15

PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA
Page 2: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

A brief about Palladio and the villas

The Secrets of Palladio's Villas

About 500 years ago, in the twilight of the period we call the Renaissance, there began to appear near the coast of the Northern Adriatic around the present city of Venice, Italy, a group of country houses unlike any homes ever seen before. They were all within a radius of about 50 miles, and they were all the work of a single architect.

• Toward the end of his career, that architect used the new technology of movable type -- then about 100 years old -- to produce a four-volume illustrated catalog of his work with a commentary on his principles and methods.

Page 3: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

A brief about Palladio and the villas

•  Palladio's Contemporary Needs • It was the centre of a vast empire with

military and commercial enclaves all around the Adriatic and Eastern Mediterranean. In fact, at its height, Venice was one of the greatest military and commercial powers on earth. In population, four times the size of Rome and London combined.

• Venice's power came from the fact that its forces stood astride both of the great East-West trade routes of the day: the Northern or land route to Asia and the Orient, and the Southern or sea route.

• Venice rose to power in the 1100s by developing an advanced system for constructing war galleys. In fact, Venice originally was entirely a sea power.

• FIVE MAJOR VILLAS:• Villa barbaro, villa cornaro,

villa EMO, la malacontenta , la rotonda 

Page 4: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

 Palladio's Contemporary Needs

• By then three dramatic events had set in motion a land rush for the vast undeveloped areas of the European mainland west of Venice.

• First, the Ottoman Turks, who had for decades been nibbling away at Venezia's eastern outposts, in 1453 stormed and captured Constantinople, the great Christian city of the eastern world, the massive capital of the long-faded Eastern Roman Empire.

• Second, in 1492 the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus discovered the Western world, which in ensuing years rapidly replaced the Orient as the most lucrative destination of European traders.

Page 5: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

 Palladio's Contemporary Needs

• Third and finally, in 1497 Vasco da Gama of Portugal demonstrated a a across the Indian Ocean. Now the merchants of Western Europe no longer had to pay Venice for safe passage to the East. In just 44 years the Mediterranean Sea -- Mediterranean, the center of the earth for thousands of years -- went from being the center of the earth to the center of very little.

• Fortunately, after hundreds of years of fighting, peace had broken out on the mainland. The mainland areas near Venice finally had the security necessary for large-scale agriculture and for transporting those harvests to the population centers.

Page 6: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

The Villa Problem

• where were noble families to stay in the countryside? Mud huts wouldn't suit. They needed a magnificent home, something that reflected their own magnificence and virtue. But it wouldn't do just to build a Venetian palace out here in the countryside. That sort of building wouldn't be functional -- suited to the business of supervising a large agricultural establishment, or storing the grain and wine produced. That kind of urban building wouldn't facilitate the communication with nature that the man of virtue requires for repose and contemplation. And perhaps most important, that kind of building would cost an arm and a leg.

•Something entirely new was needed. Something magnificent, but inexpensive. Something comfortable, restful, yet at the same time functional as the center of activity for dozens of farm workers. Fortunately, a certain stone mason in Vicenza -- about 60 kilometers from Venice -- was waiting with the answer. Moreover, it turned out that the problem posed was not unique to Venice. It turned out to be the central problem at the intersection of modern architecture and modern economics. Therefore, Andrea Palladio's solution has been the cornerstone of architecture ever since.

VILLA CAPRA

Page 7: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

Palladio's 3-Part Solution

• Drawing upon his own insights and observations, upon the re-discovered treatise of the Roman writer Vitruvius and the writings of Alberti and Serlio, and (to a lesser degree) upon the works of elders such as Raphael, Falconetto, Sanmicheli and Sansovino, Palladio's devised a solution with three principal elements:

1. Dramatic exterior motifs.

2. Economical materials.

• Internal harmony and balance.

Dramatic exterior modify

.3

.2

.1

Page 8: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

La Rotonda (Villa Capra) • By walking along a quiet pathway thru

the woods to one of the most famous villas in Italy, La Rotunda (Villa Capra). Designed by Andrea Palladio for the wealthy Vicentine cleric Paolo Almerico following his departure from the papal court,  La Rotunda was the model for the capital building in Washington D.C.. It was Palladio's protege Vincenzo Scamozzi who oversaw completion of the structure following Palladio's death in 1580. The villa was acquired and restored to its present condition in the 20th century by the Valmarana family of Venice. The central dome, one of Palladio's most famous and imitated motifs, was itself inspired by the Pantheon of ancient Rome.  The central ceiling paintings date from around the end of the 16th century and are by Alessandro Maganza and his son Giambattista. 

A distant view from the carriage path

This villa, located on a slight elevation a few miles outside Vicenza, was built for Canon Paolo Almerico. The square domed building is aligned with the cardinal points of the compass. Its name derives from the plan--a circle within a square. The influence of the Roman Pantheon is evident--including the unitary plan and a traditional temple porch in front of a domed interior.

Page 9: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

• Although the Villa Rotonda is the universal icon of the Palladian villa, in reality its owner considered it an urban residence, or — more appropriately — a suburban one. Paolo Almerico in fact sold his own palace in the city in order to move just beyond its walls, and Palladio himself publishes the Rotonda amongst the palaces, not the villas, in the Quattro Libri. Otherwise the villa is isolated on the crest of a small hill and originally there were no agricultural dependencies.

This is one of more than 20 villas designed by Palladio on the Venetian mainland. Villas were not only built as a way of avoiding the heat and congestion of Italian cities but as a means of affirming humanist Renaissance values

Page 10: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

ENTRANCE ENTRANCECENTRAL HALL

Page 11: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA
Page 12: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

Design • Building began circa 1566 of a square

building, completely symmetrical, as though an imaginary circle touched the walls of the square at any given point (illustration, right). To describe the villa as a 'rotonda' is technically incorrect as the building is not circular but rather the intersection of a square with a cross. Each of the four facades was to have a portico with steps leading up and each of the four principal entrances was to lead via a small cabinet or corridor to the circular domed central hall.

• 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 (North-West, South-East etc.). Each of the four porticos had pediments graced by statues of classical deities. The pediments were each supported by six Ionic columns. Each portico was flanked by a single window.

.1

. 2

. 3

. 4

Each of the four sides of the square has a wide flight of stairs leading to a portico with six Ionic columns. Loggias provide beautiful views of the countryside from all four facades

Page 13: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

Design• All principal rooms were on a second floor piano nobile.

Vincenzo Scamozzi was employed by the new owners to oversee the completion. One of the major changes he made to the original plan was to modify the two story centre hall. Palladio had intended it to be covered by a high semi-circular dome but Scamozzi designed a lower dome with an oculus (intended to be open to the sky) inspired by Rome's pantheon. The dome was ultimately completed with a cupola.

Views of the porch and a view under the porch Pallodio’s original sketches

Page 14: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA

Landscape

• From the porticos wonderful views of the surrounding countryside could be seen, this is no coincidence the Villa was designed to be in perfect harmony with the landscape. This was in complete contrast to such buildings as Villa Farnese of just 16 years earlier. Thus Villa Capra "La rotonda" while appearing completely symmetrical has certain deviations, designed in order for each facade to complement the surrounding landscape and topography, hence there are variations in the facades, in the width of steps, retaining walls etc. Thus the symmetry of the architecture allows for the asymmetry of the landscape, and creates a seemingly symmetrical whole. The landscape is a panoramic vision of trees and meadows and woods, with the distant Vicenza on the horizon.

Like the ancient Romans, wealthy Italians were imbued with the Arcadian spirit and often became gentlemen farmers on these villas.

Page 15: PALLADIO VILA CAPRA