Leon Battista Alberti

Leon Battista Alberti- Renaissance Master

Born in Genoa in 1404, Alberti was the son of a wealthy Florentine father who's impact on design is unquantifiable. Joining the Papal court as a young man he became interested in ancient ruins which sparked off his love affair with architecture and design. He was also athletic and well read. He in fact wrote a play that was so good it was passed off as classical literature to audiences. He wrote books on painting, and in 1438 was given his first architectural commission, a triumphal arch to support a statue. From this small start he worked his way into the role of architectural advisor to Pope Nicholas V.

Pallazo Rucellai-Florence-An Urban Design Blueprint

His Rucellai Palace of 1486 was his first proper commission and one that would influence western architecture and urban design for 500 years. In 1452 he completed his 'Treatise on Architecture' inspired by the work of Vitruvius, the book is still on the reading list of every Architecture course in the world. His church of Santa Maria Novella is the inspiration for countless churches that followed with its classical scrolls that bridge the nave with the lower aisles.

Santa Maria Novella Church- Inspiration for countless churches since

Alberti was also an avid artist in the humanist tradition. His life's accomplishments cover a vast array of disciplines from cryptography, poetry, prose, sculpture and philosophy. Like the other renaissance masters of his day he was a leading light in a world coming to grips with science and the changing world view of an increasingly intellectually informed populace. To say Alberti did his time justice is an understatement, he helped define it, and his work still resonates with architects, designers and urban planners as contextual, elegant and beautiful. His work bridged the ancient world of privilege and palaces with the increasingly modern world of city streets and merchant houses. He designed the houses and helped the merchants fill them with his books and paintings and helped define what urban design is today. The true Renaissance Master.

Ref- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Battista_Alberti