Buildings That Move

Baroque architecture (c. 1600-1750) rejected the calm symmetry of the Renaissance. Walls curved and undulated. Facades swelled outward. Columns twisted in spiraling forms called Solomonic columns. The goal was to make stone feel dynamic — to create buildings that seemed to be in motion.

Borromini's churches play tricks on your eyes. By shrinking the spacing of coffers and columns as they rise, he made shallow domes look far deeper and small rooms feel vast. You sense the space is bending, but your mind can't quite pin down how — that confusion is the whole point.