Renaissance Architecture Renaissance Architecture

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Renaissance Architecture Renaissance Architecture HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE TIMELINE ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE Thick walls, Small windows, Round arches, Column, Low to Ground Durham Word Heritage Site GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE Very Tall (Emphasized height), large Arches, Flying Buttresses, stained glass, Spikes, Large windows, vast open spaces. Amiens Cathedral, France ARCHITECTURAL STYLE TIMELINE RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE • In the late 15th Century and Early 16th Century there was a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Classical Greek and Roman Thoughts and culture. • They studied the Architectural concepts of Roman Predecessors and studied the buildings of Rome, Italy and France and develop a new style of Renaissance Architecture. • It spread over Europe replacing the medieval architecture. • It used many ancient Roman Forms, including: . Columns . Round arch . Vaults . Dome CHARACTERISTICS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Symmetry and Proportion • The Renaissance style places emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts as they are demonstrated in the architecture of Classical antiquity and in particular, the architecture of Ancient Rome, of which many examples remained. • Renaissance architects sought to achieve beauty through Proportion as classical architects have before them. This differentiates the renaissance from Gothic Golden Section of Parthenon Leon Battista Alberti employed the same proportion Proportion 1:1.6 in his buildings during Renaissance CHARACTERISTICS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Alberti’s Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy CHARACTERISTICS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE 5 Orders of Columns • 5 orders were used during the Renaissance, namely Doric, ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan and Composite. • Corinthian order was highly used during Quattrocento or Early Renaissance period and later Doric Order was highly used during high Renaissance period. • The orders can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or purely decorative, set against a wall in the form of pilasters. ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Arches • Arches are semi-circular or (in the Mannerist style) segmental. Arches are often used in arcades, supported on piers or columns with capitals. • There may be a section of entablature between the capital and the springing of the arch. ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Vaults • Vaults do not have ribs. • They are semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan, unlike the Gothic vault which is frequently rectangular. • The barrel vault, is returned to architectural vocabulary ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Vaults • Vaults do not have ribs. • They are semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan, unlike the Gothic vault which is frequently rectangular. • The barrel vault, is returned to architectural vocabulary ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Domes • Dome is used frequently, both as a very large structural feature that is visible from the exterior, and also as a means of roofing smaller spaces where they are only visible internally. • Domes had been used only rarely in the Middle Ages, but after the success of the dome in Brunelleschi’s design for the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and its use in Bramante’s plan for St. Peter's Basilica (1506) in Rome, the dome became an indispensable element in church architecture. Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican city, Rome ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Plan • The plans of Renaissance buildings have a square, symmetrical appearance in which proportions are usually based on a module. Within a church the module is often the width of an aisle. • The need to integrate the design of the plan with the façade was introduced as an issue in the work of Filippo Brunelleschi, but he was never able to carry this aspect of his work into fruition. The first building to demonstrate this was St. Andrea in Mantua by Alberti. Basilica of Saint Andrea Mantua, Italy ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Plan • The plans of Renaissance buildings have a square, symmetrical appearance in which proportions are usually based on a module. Within a church the module is often the width of an aisle. • The need to integrate the design of the plan with the façade was introduced as an issue in the work of Filippo Brunelleschi, but he was never able to carry this aspect of his work into fruition. The first building to demonstrate this was St. Andrea in Mantua by Alberti. Basilica of Saint Andrea Mantua, Italy ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Typical Latin Cross Plan ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Facade • Façades are symmetrical around their vertical axis. Church facades are generally surmounted by a pediment and organized by a system of pilasters, arches and entablatures. Arches • Domestic buildings are often surmounted by a cornice. There is a Entablature regular repetition of openings on each floor, and the centrally placed door is marked by a feature such as a balcony, Pilaster or rusticated surround. ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Catherdral Domestic Building ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE • An early and much copied prototype was the facade for the Palazzo Rucellai (1446 and 1451) in Florence with its three registers of pilasters. Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, Italy ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Ceilings and Walls • Roofs are fitted with flat or coffered ceilings. • They are frequently painted or decorated. • External walls are generally of highly-finished ashlar masonry, laid in straight courses. • The corners of buildings are often emphasized by rusticated “quoins”. • Basements and ground floors were often rusticated. • Internal walls are smoothly plastered and surfaced with white chalk paint. For more formal spaces, internal surfaces are decorated with frescoes. ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Ceilings and Walls • Roofs are fitted with flat or coffered ceilings. • They are frequently painted or decorated. • External walls are generally of highly-finished ashlar masonry, laid in straight courses. • The corners of buildings are often emphasized by rusticated “quoins”. • Basements and ground floors were often rusticated. • Internal walls are smoothly plastered and surfaced with white chalk paint. For more formal spaces, internal surfaces are decorated with frescoes. ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Doors and Windows • Door usually have square lintels. • They may be set within an arch or Triangular surmounted by a triangular or Pediment segmental pediment. Square • Openings that do not have doors Lintel are usually arched and frequently have a large or decorative keystone Arch Pilaster • Windows may be paired and set within a semi-circular arch. They may have square lintels and triangular or segmental pediments, which are often used alternately. ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Doors and Windows • Door usually have square lintels. • They may be set within an arch or surmounted by a triangular or segmental pediment. Semi- • Openings that do not have doors Circular are usually arched and frequently Arch have a large or decorative keystone • Windows may be paired and set within a semi-circular arch. They may have square lintels and triangular or segmental pediments, which are often used alternately. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE Historians often use the following designations: • Renaissance (1400-1500) also known as the Quattrocento and sometimes Early Renaissance. • High Renaissance (1500-1525) • Mannerism (1520-1600) QUATTROCENTO (EARLY RENAISSANCE) The leading Architects of Early Renaissance were: Brunelleschi, Michelozzo and Alberti Brunelleschi (1377 – 1446) • Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) is widely considered the first Renaissance architect. • His buildings were based on a modular cube, which determines the height of and distance between the columns, and the depth of each bay. He began with a unit of measurement whose repetition throughout the building created a sense of harmony. Ospedale Degli Innocenti, Florence, Italy QUATTROCENTO (EARLY RENAISSANCE) Brunelleschi (1377 – 1446) His greatest accomplishments are : • Engineering of the dome of Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo). • San Lorenzo, Florence He was also the first since antiquity to use the classical orders Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian in a consistent and appropriate manner. Santa Maria Fiore QUATTROCENTO (EARLY RENAISSANCE) San Lorenzo The underlying feature of the work of Brunelleschi was "order". • Brunelleschi's first major architectural commission was for the enormous brick dome which covers the central space of Florence's cathedral, The dome is structurally influenced by the great dome of Ancient Rome, i.e. the dome of the Pantheon. • The dome in Florence is supported by the eight large ribs and sixteen more internal ones holding a brick shell, with the bricks arranged in a herringbone manner. QUATTROCENTO (EARLY RENAISSANCE) San Lorenzo • The new architectural philosophy is best demonstrated in the churches which have the shape of the Latin cross. • Each has a modular plan, each portion being a multiple of the square bay of the aisle. This same formula controlled also the vertical dimensions. • In the case of Santo Spirito, which is entirely regular in plan, transepts and chancel are identical, while the nave is an extended version of these. QUATTROCENTO (EARLY RENAISSANCE) San Lorenzo • Brunelleschi adopted the height of the columns of the nave arcade as a module for determining the church's vertical proportions. He decided that the height of the 1.5x arch openings of the nave arcade should
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