The Genius in the Design

My wife and I are studying Italian.  Or, more precisely, she is studying Italian and I am enjoying attending some Italian classes with her.  Italy is Rika's new thing.  If it pertains to Italy, Italian, or has even a remote connection to Italy or Italian, I can't go wrong.  Apparently this applies to buying books, too.

My wife tolerates my book buying.  She's not as much a reader as I am, so when we're together I don't buy so many books.  I usually just stop by the store on my own, buy what looks good, then mix them up with other books on the shelf.  It's my way of expressing my independence.  Or being immature. 

Then I saw a copy of The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome on sale at the local bookstore.  (You can see the Squidoo lens I made about it here).  I was with Rika, so I just kind of casually pretended I wasn't interested in it.  But when Rika saw me, she didn't give me that look that says, "You don't need that book.  You have a bunch of books you've still not read..."  Instead, she actually said, "Ooh.  I like it!  I'm so excited you're going to read about Italy!"

Women are weird. 

The book, however, is pretty good.  (It reads somewhat like The Devil in the White City , another biographical history book that centers around the creation of an architectural marvel.  I highly recommend this book, too.) 

The Genius in the Design is not fabulously unputdownable, but it's very interesting and I feel like I learned a ton about Rome, the history of the church, Baroque architecture and of course, Bernini and Borromini, the two architects at the center of the book.  I wish it had more pictures, but then again not having them helps the book to read more like historical biography than architectural manual.

Gianlorenzo Bernini is one of the most well-known sculptors and architects in history.  He not only revolutionized sculpture, he was the head architect at St Peters and the most respected architect/artist of his day.  He designed such magnificent spaces as St Peter's Square (Piazza di San Pietro), The Fountain of the Four Rivers (La Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi), and the Scala Regia (the entrance to the Vatican).

Francesco Borromini was perhaps the most inventive architect of his day, though he lacked the personal and social skills of Bernini.  He was the only architect to rival Bernini in both inventiveness and confidence.  And because Bernini was so often chosen over him (and because Bernini failed to give credit where credit was due), Borromini went from a colleague and co-worker of Bernini's to a bitter rival who tried to discredit and disgrace Bernini at any opportunity.

And over 50 years, working virtually side-by-side in the capital of the world, they worked to both out-design and sabotage each others' works and reputations, and in doing so they transformed the city of Rome.  I know I'll be re-reading this book before I make my first trip to Rome.  And I can say that Rome has just climbed much higher up my "places to see next list" as a result of reading this book!

(To see more photos of their works, check out this lens.)