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About the Logo University of Florence, Florence, ITALY  The Palazzo Uguccioni faces the side of Palazzo Vecchio, the prominent city hall in Florence, the only example of mid-sixteenth century monumental private architecture amongst the historical administrative and public buildings that shape the well-known Piazza della Signoria. The famous façade is the result of Giovanni Uguccioni's desire to monumentalise the family's residence and was designed some time before 1550 by an architect whose identity is unknown but who surely lived in Rome at the time. While the palace is Florentine in shape - three floors with a heavy basement in rusticated stonework - the undeniable Roman influence shows in the use of the orders: Doric columns for the first floor, Corinthian for the second one. The dimensions and proportions of the façade are much more strongly related to contemporary Italian research in mathematical and architectural aesthetics than to the actual rooms and inner spaces that it had to enclose. The height of the openings hardly match with the height of the floors of the palace. In fact, this drawing makes evident how the designer based his composition on the use of the golden ratio, whose mythical properties had been highlighted by Luca Pacioli in his treatise De divina proportione published in Venice some forty years earlier. The Roman architect was obviously well-versed in geometry and mathematics and acquainted with the greatest artists of his time. The drawing of the façade satisfied the client and pleased the Duke Cosimo I too, who supported Uguccioni's project by smoothing the difficulties with the neighbours throughout the construction. Architectural design based on strong cultural and scientific knowledge is not always a guarantee of long-lasting fame for the author (whose name may soon be forgotten) but ensures the admiration of posterity for the architecture itself. Sylvie Duvernoy |
