Folio III · Macchine · Engineering & R&D

Machines for air, war & water

An engineering practice run like a research lab: hypotheses on paper, models on the bench, and an honest status on every project.

Status, as a modern studio would report it: delivered, prototype or concept.

Prototype study

Ornithopter — human-powered flight

If a bird can fly, a mechanism can. I designed wings that flap through levers, pulleys and the full strength of the pilot’s legs and arms.

c. 1488–1505Date

Wingspan studiesKey figure

Pilot-poweredPower / scale

Studied bird and bat wings for structure and feathering
Translated wing motion into crank and pulley linkages
Calculated the pilot’s power against the weight of the frame
Next: a fixed-wing glider — let the air do the work

Concept

Aerial screw

A helical screw of linen, made airtight with starch, meant to bore into the air as a screw bores into wood — vertical lift, four centuries early.

c. 1489Date

Linen stiffened with starchKey figure

4 crew at the capstanPower / scale

Hypothesis: air is a fluid and can be compressed
Helical sail on a central mast, turned by men at a capstan
Small paper models tested at the studio

Concept · field-ready on paper

Armoured fighting vehicle

A conical shell of wood plated with metal, cannons ringing the base, moved by cranks from inside. A machine to break ranks without exposing a single soldier.

c. 1487Date

360° coverageKey figure

8 crewPower / scale

Conical shell to deflect cannonball impacts
Hand-cranked gearing to the four wheels
Sighting slit at the crown for the commander

Concept

Giant crossbow

A siege weapon as much psychological as mechanical: a laminated bow so large that its presence alone would unsettle an army.

c. 1488–1489Date

≈ 24 m spanKey figure

Six wheelsPower / scale

Laminated wooden arms for flexibility under load
Worm-gear winch to draw the string
Trigger released by a mallet strike

Delivered

Plan of Imola

Commissioned by Cesare Borgia: a city drawn from directly above, every street and block measured with odometer and compass — one of the most accurate maps of its age.

1502Date

Ichnographic planKey figure

Paced & measuredPower / scale

Surveyed with a magnetic compass and wheeled odometer
Divided the circle into 64 sectors of bearing
Drew it as if seen by a bird over the city

Prototype · lost

The Sforza horse

The largest equestrian bronze ever planned, for Francesco Sforza. The clay model stood complete in 1493; the bronze was diverted to cannon in 1494.

1482–1494Date

≈ 7 m clay modelKey figure

≈ 70 t of bronzePower / scale

Anatomical horse studies from the ducal stables
Designed to be cast in a single pour, lying on its side
Model destroyed by archers in 1499 — the sketches remain