GLI STRUMENTI SUL TAVOLO DELL’ARCHITETTO IN EPOCA MODERNA. THE TOOLS ON THE DRAWING BOARD IN EARLY MODERN PERIOD

The paper adresses the theme of the architect’s profession in Italy, in the early modern era, on its evolution and its relationship to society. My investigation focuses particularly on the tangible and intangible tools of the architect of the time, in order to better identify them and refine the understanding of their role in professional practice. Some technical and operational aspects of his daily professional practice, such as practical arithmetic, techniques of survey with the compass, the graphic transposition of this survey, the drawing method, including certain graphic conventions still in use today, the “metric” scale system, and the paper models, are illustrated. Baldassarre Peruzzi’s activity will be used as a case study, focusing on the design process and on the analysis of the drawings in their materiality.