Renaissance Architecture:
The cultural movement called the Renaissance (which literally means re-birth) was just that in architecture, a rebirth of the Roman traditions of design recognized by contemporaries in the term all 'Antica, "in the Antique manner".
The movement began in Florence and central Italy in the early 15th century, as an expression of Humanism. When the Renaissance spirit was finally exported into Spain, France, England, the Low Countries, Germany, Poland and Sweden, the style made its appearance fully formed. However, it had to compromise with local traditions and climates, subsequently its phases are not so clearly distinguished in individual buildings. The most Italian like style of the Renaissance outside of Italy is the Polish Renaissance.
It was expressed in a new emphasis on rational clarity and regularity of parts, arranged in simple mathematical proportions and in a conscious revival of Roman architecture. To the 'man in the street' the style was simply columns and symmetry as opposed to the stone work and irregular gabled facades which preceded the new style. Classically-styled columns, geometrically-perfect designs, and hemispherical domes characterized Renaissance architecture.
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. Domes had been used only rarely in the Middle Ages, but after the success of the dome in Brunelleschi’s design for the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and its use in Bramante’s plan for St. Peter’s Basilica (1506) in Rome, the dome became an indispensable element in church architecture and later even for secular architecture, such as Palladio's Villa Rotonda.
Historians often use the following designations to divide the phases of Renaissance Architecture:
- Renaissance (ca. 1400–1500); also known as the Quattrocento and sometimes Early Renaissance
- High Renaissance(ca.1500–1525)
- Mannerism(ca. 1520–1600)
Quattrocento
In the Quattrocento, concepts of architectural order were explored and rules were formulated. The study of classical antiquity led in particular to the adoption of Classical detail and ornamentation.
Space, as an element of architecture, was utilized differently from the way it had been in the middle Ages. Space was organized by proportional logic, its form and rhythm subject to geometry, rather than being created by intuition as in medieval buildings. The prime example of this is the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence by Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446).
High Renaissance
During the High Renaissance, concepts derived from classical antiquity were developed and used with greater surety. The most representative architect is Bramante (1444–1514) who expanded the applicability of classical architecture to contemporary buildings. His San Pietro in Montorio (1503) was directly inspired by circular Roman temples. He was, however, hardly a slave to the classical forms and it was his style that was to dominate Italian architecture in the 16th century.
Mannerism
During the Mannerist period, architects experimented with using architectural forms to emphasize solid and spatial relationships. The Renaissance ideal of harmony gave way to freer and more imaginative rhythms. The best known architect associated with the Mannerist style was Michelangelo (1475–1564), who is credited with inventing the giant order, a large pilaster that stretches from the bottom to the top of a façade. He used this in his design for the Campidoglio in Rome.
In Classical architecture, a giant order (also known as colossal order) is an order whose columns or pilasters span two (or more) stories. At the same time, smaller orders may feature in arcades or window and door framings within the floors that are embraced by the giant order.
*Pilaster Definition: an upright architectural member that is rectangular in plan and is structurally a pier but architecturally treated as a column and that usually projects a third of its width or less from the wall
Exhibit A: Renaissance Architecture
St Peter's Basilica, Rome.
Exhibit B: Renaissance Architecture
Basilica di San Lorenzo
Renaissance Architecture: Exhibit B
San Pietro in Montorio
Renaissance Architecture: Exhibit C
Piazza del Campidoglio: Michaelangelo