The numberable architecture of leon battista alberti as a universal sign of order and harmony

Abstract

I must confess that my interest in the mutual relationships between mathematics and architecture has been tied for many years to practical matters of building and restoration. I began to radically transform my attitude (that is, to comprehend the difference between using mathematics to solve problems and conceiving problems in terms of a mathematical order) when I was charged with the care of the last imposing and complex edifice designed by Leon Battista Alberti, the Basilica of S. Andrea in Mantua. Assuming responsibility for the restoration, and attempting to ensure that even the smallest element whichmight contain clues helpful in the restoration process would not be disturbed, led me to seek to discover just how much of the project conceived by Alberti, the father of modern architecture, is still discernible today.