Renaissance Architecture

14th – 17th Century AD

 • Renaissance means "rebirth" in
French.

• During the Renaissance there was a

rebirth of interest in ancient Greek
and Roman elements.

• Emphasis on symmetry, proportion,

geometry and the regularity of
parts as they are demonstrated in
the architecture of classical
antiquity.

• Orderly arrangements of columns,

pilasters and lintels, as well as the
use of semicircular arches and
hemi-spherical domes
Tempietto di San Pietro in Montorio, Rome,
1502, by Donato Bramante.
[Small Temple of St. Peter]

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
CHARACTERISTICS

• The obvious distinguishing features of Classical Roman

architecture were adopted by Renaissance architects.

• The ancient orders were analysed and reconstructed to

serve new purposes.

• 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.

• Facades symmetrical along vertical axes.

• Giant order, also known as colossal order

columns or pilasters span two (or more) storeys along
facade.
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
CHARACTERISTICS

• The Roman orders of columns are used:- Tuscan, Doric,

Ionic, Corinthian and Composite.

• Arches are semi-circular or (in the Mannerist style)

segmental.

• 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 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.

• External walls are generally constructed of brick,

rendered or faced with stone in highly
finished ashlar masonry.

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Villa Capra "La Rotonda", Italy (Andrea Palladio)
• Villa Rotonda inspired a thousand
subsequent buildings, but the villa was
itself inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

• The design is for a completely

symmetrical building having a square
plan with four facades, each of which has
a projecting portico.

• The whole is contained within an

imaginary circle which touches each
corner of the building and centres of the
porticos.

• Plan is intersection of a square with

a cross.

• The dome was completed with a cupola.

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Palazzo del Tè (1524-1534), mantua, Italy

• A palace, Palazzo del Tè is an example of the Mannerist style of architecture

popular in Italy in the 16th century. Veering from the severe symmetry of the high
Renaissance architectural style of the time, architect Guilio Romano (pupil of
Raphael, St. Peters fame) introduced disproportionate elements to his buildings
such as Protruding keystones in the arches.

• Mannerism: a style deviant of the harmonious and symmetrical approach

propagated by Michelangelo, Bramante etc. the style emerged around 1520 and
lasted till 1580, also associated with art and poetry .
• Pilasters, triglyphs, semi-circular arches and fresco work in the interior
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Other Prominent Renaissance Buildings

Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan)

Pazzi Chapel (Florence)

Basilica of Sant'Andrea, Mantua

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City

• Vatican City, the world center of the Roman Catholic church, is an independent
state that lies entirely within Rome, Italy. Many of the city’s buildings were
designed and decorated by some of history’s greatest artists. Italian architect
Gianlorenzo Bernini created the vast plaza in front of Saint Peter's Basilica in the
1600s.
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Saint Peter’s Basilica,
Rome (1506 – 1614 A.D)

• In 1506, architect Donato Bramante, under commission from Pope Julius II was
selected through a competition to design this monument in Vatican City
• Consequent to the death of Bramante, Sangallo, Raphael and Peruzzi before
completion of the church, Florentine artist Michelangelo assumed the supervisory
role in 1546, for ‘love of God’.
• His design simplified and unified the architectural elements of Bramante’s plan for
the basilica with Maderno’s extended nave plus narthex. Resultantly, its a
structure of monumental proportions, influencing dome design and construction
for the next 300 years

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome

 Bramante

 Raphael

 Maderno

 Sangallo  Maderno
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome

• Enormous Greek Cross (named so, as St. Andrew, B/o. St. Peter was
crucified in Greece on such a symmetrical cross); 4 bay’ nave, crossing apse

• Ribbed dome supported on 4 large piers capped with a lantern / dome drum
with windows; 4 lower domes surrounding the central dome

• 3 main semi-circular apses circumscribed by a parallel ambulatory.

• Maderno’s plan combined with Michelangelo’s plan resulting in extended

nave plus narthex . . . finally a Latin Cross
• Corinthian pilasters and continuous cornices along the turns of the building
unite the building physically and visually.

• Tallest dome (from basilica floor to tip of the cross above the dome) @ 448.1 ft
136.1 ft dia, little smaller than that of Pantheon (142 ft) and of Florence
cathedral (144 ft, designed by Brunelleschi); but greater than the dome of the
byzantine cathedral, the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
The Panorama

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Statues of St. Helena, St. Longinus, St. Andrew and St. Veronica
on the 4 niches of the 4 large piers below the Dome

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
• Michelangelo's late Roman buildings,
particularly St. Peter's Basilica, may be
considered precursors to Baroque
architecture.

