For the third task of “friends with an old book” as a first step, I tried to read the pages I had chosen for the previous assignments, and being a book by an Italian author I did not find it too difficult to understand the themes and key words (I am a native Italian speaker). I then decided to make a list of terms that had to do with the content of ‘Dispareri in materia di architettura et perspettiva’, from Martino Bassi. The first words I looked for were therefore those inherent to the title: dispareri (disagreements), perspettiva (perspective). Other words that I wanted to explore further through the conversation with Alice were: mistakes, different opinions/viewpoints, truth, Tibaldi, letters, public opinion, dome of Milan/Milan Cathedral, criticism, etc… As I mentioned earlier this work is a collection of letters between the writer and several experts of different fields about the construction of the Dome of Milan. Martino Bassi didn’t agree with how Tibaldi built the Dome. That is why he wanted to ask for the opinions of several people and then succeed in reaching a majority and thus be right.
I managed to find the first book related to mine via the term “Milan cathedral” and topic of the conversation: “ragione”. The book is “Leon Battista Alberti”, from Grafton and the quote When construction at Milan Cathedral came to a halt around 1400, for example, the architects associated with the project engaged in sharp public debates about what form of arch was the strongest. shows how the debate on architectural matters was very present.
The second book, “Architecture Culture ” from Ockmann, I found by asking Alice “different opinion” in terms of “perspective”.
From all this it may be deduced that, in my opinion, among the many different paths that each thinking architect will choose to follow there must be something in common, something which must be in all of us; and here I return to the beginning of what I have written; this I have done without wishing to give anybody a lesson, but only with a profound and sincere conviction.
This book affirms how architects have changed their way of thinking over time, yet it is important to have a basic opinion and conviction.