Open space
Keywords: venue, relation, public
A main theme in this work of Giovanni Battista Falda is the open spaces all over Rome. He shows their importance and how they relate to the buildings around them. The perspective and position he chooses to draw the space show not only the character of the venue but also the grand and dominant effect of the building located next to it.
In most of the drawings, the buildings’ facade is the center of the image. It seems Falda made an apparent decision which of the buildings and facade is important and placed that one front facing. This way the focus of the observer is first drawn to that front facing facade, then to the whole building which is drawn in a two-point-perspective. The whole building appears important and dominant. Although the buildings have a dominant role in the image, I think the way he placed the open spaces in the foreground lets the observer know the importance they have. By giving so much meaning to the open space in front of the building, the focus and statement changes.
To show the quality of the open space, he draws figures. People in different size groups talking to each other, pointing at things which in some cases make it seem as if they are talking about the building in front of them. But not only people but also dogs, horses, carriages and other everyday objects are drawn. The ground doesn’t seem necessarily hard or that it is made of stone. In some images you can see the tracks carriages left behind. This lets the observer imagine the busy everyday life which takes place on that venue. This gives the whole situation its character. The figures also help to show the height and proportions of the building. The observer of the image can now imagine the effect the building would have. Through drawing the open space intentionally, he also shows the relation between the different buildings around the open space. It shows how far apart they are from each other therefore the amount of open space between them.
To give a better view into the complete surrounding of a public open space, Falda chooses to draw certain spaces out of two different perspectives instead of only one. This lets us see how spacious the place is and where the different access possibilities to the spaces are. He uses a monument or a fountain as a guide in the two different images to help the observer understand where in the venue he is situated. In the book, these images are placed with one blank page between them.