• Distinctive features of Baroque architecture

• in churches, broader naves and

sometimes given oval forms
• fragmentary or deliberately incomplete
architectural elements
• dramatic use of light; either strong light-
and-shade contrasts or uniform lighting
by means of several windows. Santa Susanna, Rome
• opulent use of colour and ornaments
• large-scale ceiling frescoes
• an external façade often characterized
by a dramatic central projection
• Marian and Holy Trinity columns
erected in Catholic countries, often in
thanksgiving for ending a plague

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
Hall of Mirrors (1678 – 1684), Palace of Versailles, France

 King Louis XIV of France charged French architects Louis Le Vau, André Le Nôtre, and
Charles Lebrun with the expansion of the Palace of Versailles. Construction went on
for a century starting in the 1660s.
 The principal feature of this famous hall is the seventeen mirror-clad arches that
reflect the seventeen arcaded windows that overlook the gardens.
 Glass – Venetian monopoly, foiled by making Glass in Versailles for this work

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
Hall of Mirrors (1678 – 1684), Palace of Versailles, France

 73.0 m × 10.5 m × 12.3 m (239.5 ft × 34.4 ft × 40.4 ft)

 Used daily by Louis XIV on his way from his apartment to the chapel
 Used to receive ambassadors, celebrate family and dynastic functions
 Ceiling decorated (Le Brun) by realistic incidents of victories and policies of Louis XIV
 Each arch contains twenty-one mirrors with a total complement of 357 used in the
decoration
 Bronze capitals, silver tables etc. melted – expenditure for the War of Augsburg

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
The Benedictine Abbey, Austria

 Less undulating but abstract in its imagery

 The abbey is based on a conventional basilica
design. The exterior, though baroque, is
relatively simple and restrained, in contrast to
the interior which is extremely ornate.

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
Saint Paul's Cathedral (1675-1708/1711), London

• Designed by English architect Christopher Wren.

• One of the most famous English baroque churches.
• The cathedral is best known for its impressive dome, which is actually two
domes—an inner one and a taller outer one.
• The inner dome is open in the middle so that light can stream into the cathedral.

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
Saint Paul's Cathedral, London

• Dome at 365’ height, among the tallest in London

• Second largest church in UK, after Liverpool cathedral

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
Saint Paul's Cathedral (1675-1708/1711)

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
• Rococo architecture was a lighter, more
graceful, yet also more elaborate version
of Baroque architecture, which was ornate.

• Rococo emphasized the asymmetry of

forms

• Rococo architecture was an 18th-century,

more secular, adaptation of the Baroque
which was characterized by more light-
hearted and jocular themes. Catherine Palace, Russia

• Numerous curves and decorations, as well

as the usage of pale colours.

• Rococo architecture also brought significant

changes to the building of edifices, placing
an emphasis on privacy rather than the
grand public majesty of Baroque
architecture Curves
Asymmetry
ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
• Neoclassical architecture is
an architectural style produced
by the neoclassical
movement that began in the
mid-18th century.

• In its purest form, it is a style

principally derived from the
architecture of classical
antiquity and
the Vitruvian principles

• By the mid 18th century, the

movement broadened to
incorporate a greater range of
Classical influences, including • Though neoclassical architecture employed
those from Ancient Greece. the same classical vocabulary as Late
Baroque architecture, it tended to
• The grid system of streets emphasize its planar qualities, rather than
sculptural volumes.

NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
University of Virginia

• Thomas Jefferson, president of the United States from 1801 to 1809, founded the
University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1819. An architect as well as a statesman,
Jefferson designed the famous neoclassical buildings of the school’s Lawn complex,
inspired from Andrea Palladio. His style strongly influenced the architecture of
other public buildings in the United States.

NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
Monticello

• Monticello was the home of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United
States, and it reflected his unique architectural ideas and tastes.
• Construction on this Virginia estate, now a World Heritage Site, began in the late
1700s and lasted until 1809. He designed the 35-room house which was
completed in 1809.
• Jefferson died at Monticello in 1826 and was buried on the grounds.

NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
METABOLISM ARCHITECTURE