Project description
Reassessing early modern architecture through mechanical drawings
The mechanical drawings found in Italian architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries are generally considered to lack artistic value due to their widespread presence and less refined subject matter. While replicating these drawings has historically been viewed as questionable, there is a notable lack of research concerning the imitative methods employed in early modern architecture. The ERC-funded CCPEMA project hypothesises that mechanical drawing techniques, particularly those involving manual replication and direct tracing, formed the foundation of early modern architectural education predating the establishment of formal architecture schools. It will identify visually and technically interconnected images, explore the intellectual aspects of design training and uncover the collaborative frameworks inherent in architectural production.
Objective
This project advances the hypothesis that techniques of mechanical drawing, and specifically, drawings produced by manual copying and direct tracing, served as the bedrock of early modern architectural education prior to the advent of formal schools of architecture. The normative histories of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian architecture have relegated drawings of mechanical subject matter (construction machinery, scaffolding systems, structural diagrams, military devices) to a lower, non-artistic status. These drawings are deemed inferior not only due to their subject matter, but also due to their ubiquity; the mechanical drawings used by early modern architects were widely circulated and routinely copied. Indeed, copying drawings and traces have long been considered corrupt. In the foundational discussions of disegno (the practice and product of drawing), Giorgio Vasari explicitly ridiculed copying practices, and the “infinite” number of substandard artists who employ techniques of tracing. In turn, he celebrated drawings that were demonstratively autograph or individual as the embodiment of their creator’s singular “genius.” This framework lay the foundation for modern history’s critical assessment of drawings and cemented the idealization of early modern Italy’s “great” architects. While recent decades have seen a notable increase in research on techniques of copying and tracing in the study of early modern painting, there remains a critical absence of scholarship that examines the derivative practices that underscored early modern architecture. Looking beyond anachronistic conceptions of “art,” “architecture,” and “engineering” and examining a broader corpus of early modern architectural drawings. Identifying images that are formally and technically related in their execution, the project investigates the intellectual processes of design training and brings to light the collaborative frameworks of architectural production.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
9000 GENT
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.