Irregular fortifications in the treatises of military architecture from late 16th to 17th centuries: Digital interpretation through geometrical analysis and parametric modelling

The research proposal has been created within the context of the PRIN2022 INFORTREAT project. The primary objective of this project is to facilitate access to the essential knowledge related to military architecture (as articulated by early modern age treatises) through 3D digital information models. These models can be explored and queried by scholars, professionals, and the community. The current contribution specifically focuses on irregular fortifications – those intended for irregular sites or constructed to strengthen existing irregular fortifications that predominantly possess defensive perimeters not corresponding to regular polygons (e.g., triangles, squares, pentagons, etc.). Moreover, such fortifications exhibited significant interconnections between geometry, architecture, and ballistics, and the research will consider these features jointly. The topic of irregular fortifications began to recur in Western military architecture treatises from the late 16th century, showing how crucial the defense of irregular sites was. In these treatises, irregular fortifications typically appear in discussions after those about regular ones and outworks that characterize new fortification designs. While a considerable amount of scientific literature on regular fortifications in the early modern age exists, both in terms of theory and specific case studies, contemporary studies about the theory of irregular fortifications are quite limited. Therefore, the aim of this research is to identify lines of thought concerning irregular fortifications and to recognise the implementation of defense systems in existing fortified heritage, inspired by particular theories.