Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an influential Italian artist known for his etchings of Rome and imaginary prisons, blending art, architecture, and archaeology. He emphasized the importance of classical forms and their simplification, aiming for an architecture rooted in nature, as articulated by Marc-Antoine Laugier in his essay on architecture. Laugier proposed a return to the fundamental elements of architecture, focusing on the primitive hut as the ideal conceptual model.

1. Presented by :
Ar.Shruti

3. • Giovanni
Battista
(also
Giambattista)
Piranesi
(4
October
1720
–
9
November
1778)
was
an
Italian
artist
famous
for
his
etchings
of
Rome
and
of
fictitious
and
atmospheric
"prisons"

4. — Giovanni
Ba)sta
Piranesi
was
a
mul3-­‐
talented
and
accomplished
man
of
the
enlightenment
who
combined
supreme
ar3s3c
ability
and
historical
scholarship
with
an
entrepreneurial
business
sense.
—
He
was
at
once
an
ar3st,
architect,
archeologist,
designer,
collector,
and
print
and
an3qui3es
dealer.
Many
consider
him
one
of
the
most
influen3al
ar3sts
in
the
development
and
populariza3on
of
the
neoclassical
style
of
the
late
18th
century.
— Characteris3cs
of
Piranesi’s
early
works
were
“the
unorthodox
combina3on
of
classical
mo3fs,
the
manipula3on
of
superhuman
scale,
the
organiza3on
of
powerfully
receding
perspec3ves
upon
diagonal
axes,
and
the
modula3on
of
space
by
means
of
skilful
ligh3ng.”
— Piranesi
etched
and
published
numerous
folio
print
sets
of
art,
architecture
and
archaeology
of
Rome
and
environs,
that
served
as
source
material
for
other
architects
and
designers.

13. — Born
January
22,
1713
in
Manosque,
Provence
— Family
of
upper-­‐class
bourgeoisie
— Studied
at
ages
14-­‐17
at
college
at
Avignon
to
become
a
Jesuit
priest,
then
on
to
Lyons,
Province.
— Par3cipated
in
public
educa3on
with
the
Jesuits
— Developed
interest
in
architecture
and
began
discovering
buildings
on
his
own.
— Spoke
publicly
to
the
king
and
his
consorts
regarding
religious
and
poli3cal
problems
— .
— Died
April
5,
1769
in
Paris,
France

14. — Interna3onal,
intellectual
movement
likely
beginning
with
the
poli3cal,
economical,
moral
and
religious
struggles
in
Britain
and
France.
— Believed
in
reason
(science
and
thinking),
rather
than
faith
or
tradi3on:
The
Ra3onalist
movement
— The
Enlightenment’s
Creed:
“Sapere
aude!”
(“Dare
to
know!)
— Enlightenment
is
man’s
release
from
his
self-­‐incurred
tutelage.
Tutelage
is
man’s
inability
to
make
use
of
his
understanding
without
direc3on
from
another.”
Immanuel
Kant,
1784
Denis
Diderot
Immanuel
Kant
Jean-­‐Jacques
Rosseau
Voltaire
“…it
is
above
all
important
to
think.”
-­‐Laugier

15. — Chapter
I:
General
Principles
of
Architecture
— Ar3cle
I:
The
Column
— Ar3cle
II:
The
Entablature
— Ar3cle
III:
The
Pediment
— Ar3cle
IV:
The
Different
Stories
of
a
Building
— Ar3cle
V:
Windows
and
Doors
• Chapter
II:
The
Different
Architectural
Orders
– Article
I:
What
All
Orders
Have
in
Common
– Article
II:
The
Doric
Order
– Article
III:
The
Ionic
Order
– Article
IV:
The
Corinthian
Order
– Article
V:
The
Different
Kinds
of
Composite
– Article
VI:
How
to
Enrich
the
Various
Orders
– Article
VII:
On
Buildings
without
any
Orders
• Chapter
III:
Observations
on
the
Art
of
Building
– Article
I:
On
the
Solidity
of
Buildings
– Article
II:
On
Convenience
– Article
III:
On
How
to
Observe
Bienseance
in
Buildings
• Chapter
IV:
On
the
Style
in
Which
to
Build
Churches
• Chapter
V:
On
the
Embellishment
of
Towns
– Article
I:
On
Entries
of
Towns
– Article
II:
On
the
Layout
of
Streets
– Article
III:
On
the
Decoration
of
Buildings
• Chapter
VI:
On
the
Embellishment
of
Gardens

