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Overall Summary

Ross King wrote an architectural book called Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture (2000). He was praised for making the complex subject of architecture accessible to lay readers. The book won the 2001 Book Sense Book of the Year Award. King is a bestselling nonfiction writer who lectures across Europe and North America. He has given guided tours of architecturally significant buildings, including Rome’s Sistine Chapel and Florence’s cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

The story of the dome is about a man named Filippo Brunelleschi who solved a problem that had plagued architects for more than 100 years. The cathedral was begun in 1296, but no one could figure out how to build and position the dome on top of it. Brunelleschi figured out the solution, which he completed by 1436.

Brunelleschi’s Dome covers Bruneleschi’s life, his upbringing and how it affected his work. The book also touches on the political climate of fifteenth century Florence and how that influenced him. It appeals to people interested in art history as well as those who want to know more about Renaissance Italy.

This article tells the story of a man named Brunelleschi. He had to solve a problem with his engineering for Florence cathedral, which was in need of a dome that would be larger and more impressive than any other dome. The city needed this because they were willing to pay large sums of money for someone who could do it. The buttresses on most buildings at the time weren’t strong enough to support such a structure, but King explains how these buttresses worked and why they were used so frequently during that time period.

The first problem with the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is that it’s too heavy. The second problem is that, even if someone designed a stronger structure to support the dome, no one knows how to physically build it because of its sheer size and bulk.

King says that there was fierce competition among architects in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Florence. Everyone assumed that the winning plan would come from a talented architect living in the city, but no one expected Filippo Brunelleschi to deliver it. King explains that all of the other plans had flaws, while his was flawless.

It’s not surprising that Florence’s important architects, who are unhappy with Brunelleschi, do everything they can to destroy him. They believe his dome is a bad idea and will fail miserably. The Dome is the story of how he defied them all and succeeded in spite of their efforts to ruin his work.

King starts off by describing Brunelleschi’s childhood and his family. He then describes the many contests that Brunelleschi won, but also how people didn’t take him seriously because he had little formal training.

King believes that Brunelleschi’s study of the ancient ruins helped him devise his dome strategy. King notes traces of classical architecture in Brunelleschi’s work, and therefore believes that he found an innovative solution to the dome problem because he exposed himself to fresh ideas and new perspectives. He found new ways to link ideas together.

Brunelleschi didn’t leave behind any plans for the dome, so it’s hard to know exactly how he did it. However, King explains what we do know about Brunelleschi’s design in detail.

First, Brunelleschi created a new hoist system. He designed it to resemble the structures used in Ancient Rome. Second, he made the dome of the cathedral look like a hemisphere. The structure supported itself without flying buttresses.

King is pointing out that Brunelleschi’s mathematical background and artistic inclination were instrumental to his success. Also, he was a proponent of workers’ welfare by ensuring proper breaks, shade and food for them. He never sacrificed quality in efforts to make sure that construction ran smoothly. His concern for these issues made his workers more enthusiastic about their workmanship even though the end product was stunning. Thus King sees him as an influential father of Renaissance architecture despite whatever techniques was used to complete the project successfully.