early Roman Baroque
play of light and shadow
open room definitions
perpetuating space
interactive architecture
The afore mentioned distrust of straight lines and of the reduced geometric vocabulary of the Renaissance aroused my interest in the early Roman Baroque. During my walks through Rome the meaning and effect of the perceptual adjustments, distortions and helical dynamisation of pure geometries in Mannerism became clear to me. But what impressed me was the vehemence with which the three protagonists, Bernini, Borromini and della Porta, revolutionised the still largely self-contained spatial concept of the late Renaissance within a short space of time. Suddenly I was faced with interlocking volumes, flowing spatial sequences, multiple spatial layering and exploding formations pushing towards infinity. Paolo Portoghesi's thesis of the early Roman Baroque based on the three principles of Infinito, Chiaroscuro and Transvalutazione inspired me to numerous drawings.
Chiaroscuro is often understood to mean the fine gradation of the grey scale between dark and light. I was particularly interested in what was behind the nuanced shading in the façade structures and sculptures of Roman Baroque. With the Chiaroscuro of the early Roman Baroque, a completely new tonal space was created. This tonality is no longer defined as an in-between. Rather it represents an endless gradation that ranges from a medium grey, on one side to an infinite light, and on the other to an infinite dark. The familiar interplay of light and shadow thus only becomes the visible area between two intangible extremes. This can be interpreted as an analogy to our existence, which moves between the infinite darkness of empty space of the universe and the infinite lightness of the sun, but also between a past and future that are unimaginably distant in time.
When drawing, I often had the desire to be able to work on a sheet that extended into infinity without borders in order to do justice to the spatial demands of early Roman Baroque. In Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses, the horizontally cantilevered roof elements pointing from the centre of the house to the horizon create a comparable effect. However, the quality of Infinito does not only refer to unlimited spatial definitions, as in the shell shapes oft he Tritone fountain in Piazza Barberini, but also in façades that pulsate backand forth and elude any frontality, as in San Carlino.
The spatial concept of Sant Ivo is based on a quality of Infinito that can develop in a limited space. The floor plan of Sant Ivo is based on two concentrically superimposed isosceles triangles. The geometry prevents the absides from finding a suitable counterpart to form a static spatial reference. Each concave abside is opposed by a convex one, which throws the "spatialpressure" back onto the lateral space-bundling absides. This creates a repetitive movement in the room. The space oscillates perpetually within itself, so to speak. It is astonishing how Borromini, with his incredible senseof plasticity and lighting, transfers the convex absides into the domed segments. In this directionless spatial structure, however, the main axis between the portal and the main altar had to be emphasised. Borromini used a floor covering orientated at 45° in a hexagonal geometry, which we know from the earlier Swiss 100 franc bank note. The two geometries are only aligned on one axis of the main altar, emphasising its importance as the main axis of the entire complex.
During my almost daily walks and sketch tours through Baroque Rome, I was able to experience the dynamic interactive quality of the early Baroque of Borromini and Bernini. The rejection of any static frontality of the façade of Santa Agnese in Piazza Navona can only be understood by a viewer moving along the length of the square, with the three domes and the low-set centre parapetof the façade in view. The theatrical effect of the architectural and culptural elements, which move laterally like parts of a stage set, is based solely on the central risalit, which Borromini arched back by around 1.5 metres. And it becomes clear why Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi cannot be aligned with the façade axis.
