«The gallows are scaffolding». Giovanni Battista Piranesi and building techniques in Roman times
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/aespa.084.011.011Keywords:
Roman Architecture, Building Techniques, Mechanisms, Building DynamicsAbstract
This article focuses on a specific aspect of the work of G.B. Piranesi: the knowledge of the technical engineering elements linked to the Venetian author’s education. His entire works have been studied in order to find the greatest number of references to help to understand Roman building technology filtered by the original shape of the designs on the illustrations. In this sense, several groups of graphic representations have been identified allowing us to establish a connection with the world of construction which is evident in all of the illustrations that deal with older buildings. Our goal is to reevaluate the details in the works of Piranesi which try to penetrate in the anatomy of Roman structures aiming to learn and show «how» they were built.
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