I'm requesting assistance with creating a layout in CSS. Please note that this is not a masonry layout, where the elements in each column operate independently of each other. In the layout I am imagining, an element's position is influenced both by other elements along the block and inline axes.
Imagine 4 HTML elements laid out in a 2x2 grid.
1 23 4Element 3 should always be directly underneath element 1 without any gap in-between.
If the height of element 2 exceeds the height of element 1, element 4 should be directly underneath element 2 without any gap in-between.
![Image describing requirement 2]()
If the height of element 2 is less than the height of element 1, the top of element 4 should vertically align with the top of element 3 (there should be a gap between 2 and 4).
![Image describing requirement 3]()
- Assume the height of 1, 2, 3, and 4 are all unknown, so assume that fixed heights cannot be set on any element.
- Assume JavaScript may not be used.
How would you create this layout using CSS Grid or Flexbox? I've managed to do so with floats (see code snippet), but would prefer to use CSS Grid, Flexbox, CSS Multi-Column, or some other CSS layout method.
.main { width: calc(100% - var(--sidebar-width)); float: left;}.sidebar { width: var(--sidebar-width); float: right;}.one { background: red; aspect-ratio: 3 / 2; /* Simulate an image */}.two { background: green; height: 375px; /* Simulate content */}.three { background: rebeccapurple;}.four { background: darkorange; clear: right;}.five { clear: both; background: gray;}/* CSS Reset / Styling */* { box-sizing: border-box;}body { margin: 0 auto; font-family: system-ui; --sidebar-width: 300px;}h1 { line-height: 1; margin: 0;}.box { padding: 2rem; color: white;}.box span { border-radius: 2px; padding: 0.15em 0.5em; line-height: 1.5; white-space: nowrap;}<div class="box main one"><h1>Box 1</h1></div><div class="box sidebar two"><h1>Box 2</h1></div><div class="box main three"><h1>Box 3</h1><p>This is always directly under <span class="one">box 1</span>.</p></div><div class="box sidebar four"><h1>Box 4</h1><p>This is vertically aligned with the top of <span class="three">box 3</span>, unless <span class="two">box 2</span> pushes it down.</p></div> <div class="box five"><h1>Box 5</h1><p>This is directly under <span class="three">box 3</span> or <span class="four">box 4</span>.</p></div>