FRANSCESCO BORROMINI (1599-1667)

AR1950 RAHUL PANDAV

AR1954 BRINDA PATEL
AR1956 HETVI PATEL
AR1959 KEKIN PATEL
AR1968 KWINS RAMOLIYA
AR1971 AYUSHI RATHOD
AR1974 PARTHIT SANGANI
INTRODUCTION
 He was the son of a stonemason and began his career as a stonemason himself. He
soon went to milan to study and practice his craft. He moved to rome in 1619 and
started working for carlo maderno.
 Borromini's real name was francesco castelli. Once he had become established in
rome, he changed his name from castelli to borromini.
 He worked with gian lorenzo bernini on the design of the famous baldachin in st.
Peter basilica .
 The two later became bitter rivals.

 Francesco borromini was the master of curved-wall architecture.

 He was influenced by the architecture of michelangelo and the ruins of antiquity.

His architecture employs manipulations of classical architectural forms, geometrical
rationales with symbolic meanings behind his buildings.
 Classical architectural forms, geometrical rationales in his plans and symbolic
meanings in his buildings.
SANT IVO ALLA SAPIENZA

Location : Rome, Italy.

Architecture style : baroque architecture
Built up year : 1642-1660 
Building type : church
In the 14th century, there was a chapel here for the palace of the university
of rome. The university is called la sapienza, and the church was dedicated
to saint ivo.
When a design was commissioned from borromini in the 17th century, he
adapted to the already existing palazzo. He chose a plan resembling a star of
david - which would have been recognized at the time as a star of solomon,
symbolizing wisdom - and merged a curved facade of the church with the
courtyard of the palace.
PLAN

• The plan of sant’ivo, as it appears in the archives of albertina in vienna could

well be graphically analyzed, both as an equilateral triangle with some
niches, or as a six-pointed star with some sides curved.
• The church is the smaller "flower-like" dome in the center, between the
massive pantheon dome and piazza navona. It is located between corso del
rinascimento and via della scrofa (east), closer to the latter street.
• The church rises at the end of a courtyard, known as the courtyard
of giacomo della porta.
•  The façade is concave, molding the church into the courtyard as if
completing it rather than disrupting it. 
• The façade itself looks like a continuation of the courtyard arches except
with the openings filled in with small windows, a door, and a larger glass
window above the door. 

 AXIS
SYMMETRY
REPITATION
 COURTYARD
•  Above the façade is a large parapet structure
so that only the higher stages of the church is
seen past the façade.
• A key exterior aspect is the top of the church:
the lantern of sant'ivo is topped with a spiral
shape, surmounted by a cross.
INTERIOR AND GEOMETRY

• The interior of sant'ivo is unique because of the shapes incorporated into

the rotunda.
• For sant'ivo, borromini did not blend the different shapes as he usually did.
• The rotunda of sant'ivo is contrived of distinct shapes, a triangle with its
three angles cut as if bitten off, and semi-circles located in between the
triangle’s three lines.
• The sharper abrupt geometrical bends in sant'ivo, exhibit harmony between
the sharp edges and the curves and spheres.
• Borromini utilized curves (semi-circles) and edges (clipped triangle tips)
in equal amounts to define the shape of the rotunda.
• This blending of edges and curves is arguably borromini’s most
distinguishable signature.
ROTUNDA
ROTUNDA

• Another detail is that windows associated

with the round sections of the dome are
larger than those associated with the
edges. One of the edgy sections is where
the entrance is located while the altar is
located on the opposite end, a round
section.
• Through the perforations in the lantern,
sunlight illuminates the dome through an
oculi. 
•  Francesco borromini had a talisman with
the shape of a flying bee installed in the
roof of the lantern as this is a symbol of
the family of urban viii barberini who
patronized the construction of sant'ivo.
INTERIOR

• The aisles of arches surrounding the right and left wings of the bird or of
sant'ivo are themselves not halted by the church.
• Here, the space between the arches and the walls in the aisles still
continues past the church’s sides.
• Each aisle has a single lateral entrance to the church. These hindered side
entrances lead to hexagonal rooms (one on each side), and these hexagonal
rooms are connected to the rotunda as well as the smaller façade windows.
• Behind the altar to the rear of the church lies two more hexagonal rooms
with windows aligned on the back.
• To the rear wings of the altar are the passages leading to the two separate
hexagonal rear rooms.
INTERIOR
• The inside walls and dome of the rotunda were covered by borromini with
sculptures and motifs.
• On each edgy and round section there are columns of stars leading up to an
angel’s face with wings.
• One close observable difference between the round segments and the edgy
ones is that the round ones exhibit a motif of six eggs in a pyramid formation
with three crowns holding them together while the edgy segments exhibit a
bouquet of flowers held together by a single crown.
SAN C A R L O A L L E Q U AT T R O FONTANE

ARCHITECT : Francesco Borromini

DESIGNED IN : 1634
BUILT IN : 1682
LOCATION : Rome, Italy

•Borromini's first independent commission

•This tiny church, along with its courtyard, is one of the
most important monuments of the baroque style in
Rome.
The church stands in the
corner, while the cloister of
the convent is situated next to
it, on the Via del Quirinale.
After the convent Borromini
proposes the creation of a
garden.
The oval floor of the dome is
inscribed within a rectangular
structure in combination with
the shape of a rhombus
whose vertices correspond
rounded to the entrance, the
side chapels and the main
altar.
The plan of the dome is formed by two tangent circles, arcs unit tangent
circumference to both turn.
The resulting figure is not an ellipse but an oval shape.
 Borromini design the roof of the dome
of San Carlo with coffered equally as
they did the Romans, to lighten the
weight of the structure. The structure is
made of brick, while the interior is made
of stucco and limestone facade.
Borromini also preferred the low quality
materials rather than the expensive,
since it could enhance its qualities
through art and work. This can be seen
inside the church where the sobriety of
white stuccoed contrasts with the wealth
of material from other works of the time.

AXIS SYMMETRY
HIERARCHY
 2/3rd of the
square

The plan and section show the layout of the

cramped and difficult site.
The church itself is only 66 feet wide and 39 feet
long – deeming a non-classic plan vital.
The baroque style introduced curves and ovals,
AXIS which Borromini combined with cubic elements
SYMMETRY to create a floor plan that fit the awkward site's
REPETITION requirements.
Many baroque architects during the seventeenth century
focused their design basis to fall in line with proportions of the
human body.
Borromini was non-classical in the sense that he based his
designs on geometric figures.
The interior of the church complex consists of three parts: the
base, the dome and the transition zone between these two.
The altar is located on the main axis of the plant, on the
opposite side to the entrance. The altars are dedicated to San
Miguel de los Santos and San Juan Bautista de la Concepción.
Around the church there are a total of sixteen Corinthian
columns supporting a large entablature.
These elements are placed with respect to a particular
geometry creating a rhythm.
Above one in two columns and the entablature born each of
the four arches that create the base of the dome of the church.
The coffered dome octagonal shaped in the likeness of the
Baths of Diocletian and the Basilica of Maxentius.
These octagonal coffered
combined with other cross-
shaped and other hexagonal.
They are decreasing in size as
the dome is closed at its upper
end.
The dome is illuminated through
windows located at the bottom
and vertical windows located on
the tops flashlight.
Light hierarchies spaces of the
church, being the most
illuminated the top of the dome,
where it represents the Holy
Spirit, having somewhat less
light the base of the dome, and
being the darkest part of the
bottom of the church.
THANK YOU