IN QUEST OF COMFORT: CARLO LODOLI, THEORIST OF ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE AND FURNITURE DESIGNER

Abstract

Lodoli's subversive doctrine of truth-to-material was the most original and influential aspect of his approach to architecture. His concept of organic architecture, the main focus of this paper, has been less studied and is accordingly less well understood, although it was an important facet of his design theory. Lodoli applied his novel approach most obviously to the design of furnishings, particularly of chairs, but also extended it to architecture in a project for the refurbishment of the pilgrims’ hostel at San Francesco della Vigna, in Venice, the only instance in which he put his architectural ideas into practice. In Lodoli's thinking, great importance was given to the notion of comfort, and in this respect he shared new concerns common among French architects and furniture makers of the Enlightenment. Indeed, his ideas about architecture and design owe much to the influence of the Enlightenment, with its emphasis on reason, truth and universal criticism.