16. — Founded
on
simple
nature.
Nature
indicates
its
rules.
— Example:
The
Primi3ve
Hut
— Tells
story
of
primi3ve
man
seeking
shelter
and
building
out
of
necessity.
— What
this
man
built
became
the
basis
for
all
architecture
— The
Hut
is
made
of
the
following
architectural
elements:
— The
column
— The
entablature
— The
pediment

17. — Marc-­‐Antoine
Laugier’s
Essay
on
Architecture
(1755)
had
a
profound
impact
on
all
architectural
theories
from
the
moment
of
publica3on.
Within
its
pages
Laugier
called
for
the
simplifica3on
of
architecture.
To
remove
all
the
ornate
Baroque
and
Rococo
elements
and
create
architecture
that
everyone
can
understand
and
read
the
structure
with
ease.
— He
turned
to
the
Classical
architecture
of
the
Greek
and
Roman
world;
here
he
saw
a
perfect
reference
to
the
ideal
of
the
primi%ve
hut.
—
The
primi%ve
hut
in
Laugier’s
mind
stood
on
columns
of
tree
trunks
with
a
simple
gable
(pediment)
roof.
Columns
were
a
key
factor
to
his
idea
of
architectural
perfec3on;
they
had
to
be
ver3cal,
free
standing,
and
they
had
to
be
round,
for
as
he
states
“as
nature
forms
nothing
square.”
—
Laugier
fails
to
look
beyond
Europe
when
he
speaks
of
an
ideal
architecture,
and
he
surveys
no
further
then
the
forest
for
the
‘natural’;
one
of
nature’s
simplest
compound
NaCl,
or
salt,
as
well
as
other
crystalline
rocks,
grow
square.

18. • Architecture
was
founded
on
simple
nature.
• Laugier
wanted
a
"more
rigorous"
understanding
of
architecture
and
ornament:
look
for
precedents
for
classical
architecture
at
the
absolute
roots
of
history.
• He
searched
for
absolute
beauty,
which
in
his
primitive
hut
came
from
nature.
Was
rooted
in
functional
or
structural
basis.
(This
theory
was
the
basis
of
the
so-­‐called
Rationalist
movement.)
• Little
basis
in
archeology
or
fact,
and
tangental
basis
in
historical
text

19. •
Like
Vitruvius,
Laugier
places
the
origins
of
architectural
forms
in
nature:
the
first
dwelling
was
built
in
the
forest,
with
branches
and
trees.
•
This
differs
from
the
previous
theories
of
Vitruvius
in
one
important
aspect:
the
hut
is
an
abstract
concept
as
much
as
it
is
a
material
construction.
•
The
Primitive
Hut
represents
the
first
architectural
idea.
•
Shows
beginnings
of
an
understanding
of
column,
entablature,
and
pediments.
Future
architecture
is
based
on
these
principles.

20. Article
I:
The
Column
• Columns
must:
– Be
strictly
perpendicular
to
the
ground
– Be
free-­‐standing,
to
be
expressed
in
a
natural
way
– Be
round,
because
nature
makes
nothing
square
– Be
tapered
from
bottom
to
top
in
imitation
of
plants
in
nature
– Rest
directly
on
the
floor
• The
faults:
– “Being
engaged
in
the
wall”
is
a
fault
because
it
detracts
from
the
overall
beauty
and
aesthetic
nature
of
columns.
– The
use
of
pilasters
should
strictly
be
frowned
upon
especially
since
in
nearly
every
case
columns
could
be
used
instead.
– Setting
columns
upon
pedestals
is
“like
adding
a
second
set
of
legs
beneath
the
first
pair.”

21. Article
II:
The
Entablature
• The
Entablature
must:
– always
rest
on
its
columns
like
a
lintel
– In
its
whole
length
it
must
not
have
any
corner
or
projection
• The
Faults:
– Instead
of
a
beam-­‐like
structure
it
becomes
an
arch
• Against
nature
because:
– require
massive
piers
and
imposts
– They
become
pilasters
– Force
columns
to
give
lateral
support;
columns
are
meant
to
give
vertical
support
only.
– Not
straight,
but
broken
with
angles
and
projections
• Why?
“Never
put
anything
into
a
building
for
which
one
cannot
give
a
sound
reason.”
Nature
is
so,
buildings
should
also
be.

22. Article
III:
The
Pediment
• The
Pediment
must:
– represent
the
gable
of
the
roof
– never
be
anywhere
except
across
the
width
of
a
building.
– be
above
the
entablature
• The
faults:
– To
erect
the
pediment
on
the
long
side
of
a
building.
– To
make
non-­‐triangular
pediments
• Should
not
be
curved,
broken
nor
scrolled
– To
pile
pediments
on
top
of
each
other

23. — THANK
YOU