Renaissance Architecture

Period: Early 15th - Early 16th Centuries

Concept: Conscious revival and development of elements from ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture.

Styles and Characteristics

Emphasized Principles: * Symmetry * Proportion * Geometry * Regularity of parts

Features: * Orderly arrangements of columns, pilasters, and lintels * Semicircular arches, hemispherical domes, niches, and aediculae * Substitution of complex medieval systems with more precise proportions and regular profiles

Historiography

  • Term "Renaissance" coined by Giorgio Vasari in 1550.
  • Defined by Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt in 1860.
  • Édifices de Rome moderne, published in 1840, played a significant role in reviving interest in the Renaissance.
  • Contemporaries recognized the style as "all'antica" (in the ancient manner).

Phases

Quattrocento (1400-1500): * Exploration of architectural order and formulation of rules * Study of classical architecture led to the adoption of classical details and ornamentation

High Renaissance (1500-1525): * Development and use of concepts derived from classical antiquity with greater confidence * Representative architect: Donato Bramante * Tempietto di San Pietro in Montorio directly inspired by circular Roman temples

Mannerism (1520-1600): * Experimentation with architectural forms to emphasize solid and spatial relationships * Freed and more imaginative rhythms * Known architect: Michelangelo * Giant order used in façade design, as in Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome

Development

Italy

  • Italy was the birthplace of the Renaissance in Florence.
  • Florence Cathedral, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, was highly influential.
  • Italian architects favored clear forms and structural members that expressed their purpose.
  • Roman influence was strong due to the presence of ancient architectural remains.

Spread

  • Renaissance architecture spread to other European countries as a form of Proto-Renaissance style.
  • Each country grafted its own architectural traditions onto the new style.
  • The Renaissance influenced the development of Baroque architecture, which became more widespread and fully developed outside Italy.

Theory

  • Architecture became a subject of both practice and theoretical discussion.
  • Printing played a crucial role in disseminating ideas.
  • Leon Battista Alberti's De re aedificatoria (1450) and Sebastiano Serlio's General Rules of Architecture (1537) were influential treatises.

Characteristics

Plans

  • Square, symmetrical appearance
  • Proportions often based on a module
  • Integration of façade design with the plan

Façades

  • Symmetrical around the vertical axis
  • Church façades typically surmounted by a pediment
  • Domestic buildings often crowned by a cornice
  • Regular repetition of openings

Columns and Pilasters

  • Use of Roman and Greek orders: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite
  • Integration of columns, pilasters, and entablatures as a system

Arches

  • Semicircular or segmental
  • Often used in arcades

Vaults

  • No ribs
  • Semicircular or segmental
  • Barrel vaults returned to architectural vocabulary

Domes

  • Used frequently
  • Influence of Brunelleschi's dome for Florence Cathedral
  • Became an indispensable element in church and secular architecture

Ceilings

  • Flat or coffered
  • No longer left open as in Medieval architecture

Doors

  • Usually square lintels
  • May be set within an arch or surmounted by a pediment
  • Openings without doors have arched or triangular pediments

Windows

  • May be paired and set within a semicircular arch
  • May have square lintels and triangular or segmental pediments

Walls

  • Generally constructed of brick, rendered, or faced with stone
  • Rusticated corners
  • Internal walls smoothly plastered and lime washed

Details

  • Mouldings, courses, and decorative details carved with great precision
  • Study and mastery of classical details influenced theory

Early Renaissance Architects

  • Filippo Brunelleschi
  • Michelozzo Michelozzi
  • Leon Battista Alberti

High Renaissance Architects

  • Donato Bramante
  • Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
  • Raphael

Mannerist Architects

  • Baldassare Peruzzi
  • Giulio Romano
  • Michelangelo

Legacy

  • Many Renaissance architectural concepts and forms influenced subsequent architectural movements.
  • Revival of Renaissance style in the 19th century as Renaissance Revival architecture.
  • Influence of Renaissance architecture still visible in modern styles and rules of architecture.