Comprehensive book describes how Filippo Brunelleschi built the dome of Florence's famed cathedral: masonry techniques, construction concepts, and more. 28 halftones. 18 line illustrations.

The great period of Early Renaissance art in Italy was initiated by the architectural, technological, and sculptural achievements of the renowned fifteenth-century Florentine artist Filippo Brunelleschi. Brunelleschi was famous in his own time and has remained so in all succeeding generations, but perpectives on the significance of his accomplishments and on his historical personality have shifted during the six centuries of varied criticism. The selections in this volume, many available in English for the first time, provide a critical panorama of Brunelleschi literature.

- A detailed narration of the life of one of the masters of Renaissance, Filippo Brunelleschi - An interactive way to approach the cultural revolution of the 15th century - Text by Stefania Cottiglia, architecture expert and drawings by Andrea Orani, master of design - Contains a cut-out model of the famous Florentine Dome Written by Stefania Cottiglia, who for years has been unveiling architecture's mysteries to young adults, this book's ambition is to convey the fervor of the Renaissance's cradle through the architect that created its symbol: Brunelleschi and his Dome. The volume is enriched with vivid illustrations created by Andrea Orani, a master of design. The book details Filippo Brunelleschi's ventures: from being a goldsmith apprentice to becoming the winner of the contest for the new door of the Battistero, passing through his Roman period and finishes at his completion of the Dome for Florence's cathedral, which put him in the history books. Step by step, the reader will understand how the Dome symbolized a whole new concept of the world. Thanks to the cut-out model, young readers will be able to build a reproduction of the 'Cupola', becoming active stars of the cultural revolution of the 15th century.

Describes how a fifteenth-century goldsmith and clockmaker, Filippo Brunelleschi, came up with a unique design for the dome to crown Florence's magnificent new cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, in a dramatic study set against the turbulent backdrop of Renaissance Italy.

Building the Italian Renaissance focuses on the competition to select a team to execute the final architectural challenge of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore--the erection of its dome. Although the model for the dome was widely known, the question of how this was to be accomplished was the great challenge of the age. This dome would be the largest ever built. This is foremost a technical challenge but it is also a philosophical one. The project takes place at an important time for Florence. The city is transitioning from a High Medieval world view into the new dynamics and ideas and will lead to the full flowering of what we know as the Renaissance. Thus the competition at the heart of this game plays out against the background of new ideas about citizenship, aesthetics, history (and its application to the present), and new technology. The central challenge is to expose players to complex and multifaceted situations and to individuals that animated life in Florence in the early 1400s. Humanism as a guiding philosophy is taking root and scholars are looking for ways to link the mercantile city to the glories of Rome and to the wisdom of the ancients across many fields. The aesthetics of the classical world (buildings, plastic arts and intellectual pursuits) inspired wonder, perhaps even envy, but the new approaches to the past by scholars such as Petrarch suggested that perhaps the creative classes are not simply crafts people, but men of ideas. Three teams compete for the honor to construct the dome, a project overseen by the Arte Della Lana (wool workers guild) and judged by them and a group of Florentine citizens who are merchants, aristocrats, learned men, and laborers. Their goal is to make the case for the building to live up to the ideals of Florence. The game gives students a chance to enter into the world of Florence in the early 1400s to develop an understanding of the challenges and complexity of such a major artistic and technical undertaking while providing an opportunity to grasp the interdisciplinary nature of major public works.

This well-argued, analytic text provides a greater understanding of spatial issues in the field of architecture. Re-interpreting the fifteenth century demonstration of perspective, Lorens Holm puts it in relation to today’s theories of subjectivity and elaborates for the first time the theoretical link between architecture and psychoanalysis. Divided into three sections, Brunelleschi, Lacan, Le Corbusier argues that perspective remains the primary and most satisfying way of representing form, because it is the paradigmatic form of spatial consciousness. Well-illustrated with over 100 images, this compelling book is a valuable study of this key aspect of architectural study and practice, making it an essential read for architects in their first year or their fiftieth.