Brunelleschi: The Architect

FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI (1377-1446) is mainly known as the inventor of the Renaissance style of architecture, but he was actually the first one to apply the mathematical laws of three dimensional perspective to two dimensional surfaces (painting, drawings). Brunelleschi was trained as a goldsmith and sculptor, and became architect only when he reached forty years of age, but his subsequent 25 years were spent busily working on building projects. Brunelleschi introduced the use of classical elements in architecture, heavily influencing the patrons and architects throughout Europe of the 1400's. The new buildings were conceived on a human scale, where streets, buildings and plazas were planned in relation to human beings. In fact, Brunelleschi's ideas had repercussions on the ideas of modern urban design; buildings, streets and plazas were no longer seen as mere single elements but as part of a cohesive and harmonic whole for the benefit of the public.
We propose a tour with some of the Great Florentine Architect's more famous works:

Basilica di San Lorenzo e Sacrestia Vecchia
To fully understand the revolution in architecture begun by Brunelleschi, we need to look at the style of the Gothic churches at the time Brunelleschi was working. If we look at the interior of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, we are immediately struck by the difference from the Gothic style of just a few decades earlier; the essential design and beautiful harmony is almost closer to a modern building rather than one built five centuries ago.

Ospedale degl'Innocenti
In the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata one can find the portico the Hospital of the Innocents, the first Florentine work done by Brunelleschi . It is exactly in this portico that we see the seeds of Brunelleschi's new style: the portico is designed in relation to the square, the portico itself is made of round arches, classical columns and capitals, and the cube is used as a repetitive module which harmonically unites the rest of the structure.

La cupola della Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore
Brunelleschi's dome, built for the Cathedral of Florence, is really what marks the beginning of the Renaissance and the bridge to the present day. Brunelleschi pulled off a major engineering feat by constructing a dome of immense height and width, the biggest of the 1400's. Brunelleschi used a new method of construction to lighten the immense weight of the dome, a very individual an innovative solution for those times. Scholars are still studying today his incredibly original and complex system of building techniques.