbers work either side of '0'. That is, things are there to be added or subtracted. Architecture too has a datum level from which things are elevated or lowered. There is also a datum of ornamentation, from which we can say there is too much or too little. So much depends on circumstances so each building has to find its own sense of equilibrium. I think this is the Vitruvian concept of 'symmetry'.