who is the designer of the piazza in front of st. peter's basilica
St. Peter's Square The open space which lies before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII, as an appropriate forecourt, designed "so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the façade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace" (Norwich 1975 p 175). Bernini had been working on the interior of St. Peter's for decades; now he gave order to the space with his renowned colonnades, using the Tuscan form of Doric, the simplest order in the classical vocabulary, not to compete with the palace-like façade by Carlo Maderno, but he employed it on an unprecedented colossal scale to suit the space and evoke a sense of awe.
Baroque architecture Baroque architecture became popular after Francesco Bounamici designed the Church of the Jesuits in Valletta in 1635. In the subsequent decades, many churches, public buildings, city gates, palaces and other structures were constructed or rebuilt in this style. New churches were built in the Baroque style, while older ones were rebuilt or redecorated.[10] Examples include the interior of Saint John's Co-Cathedral, which was completely redesigned by Mattia Preti in the 1660s, and the Church of Our Lady of Victories, which had its faÃ§ade rebuilt in 1752.