Renaissance Arcitechture
The word renaissance means "rebirth." The idea of rebirth came from the belief that Europeans had rediscovered the superiority of Greek and Roman culture after many centuries of what they considered intellectual and cultural decline. The preceding era, which began with the collapse of the Roman Empire around the 5th century, became known as the Middle ages to indicate its position between the classical and modern world. The world of architecture felt the impact of the decline in a great way, and Fillipo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, and Andrea Palladio made renowned buildings that characterize and express the development of Renaissance architecture. “In the case of Fillipo Brunelleschi; just like Forese da Rabatta and Giotto he was insignificant to look at, but his genius was so commanding that we can surely say he was sent by heaven to renew the art of architecture”(Vasari, 133) Fillipo Brunelleschi overcame the limitations of medieval architecture when he devised a way to cap the Cathedral of Florence with the largest dome built since the Pantheon, about 150 feet across and 308 feet tall. The Florentine dome is made of brick and masonry, restrained by a girdle. Hidden beneath the external covering of the
One of Brunelleschi’s important buildings is the Foundlings Hospital in Florence. It’s graceful series of round arches and it’s flat, carefully articulated upper wall rose within the darker, more massive stone buildings of Florence as a completely new architectural statement. What set the Foundlings Hospital apart from others of the time where it’s architectural elements; the round arches, Corinthian capitals, columns, pilasters and window pediments, elements seen only in examples of ancient architectural style. Alongside the architectural elements, Brunelleschi focused on the ornamental details. The uniform scaling of each part of the building, and consistently clear and precise delineation, sharpened the appearance of the building made of a series of identical units (Lowry, 1967). Most of Palladio’s villas are rectangular blocks supported by subsidiary wings connected to them by straight or curving colonnades. The central blocks containing the living quarters, generally have a large portico. In addition to coordinating the exterior proportions, he also proportioned the interiors of his rooms so that not only their heights, widths, and lengths related, but each room was related to the next and so to the whole building (Hughes & Lynton, 1964). In the church of S. Francesco in Rimini, Alberti is able to create the image of a harmoniously ordered classical building, despite the fact that it is actually composed of two separate models of Roman architecture. For the façade, he chose the Roman triumphal arch, while the flanks of the church were designed from an arcaded Roman structure. Although the façade and the flanks of the church are very different, he threads the two together by the continuous lines of the decorative frieze along the base, the projecting moldings of the pier capitals, and the crowning entablature (Lowry, 1967) Aside from villas and townhouses, Palladio also designed churches, his San Giorgio Maggiore is probably his greatest example. The central temple front is articulated with four three-quarter Composite columns r
Some topics in this essay:
Giorgio Maggiore,
Ionic Corinthian,
Rotunda Palladio’s,
Cathedral Florence,
Pazzi Chapel,
Rimini Alberti,
Foundlings Hospital,
Pallazo Rucellai,
Maggiore Palladio’s,
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renaissance architecture,
hughes lynton,
fillipo brunelleschi,
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lowry 1967,
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san giorgio maggiore,
hughes lynton 1964,
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Approximate Word count = 1397
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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