Unfolding San Lorenzo

This paper proposes a “reading” of the church of San Lorenzo in Turin, designed by Guarino Guarini, through the philosophical notion of “fold” introduced by Gilles Deleuze. The paper consists of two parts. The first part contains an exploration of the notion of “fold” in architecture and in philosophy and examines the use of the fold in the theory of Baroque architecture as well as the range of this new tool in architectural practise in contemporary architecture and in philosophy and examines the use of the fold as fundamental condition for understanding Baroque era. The second part contains the application of the notion of fold as a philosophical and conceptual framework for the “reading” of the chapel.