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Renaissance Architecture
HOA V
SIR MVSA
Renaissance Architecture
1. Unable to free themselves from the engineering and design legacy of either Romanesque architecture (c.800-1200) or Gothic
architecture (c.1150-1375), the architects of the Italian Renaissance sought their main inspiration from Greek and Roman
architecture - making liberal use of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders, combining classicism with the new principles of
Humanism upon which so much of Renaissance art was based.
2. Above all, they sought to establish the ideal proportions for a building, based on those of the idealized human body.
Architecture during the Renaissance was also closely associated with urban planning and the dissemination of ideas, thanks
to the new technique of printing. Renaissance means reformation or rebirth.
3. The architecture of the period between the early 15 th and 17th centuries in different regions in Europe followed renaissance
characteristics, therefore forming the term “Renaissance Architecture”.
4. Renaissance periods were broadly classified into three. The Early Renaissance (1400-1500) or Quattrocento. High
Renaissance (1500-1525) and Mannerism (1520-1600).
5. In the Early Renaissance concepts of concepts of architectural order were explored and rules were formulated . The study of
classical antiquity led to the adoption of classical detail and ornamentation. Space was organized by proper logic, its form and
rhythm subject to geometry.
6. During the high renaissance concepts derived from classical antiquity were used with greater surety to contemporary
buildings.
7. Mannerism architects experimented with forms to emphasize solid and spatial relationships. The Renaissance ideal of
harmony gave way to freer and more imaginative rhythms.
8. Notable Architects: Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472); Andrea Palladio (1508-80); Michelangelo (1475-1564); Christopher
Wren 1632- 1723); Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)
Characteristics of Renaissance architecture
1. The Roman order of column are used: - Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and composite. The orders can either be
structural, supporting an arcade or architrave or purely decorative, set against a wall in the form of pilasters.
2. Arches are semi-circular or segmental. They are often supported on piers or columns with capitals. Often entablature
between the capital and the springing of the arch can be noticed.
3. Barrel vaults without ribs appeared and are normally semi-circular or segmental and on a square plan.
4. Domes were a common feature along with richly painted or decorated ceilings. Sometimes fitted with coffered
ceilings.
5. Doors typically had square lintels set within an arch or surmounted by a triangular or segmented pediment.
6. Openings that do not have a door are usually arched and frequently have a large decorative keystone.
7. Windows are often paired and set within a semi-circular arch containing square lintels and triangular or segmented
pediments.
8. Walls are generally of high-quality finished ashlar masonry laid in courses. Corners were emphasized by rusticated
quoins. Internal walls were painted white and often frescoed.
9. Facades are symmetrical around the vertical axis. Church facades are generally surmounted by a pediment and
organized by a system of pilasters, arches and entablatures.
10. Domestic buildings are often surmounted by a cornice.
11. Materials used were stone, marble, terracotta tile and stucco (a mortar mixture).
Typical Parts of a Renaissance Church
Basilica di Sant'Andrea, Leon Alberti - Italy
1. The façade, built abutting a pre-existing bell tower
(1414), is based on the scheme of the ancient Arch of
Trajan at Ancona. It is largely a brick structure with
hardened stucco used for the surface.
2. It is defined by a large central arch, flanked by
Corinthian pilasters. There are smaller openings to the
right and left of the arch. A novel aspect of the design
was the integration of a lower order, comprising the
fluted Corinthian columns, with a giant order,
comprising the taller, unfluted pilasters.
3. 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.
4. An important aspect of Alberti's design was the
correspondence between the façade and the interior
elevations, both elaborations of the triumphal arch
motif, the arcades, like the facade, having alternating
high arches and much lower square topped openings.
Basilica di Sant'Andrea,
Leon Alberti - Italy
1. The nave is roofed by a barrel vault, one
of the first times such a form was used in
such a monumental scale since antiquity.
2. Alberti possibly planned for the vault to
be coffered, much like the shorter barrel
vault of the entrance, but lack of funds led
to the vault being constructed as a simple
barrel vault with the coffers then being
painted on.
Basilica di Sant'Andrea, Leon Alberti - Italy
Basilica di Sant'Andrea, Leon Alberti - Italy
Palazzo Rucellai –
Florence, Italy
Palazzo Rucellai – Florence, Italy
1. Alberti designed a rational skin for the palace – a type of a screen in which the classical
elements provide no support structure.
2. The palace was created from an enclave of eight smaller buildings which were
combined to form a single architectural complex arranged around a central courtyard.
3. All three stories are of equal height with flat pilasters supporting a classical entablature.
4. The use of the three classical orders to indicate upward progression and was inspired
by the colosseum at Rome.
5. The pilasters on the ground floor have the Tuscan order at the base – a reinterpretation
of the ‘Doric columns’.
6. The frieze on the ground floor contains the insignia of the Ruccellai family.
7. The polished ashlar quoins was also inspired by Roman architecture.
8. Windows contained large double windows with embossed frames, columns and oculus
at the center.
9. The top-most floors have pilasters in Corinthian style.
Palazzo Rucellai – Florence, Italy
Palazzo
Rucellai –
Florence, Italy
Villa Rotunda – 1556-1590 – Italy, Andrea Palladio
1. Palladio was acutely interested in engaging viewers, something he often accomplished by
making use of striking façades. What makes La Rotonda extremely unique is that it
displays not one, but four of them.
2. The design of the building is completely symmetrical; it presents a square plan with
identical porticoes projecting from each of the façades. At the center of the building, a
dome emerges over a central, circular hall.
3. By using ancient Roman temples as a model, Palladio incorporates religious overtones into
an otherwise secular space. At the same time, La Rontonda has a perennial quality to it;
Palladio’s use of classical elements emphasizes a universal architectural language.
4. This model represents the typical construction of the aristocracy of the Cinquecento
Renaissance:
5. • Greek cross plan
6. • four identical facades
7. • no distinction of cardinal
Villa Rotunda – 1556-1590
– Italy, Andrea Palladio
Villa Rotunda –
1556-1590 – Italy,
Andrea Palladio
Villa Rotunda – 1556-1590 – Italy, Andrea Palladio
