The Seven Lamps of Architecture Author:John Ruskin The Seven Lamps of Architecture is one of Ruskin's most famous works and contains many ideas that have had a great influence upon 19th and 20th century architecture. The seven lamps that he enumerates are Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and Obedience. Ruskin distinguishes very carefully between architecture and mere building. A... more » true architecture must dignify and ennoble public life. It must not adulterate the nature of the material it uses. It must be vital, powerful and capable of perpetuating as living history the society which produced it. One hundred years after its first publication, The Seven Lamps of Architecture still remains a basic handbook of architectural principles.« less