Rectangular Ratios in the Design of Villas from Serlio’s Manuscript for Book VII of Architecture

Abstract

The object of the research is to recognize the application of the seven rectangular ratios described by Serlio in Book I on Geometry (1545) in the designs of the 24 villas presented in the Vienna Manuscript (Codex Ser. n. 2649 conserved in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, preparatory to his Book VII on Architecture published posthumously in 1575). These ratios, of which Serlio foresees the use in the proportioning of rooms, correspond in part to the seven room shapes described by Palladio (I quattro libri dell’architettura. Venice, de Franceschi, 1570). The Vienna Manuscript provides descriptions both textual and graphic of the models of villas that constitute the basis of graphic analyses and examinations regarding criteria for composition and distribution for the Serlian designs, with the identification of the simple geometries that give shape to the individual rooms and possible criteria that guide the juxtaposition.