Amedeo Cognengo di Castellamonte (1618 – 17 September 1683) was an Italian architect, civil and military engineer.

Biography

He was born in Castellamonte (in what is now the province of Turin, then in the

Duchy of Savoy The Duchy of Savoy (; ) was a territorial entity of the Savoyard state that existed from 1416 until 1847 and was a possession of the House of Savoy. It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy f ...

). His father Carlo became chief architect of Duke Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy in 1615. After graduating in law in the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

and continuing his studies in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Amedeo begun to work alongside his father, whose works later he continued thanks to his significant talent in

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

and architecture. In 1646 he continued works at the Ducal (now Royal) Palace in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, finishing (1658) the facade and the central body flanked by two raised ones, and the relative connection with the castle square. Later Amedeo was commissioned to create a new plan of for the city's expansions, after the one led by his father in 1620. As in the latter's, he kept the original Roman's

centuriation Centuriation (in Latin ''centuriatio'' or, more usually, ''limitatio''), also known as Roman grid, was a method of land measurement used by the Romans. In many cases land divisions based on the survey formed a field system, often referred to in m ...

, but also kept the oblique course of the "Borgo Po" (modern Via Po) leading to the then only existing bridge on the

Po River The Po ( , ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy, starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is , or if the Maira (river), Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. The headwaters of the Po are forme ...

to Chieri. In the same streets, he added porticoes and terraces forming an uninterrupted, 1,250 m-long path from the Royal Palace to the Po. The new street was opened in 1674. He also designed the Piazza Carlo Emanuele II, connected to Via Po by a new street, what is now Via Accademia Albertina. However, as works dragged on most of Castellamonte's designs were not followed exactly, like in the Piazza Carlo Emanuele II which did not receive an octagonal plan as in his design. Castellamonte was also entrusted the works of the Reggia di Venaria (Charles Emmanuel's II new large hunting residence, begun in 1658) and the ''Cavallerizza Reale'' (Royal Stables), built from the late 17th century and continued, among the others, by Filippo Juvarra and Benedetto Alfieri. He also continued and completed his father's works at the Castello del Valentino and intervened in the churches of San Salvario and San Francesco di Paola, the Castle of Rivoli and (according to some sources) the Villa della Regina. In 1646 he designed the church of Sant'Elena at Villafranca d'Asti followed in 1654 by the church of Santi Bernardino e Brigida at Lucenta and, finally, the Chapel of the

Shroud Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to ''burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the Jewish '' ...

in Turin, which later was totally modified by

Guarino Guarini Camillo Guarino Guarini (17 January 16246 March 1683) was an Italian architect of the Piedmontese Baroque architecture, Baroque, active in Turin as well as Sicily, Kingdom of France, France and Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal. He was a Theatines, ...

. He also built numerous fortifications and stage-settings for court celebrations, and worked in private noble palaces such as Palazzo Lascaris. He did various works for Princess Luisa Cristina of Savoy, sister of Charles Emmanuel II.

References

External links

Biography at Venaria Palace website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castellamonte, Amedeo 1618 births 1683 deaths People from Castellamonte 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Architects from Turin Italian military engineers 17th-century Italian architects