GUARINO GUARINI'S CHURCH OF SAN LORENZO IN TURIN (ARCHITECTURE, MESSINA, ITALY, MATHEMATICS, OPTICS, PARIS)

The architecture of Guarino Guarini has long been recognized as being related to but distinct from the work of his Roman contemporaries. Several factors contribute to Guarini's artistic independence from the Roman capitol. One is his extensive travels outside Italy, and another is his mathematical knowledge. These influences are seen in the Church of San Lorenzo in Turin. It is Guarini's first design to use conic sections in vaulting, and the first major development of interpenetrating spaces.;Guarini's design differed from contemporary Roman architecture in several respects. One was his conscious adoption of what he perceived to be a Gothic aesthetic of making things seem weak when they were in reality strong. Another was his mathematically inspired dome outline. This dome shape, formed about an ellipsoid of revolution, was not based on any structural formula, but was instead a product of optical and aesthetic considerations. Its geometry is related to the design of the entire church through a complex geometric ordering scheme. Although Guarini modified the proportions of the ordering scheme in later engravings of the design, its geometric organization remained a fundamental part of the church.;Earlier construction on the building site influenced Guarini's design. Porticos were built on the edge of the San Lorenzo site, and in 1664 contracts were awarded for construction of Amedeo Castellamonte's design for the church. When Guarini arrived in Turin in late 1666, some work had already been completed on this project. The lack of accounts for foundation work, different marble inlay patterns at the entrance to the church, and a building outline delineated in the wall mass on the engraved plan in Guarini's treatise all suggest that his design re-used elements of the earlier Castellamonte plan. Guarini was also legally bound to leave room on the site for a new Oratory for the Confraternity of Schiavi, and to leave intact the Santa Scala and Chapel of SS. Sepolcro located in the current vestibule area.