Sforzinda

architectural model

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July 18, 2026

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Sforzinda was an architectural model for an ideal Renaissance city, described by the architect Filarete in his Trattato d'architettura ("Treatise on Architecture"). Commissioned by Francesco Sforza, the duke of Milan, Sforzinda was envisioned as a city that blended functionality with symbolic meaning.12

Filarete's design included innovative concepts, such as a tower of Vice and Virtue. This structure was planned to have a brothel on its first floor and an astronomical observatory on its tenth. The Trattato itself, inspired by Leon Battista Alberti's work, is a significant document in Renaissance architectural theory.2

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Filarete
…describes a model city called Sforzinda. Among the projects he envisioned for this ideal Renaissance city was the tower of Vice and Virtue—a 10-story structure with a brothel on the first floor and an astronomical observatory on the 10th. An English translation by John R. Spencer was published in two…
Read More
…describes a model city called Sforzinda. Among the projects he envisioned for this ideal Renaissance city was the tower of Vice and Virtue—a 10-story structure with a brothel on the first floor and an astronomical observatory on the 10th. An English translation by John R. Spencer was published in two…
Read More