Labyrinth as passive defense system. An analysis of Renaissance treatise of Francesco di Giorgio Martini

The labyrinth enriching Francesco De Marchi's treatise on fortification, which could be interpreted as just a generic and decorative symbol of protection useful to illustrate the contents and aims of the treatise, in reality also refers to a widespread design tradition in the construction of fortresses. This figure embodies an architectural device of opacity and deceiving that can be found in the design of the meandering doors, in the arrangement of the rooms and doors of ravelins and case mates and even in the more general conception of a fortress. Its use as a passive defense system is testified both by buildings in Syria and Spain, and by 15th-century treatises, such as Francesco di Giorgio Martini's, whose capannato in particular is here analyzed and redrawn to evaluate the role of labyrinth in the general concept.