Carlo Lodoli

Carlo Lodoli
Portrait of Carlo Lodoli by Alessandro Longhi, 1760s
Born(1690-11-28)November 28, 1690
Died27 October 1761(1761-10-27) (aged 70)
Resting placeConvento di San Francesco Grande (Padua)
NationalityItalian
Occupation(s)Architectural theorist,
architect, Franciscan priest, mathematician, teacher
Notable workApologhi immaginati (1787)
MovementRationalism
Notes
He is known as the Socrates of architecture

Carlo Lodoli (28 November 1690 – October 27, 1761) was an Italian architectural theorist, Franciscan priest, mathematician and teacher, whose work anticipated modernist notions of functionalism and truth to materials. He claimed that architectural forms and proportions should be derived from the abilities of the material being used. He is sometimes referred to as the Socrates of architecture since his own writings have been lost his theories are only known from the works of others. Together with architects and architectural theorists including Claude Perrault, Abbé Jean-Louis de Cordemoy, Abbé Marc-Antoine Laugier, Lodoli articulated a rational architecture which challenged the prevailing Baroque and Rococo styles.