When I try to explain in a readily understandable way what I mean by the difference between a unilateral gesture and the value of an architectural project or design, I resort to a simple but, I think, effective parallel. A single column stands for nothing other than itself, and its value is seen only in relation to what is all around it; an obelisk in a plaza is a good example. On the other hand, a sequence of columns aligned and arranged with geometrical rigor, defines, in its entirety, the space and the image of a temple, acquiring, by the effect of reiteration, that aura of ritual spirituality that anyone can recognize. Repetition, which in literature takes the name of alliteration (the first word of every line of a poem starts with the same letter) is a rhetorical artifice capable of rendering a story or a text smooth and pleasing to the ear; most often used in poetry or music (repetition of the same note or chord) to harmonize a particular sequence of symbols or sounds that in their progression form the structure of any creative action.

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