Material Formalism and Michelangelo’s Architectural Innovation: Rethinking Design Through Paper, Texture, and Craft
This study challenges the long-standing claim that Michelangelo Buonarroti conceptually isolated Ancient Roman architectural forms through abstract ideation. Instead, it argues that Michelangelo’s architectural innovation emerged from close engagement with material conditions rather than purely intellectual abstraction. By reframing his design process through a material lens, the research repositions Michelangelo as a practitioner whose architectural thinking was deeply rooted in tactile interaction, craft, and material affordances.
Reassessing Michelangelo’s Relationship with Antiquity
The paper critically revisits historiographical narratives that portray Michelangelo as reinventing Roman architecture through abstract conceptual manipulation. It proposes that his engagement with Ancient Roman forms was not detached from material reality but grounded in direct interaction with architectural fragments. This reassessment questions canonical interpretations of Renaissance creativity and highlights continuity between material practice and historical transformation.
Material Study of the Codex Coner Sketches
Focusing on Michelangelo’s sketches after the Codex Coner (1515–1518), the study conducts a detailed material analysis of laid paper. It demonstrates how the paper’s physical topography shaped the artist’s manipulation of architectural forms. The sketches are examined not merely as representations but as sites where material constraints and opportunities actively informed architectural experimentation.
Laid- and Chain-Lines as Design Instruments
A key contribution of the research is the identification of laid-lines and chain-lines as previously unrecognized guides in Michelangelo’s architectural thinking. These subtle paper textures functioned as spatial and proportional references, enabling deviations from historical precedent. By revealing this technique, the study uncovers how material surfaces facilitated Michelangelo’s defiance of canonical architectural norms.
Material Formalism as a Research Method
The study introduces and defines “material formalism” as a methodological framework that positions artifacts as active agents in historical inquiry. Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s philosophy of history, this approach seeks to arrest and crystallize historical objects while reading history against the grain. Material formalism allows for a reinterpretation of design processes through the agency of materials themselves.
Repositioning Michelangelo as a Craft Practitioner
Ultimately, the research displaces Michelangelo’s image as a universal genius driven by conceptual abstraction. Instead, it presents him as a design and craft practitioner who discovered architectural ideas through material textures, contingencies, and affordances. This reframing contributes to broader debates in architectural history by emphasizing material intelligence as a source of innovation.
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