Arithmetic, geometry, and measurements in the Baroque building site

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, intellectuals, mathematicians, and military engineers wrote treatises dedicated to the measurement of architecture and fortifications, while the practice of surveying was considered a nearly professional endeavor. Modo di misurare le fabriche (1674) by Guarino Guarini responds to the need for expeditious methods for measuring architectural elements in buildings under construction during the second expansion of Baroque Turin. Dedicated to the measurement of surfaces and volumes, unlike other texts, the treatise devotes very little space to the description of surveying techniques. The work stands out for its absolute novelty in the treatise landscape, as it refers to the construction phase of the architectural process. In this essay, new considerations are developed regarding the relationships between arithmetic, geometry, and measurements, highlighting their connections to the construction of buildings. The analysis carried out underlines the need to read Guarini's writings on architecture as a complementary system of highly integrated knowledge. In particular, the link between geometry and architecture, intrinsic to Guarini's treatises, is expressed in Modo di misurare le fabriche through the concept of measurement.