How did Francesco Borromini’s work influence Rococo architecture?

Francesco Borromini’s innovative architectural work served as a foundational influence for the development of Rococo architecture in the early 18th century.1

Borromini’s designs were characterized by fluid, active concave and convex surfaces and intricate, geometrically derived spaces, such as irregular ovals, octagons, and hexagons. His late palace facade for the College of the Propagation of the Faith (1646–1667) is specifically cited as a major source of inspiration for Rococo architects.1

In the early 1700s, a renewed interest in Borromini’s approach emerged in Rome, notably through the work of architects like Alessandro Specchi and Filippo Juvarra. This movement toward freer, more complex, and imaginative architectural forms—which departed from the rigid orthodoxy of the time—directly fostered the evolution of Italian Rococo. By prioritizing inventive transformations of space and light, Borromini provided a revolutionary legacy that designers capitalized upon to move toward the graceful, ethereal, and subtle qualities that define the Rococo style.123