Surveying and 3D Modelling of the Andrea Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. First Studies on Geometric Analysis and Perspectives

The subject of the research is the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, designed by Andrea Palladio. The work is of great importance for the cavea geometric features and to the design of illusory scenes: it shows the maturation of Palladio in the design and practice of theatrical apparatus, after also an in deep analysis of the Vitruvian prescriptions, which in his De Architectura's Book V, provides some geometric rules for theatre’s architectural design. The Teatro has a "semi-elliptical" cavea with a Corinthian colonnade and an attic floor. In front of the cavea there are the proscenio and the frons scenae which introduced spectators to the illusory scenography and the solid perspectives built by Scamozzi to inaugurate the theatre. The work is thus characterized as a case study of great singularity, both in terms of the close connection with the design theory of such spatial solutions and the accurate analysis that can be made with the emerging technologies of 3D scanning and advanced content fruition workflow. The application of new technologies has made it possible to determine accuracy of geometry as compared to previous drawings, which has allowed to analyse many other aspects so far not considered.