In the early 1500’s Michelangelo and Leonardo were both commissioned to paint a large mural in the Council Hall of Florence – on opposite walls! Michelangelo was 25 years old and Leonardo was 48. But greater differences existed; the differences of painting techniques.

Michelangelo painted in the tradition of Disegno, while Leonardo painted in Sfumato, a technique he has been attributed as inventing. Neither artist ever finished their mural.

In this studio we will look closely at the differences between these two approaches and their implications today for architecture. Specifically we will track these differences through the polar opposites of:

Disegno – Sfumato
Conceptual – Perceptual
Object/form – Place/form
Abstraction – Physical
Autonomy – Interdependence