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Can
you imagine a family so strong, so wealthy, that they
started a cultural revolution? The Medici family of
Florence , Italy was such a family. With their vast
wealth and influence, the Medici family helped spark
the Renaissance . But what
was the Renaissance ? It was
a new age of thinking- of new advances in literature,
fine art, law, philosophy, and science. The Medici family
gave vast amounts of money as patrons of the arts, set
up scholarships, and spent over $20 million dollars
on books over a thirty-year period. Some of the most
intelligent and creative thinkers came out of this period
such as Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci,
and Michelangelo.
Since
Italy had a much older culture than the rest of Europe
and Roman ruins were everywhere, Gothic
architecture was seen as a passing fad
and didn’t take hold. Renaissance
architecture in Italy was based on reason rather than
emotion. What guided a builder during this time period
were proportion, simple geometric figures, balance,
symmetry, and a return to the Greek Order. They relied
on the mathematical principles behind the architecture
to guide their design. The way in which Gothic
cathedrals were built (a long, narrow
central seating section or nave) meant that seating
was often behind a column, pier, or, on the side aisle
which limited the view to the alter and the function
of the building. Renaissance architects conceived the
central-plan structure to combat this
problem. Instead of being cross-shaped, chapels were
built as squares or circles. This plan opened up the
view plane with a central focus. This break from traditional
Christian building was questioned, however, since there
did not seem to be a logical place for a main altar.
Leon Battista Alberti derived a solution from the shape
of the Greek cross (a plus sign shape.) The rectangular
bump-outs on the four sides of the squares allowed space
for altars and chapels.
Your
turn:
You’ve
just read some words that describe design that we need
to define. Can you match up the words to the definition?
Proportion
The
total appearance of all the visual elements
Balance
The intended use for a structure / if it
works as intended
Symmetry
Arranging the visual elements to achieve unity
Form
The comparative
relationship between the parts of a whole
Function
A mirror-like duplication of elements on both
sides of a centerline
To
span these vast central spaces, domes were also changed.
Fillipo Brunelleschi was given the task of finishing
the Florence cathedral and had to cover a 140 ft wide
space, too wide for current dome technology. What Brunelleschi
engineered was not the typical hemispherical
or half-circle dome , but
a dome that has been pulled up in the center, elongated.
This polyhedral dome had a skeleton
of 24 ribs sandwiched by a thin shell. He left 8 of
the ribs exposed. On the top he put a really heavy lantern.
Wait, why did he put something really heavy on top?
Well, the weight of this lantern kept all the sections
together, kept them from peeling outwards, so it stabilized
the structure.
But
where did the Medicis and families like them live? An
Italian Palazzo of this time was a very formal
affair. Each story was shorter than the one below using
specific rules of proportion. Arches were used, but
as wall-openings for windows and doors instead of support.
Rusticated
stone was used to create dimension on the walls
often getting smoother towards the top. Do any of these
elements sound familiar? Maybe Romanesque
? Columns were also used but they were
engaged or attached to the wall and
most didn’t stick out more than a few inches. We still
see buildings like this today, usually in business areas
that are used as offices. We call them Italianate
or Renaissance Revival .
You
are probably wondering what was happening in the rest
of the world at this time. Commerce and the accumulation
of wealth were also happening in Northern Europe . Power
truly lay in the middle class or bourgeoisie, whose
life was dominated by the guild system. The guild system
controlled the different crafts such as painting, sculpting,
metal-smithing and ceramics. A young boy would apprentice
or study with a master. Next he would become a journeyman
traveling from city to city learning new skills. Finally
he could become a master and join the guild. As a master,
he was expected to uphold the standards set by the guild.
A
very important center in Northern Europe was Flanders
. This Dutch area was on an important trade route for
the wool industry. It is at this time that we see the
single-family house appear. In a single house, functions
were performed in different rooms instead of all in
one great hall. The kitchens were often in the rear
of the house. Physical comfort was important with larger
sleeping rooms for the head of the household and spaces
for entertaining. A single-family unit would inhabit
this space instead of multiple generations as before.
These houses gave the first real sense of the domestic
space as we recognize it today. Timber-frame construction
was still the primary building method with brick and
wood enclosures. Architects were for the wealthy and
houses were often built by the family or through a local
craftsman. Styles varied from city to city and were
called Vernacular
Style .
Gothic
architecture was still the primary building
style through much of the Renaissance
as it was seen as a classical style for a younger European
culture. However, France was influenced by the Italian
style and, by the 16 th century they were merging the
Italian style with French Gothic
to create a new French Classicism .
Often the buildings were built in the manner of an Italian
Palazzo with the typical balanced façade
but finished off with a very ornamented and Gothic
roofline filled with turrets and spire.
More ornamentation was also added to the facades with
decorative statuary, cartouches, and swags.
Between
1600 and 1750 CE there was the lavishness that was Baroque
, and at it’s most extravagant, Rococo
, and the more restrained Neo-Classical
. A perfect example of Baroque
architecture and the luxury of the time
is the Palace of Versailles in France . Built to replace
a hunting lodge, Louis XIV’s Versailles was over a quarter
of a mile long (that’s nearly 4 ½ football fields long)
and surrounded by a vast park. Of the more than one
hundred rooms, the most famous is the Hall of Mirrors.
This long room overlooks the park and has mirrors set
in the wall and twenty chandeliers hanging from an elaborately
painted ceiling.
Neo-Classical
Just
15 miles away in Paris an example of Neo-Classical
architecture was being built at the same
time as Versailles : The Louvre. While one side had
been built more than one hundred years earlier, the
east façade of the Louvre marked the new official French
taste for government buildings. Looking like a classical
Greek temple with paired columns, pavilions, balustraded
roof-line, and decorated pediments,
this building firmly turned away from the up and down
style of Gothic with its
stately horizontal façade.
Next:1750
CE – 1900 CE: The Birth of the Modern
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