RENAISSANCE BUILDINGS

LECTURE-2
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Leon Alberti
• St. Andrea, Mantua

• Palazzo Rucellai

Palladio

• Villa Rotunda, Capra

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Michael Angelo & others

• St. Peter’s Rome

Christopher Wren

• St. Paul’s London

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1. St. Andrea, Mantua
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1. St. Andrea, Mantua

INTRODUCTION

• The Basilica of Sant 'Andrea is a Roman Catholic

Co- Cathedral and Minor Basilica in Mantua,
Lombardy ,Italy
• The church was begun in 1462 according to
designs by Alberti on a site occupied by a
Benedictine monastery, of which the bell tower
(1414) remains.
• The building, however, was finished only 328
years later.
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PLAN
• Sant’Andrea is built of bricks, though they

are mostly concealed by painted stucco

• The bricks were baked in onsite kilns

• The plan comprises of a long narrow hall

with which ends up in a alcove with a

massive barrel vault

• Sides of the nave have three chapels with

lower barrel vaults.

• There are no side aisles or rows of columns

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STRUCTURE & INTERIORS

• Unified combination of three ancient Roman forms:

temple front, triumphal arch, and basilica.

• On the façade, four giant pilasters with Corinthian

capitals support an entablature and pediment

• The façade, built abutting a pre-existing bell tower

(1414), is based on the scheme of the ancient Arch of
Titus

• The centre arch extends deep into the facade itself,

creating a recessed barrel vault that frames the main
entrance to the church

• It is largely a brick structure with hardened stucco

used for the surface
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STRUCTURE & INTERIORS
• There are smaller openings to the right and left of
the arch

• The whole is surmounted by a pediment and above

that a vaulted structure, the purpose of which is not
exactly known, but presumably to shade the window
opening into the church behind it.

• The nave is roofed by a Barrel vault with the coffers

then being painted on ,one of the first times such a
form was used in such a monumental scale since
antiquity

• Originally, the building was planned without a

transept and possibly even without a Dome.

• This phase of construction more or less ended in

1494
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2. PALAZZO RUCELLAI BY LEON ALBERTI

Humanist architecture for a private home

•Alberti constructed the façade of the
Palazzo over a period of five years, from
1446-1451
• The home was just one of many important
commissions that Alberti completed for the
Rucellai—a wealthy merchant family
•Like traditional Florentine palazzi, the
façade is divided into three tiers.
•Alberti divided these with the horizontal
entablatures that run across the facade (an
entablature is the horizontal space above
columns or pilasters).
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2. PALAZZO RUCELLAI BY LEON ALBERTI

• The first tier grounds the building, giving it a sense of strength.

• This is achieved by the use of cross-hatched, or rusticated stone that runs across the very

bottom of the building, as well as large stone blocks, square windows, and portals of post

and lintel construction in place of arches

• Each tier also decreases in height from the bottom to top.

• The three stories of the Rucellai facade have different classical orders

• The Tuscan order at the base,

• A Renaissance original in place of the Ionic order at the second level, and a very simplified

Corinthian order at the top level.

• Twin-lit, round-arched windows in the two upper stories are set within arches.

• The facade is topped by a projecting cornice.

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2. PALAZZO RUCELLAI BY LEON ALBERTI

• The building is also wrapped by benches that served, as they do now, to provide rest

for weary visitors to Florence

• The ground floor was for business (the Rucellai family were powerful bankers) and

was flanked by benches running along the street facade.

• The second story was the main formal reception floor

• The third story the private family and sleeping quarters.

• A fourth "hidden" floor under the roof was for servants; because it had almost no

windows, it was quite dark inside.

• The palace contains an off-centre court (three sides of which originally were

surrounded by arcades).
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2. PALAZZO RUCELLAI BY LEON ALBERTI
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VILLA ROTONDA(CAPRA) BY PALLADIO
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3. VILLA ROTONDA(CAPRA) BY PALLADIO

• Based on Vitruvius’ book and Alberti’s writing,

Palladio designed a 3 part solution for the
design of the Villa:

1. Dramatic Exterior Motifs:

2. Economical Materials:

3. Internal Harmony and Balance:

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3. VILLA ROTONDA(CAPRA) BY PALLADIO

• La Rotonda is perhaps the best known of the

many country houses built in the Veneto in the
sixteenth century. Designed by Andrea Palladio,
the Villa Almerico-Capra, commonly known as
La Rotunda.

• It is the most recognizable buildings of the

Renaissance

• Unlike other villas in the Veneto, Palladio

designed La Rotonda without adjacent farm
fields, or service buildings such as barns or
warehouses.

• Inside, La Rotonda is a colourful and vivid space

that looks more like a church than a household
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3. VILLA ROTONDA(CAPRA) BY PALLADIO

• It was influenced by ancient Roman temples (such as the

Pantheon) as a model, Palladio incorporates religious
overtones into an otherwise secular space

The importance of site

• The picturesque qualities of the villa in relation to its
environment are not coincidental.
• Palladio himself reflected on the landscape surrounding La
Rotunda: “The loveliest hills are arranged around it, which
afford a view into an immense theatre.”
• In this way, La Rotunda presents four unique views because
of its unique design, a façade is almost always visible

La Rotonda refers to the central circular hall with its dome

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VILLA ROTONDA(CAPRA) BY PALLADIO

A building with four façades

• As an architect, Palladio was acutely interested in engaging viewers, something he often

accomplished by making use of striking façades.

• The building with four façades emphasizing balance, visual clarity, and uniformity.

• The design of the building is completely symmetrical;

• It presents a square plan with identical porticoes projecting from each of the façades

• At the centre of the building, a dome emerges over a central, circular hall

• Palladio used the square and the circle as essential, yet elegant forms.
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VILLA ROTONDA(CAPRA) BY PALLADIO

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VILLA ROTONDA(CAPRA) BY PALLADIO

A building with four façades

• The design reflected the humanist values of Renaissance architecture.

• In order for each room to have some sun, the design was rotated 45 degrees from each cardinal
point of the compass.

• Each of the four porticos has pediments graced by statues of classical deities.

• The pediments were each supported by six Ionic columns.

• Each portico was flanked by a single window.

• All principal rooms were on the second floor

• The highlight of the interior is the central, circular hall, surrounded by a balcony and covered by
the domed ceiling

• It soars to the full height of the main house up to the cupola, with walls decorated in. frescoes