Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early

14th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival
and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and
material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance architecture followed Gothic
architecture and was succeeded by Baroque architecture.

Renaissance style places emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the

regularity of parts, as they are demonstrated in the architecture of classical
antiquity

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
CLASSIFICATION OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
• Early Renaissance
• (Roman influence is most apparent in the ornamentation of the buildings)
• - ca. 1400-1500

• High Renaissance
• (influence extends to the structure of the buildings as much as their ornamentation)
• - ca. 1500-1520

• Late renaissance –
Romano (Palazzo del Te)
Palladio (villas, Vicenza Town Hall)- ca. 1520 - 1600-

(Roman features – arch, vault, gable and most important the five orders: tuscan, doric, ionic,
corinthian and composite)

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Features
• Rustication
• Front façade
• Windows with engaged columns and curved
pediment
• Windows with central column
• Doorway with columns and entablature
• Circular renaissance buildings (roman circular
temples)
• Courtyard with arcades and pilasters
• Inner and outer dome
• Circular drum supporting the domes
• Renaissance Greek theatre, Renaissance Roman
theatre
• Ornamentation – ornate capitals

AR1403 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 3

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Features
• Rustication

• Front façade

(Villa Porto a Vivaro, Dueville)

AR1403 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 4
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Features

• Windows with engaged columns and

curved / triangular pediment

• Windows with central column

AR1403 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 5

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Features

• Doorway with columns and

entablature

• Circular renaissance
buildings (roman circular
temples)

Saint Peter in Montorio little temple Donato Bramante Rome, italian renaissance
AR1403 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 6
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Features

• Courtyard with arcades and

pilasters

Wawel Castle, Poland -

Renaissance inner
courtyard, 16th century

AR1403 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 7

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Features

• Inner and outer dome

• Santa Maria, Florence

AR1403 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 8

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Features

• Inner and outer dome

• Circular drum supporting the
domes

Renaissance Greek theatre,

Renaissance Roman theatre
Ornamentation – ornate capitals
AR1403 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 9
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
BRAMANTE

• Italian architect.
• He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome
• St. Peters – executed by Michael angelo

Tempietto, small circular chapel erected

in the courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio
in Rome on the supposed site of the
martyrdom of St. Peter.

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
TEMPIETTO

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
SANTA MARIA PRESSO SAN SATIRO

• Santa Maria presso San Satiro is a church in Milan.

• The church is known for its false apse,
• The church has a nave and two aisles with barrel vault.
• The nave is surmounted by a hemispherical dome at the crossing with the
transept.

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
SANTA MARIA PRESSO SAN SATIRO

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
ST.PETERS ROME
Bramante’s plan
Bramante's plan envisaged four great chapels
filling the corner spaces between the
equal transepts, each one capped with a smaller
dome surrounding the great dome over the
crossing. Romano-Byzantine
Michelangelo's plan
Michelangelo changed Bramante’s plan for balance
and restful dome into a dynamic construction. He
introduced a drum at the base of the dome that
appears to be squeezing the dome and forcing its sides
to spring upwards.
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
MICHELANGELO

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
St. Peter’s Basilica Rome:
1506 – 1626
• Bramante
• Michelangelo
• Sangallo

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
1506-1626 (120 yrs of building) - Many architects
Origin – Pope Julius II wanted to erect a tomb house – pulled down the old
basilican church

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 • Elliptical St. Peter's Square (Piazza
San Pietro),
• Designed by Bernini and
• built between 1656 and 1667.
• The square is outlined by a
monumental colonnade by Bernini, its
open arms symbolically welcoming the
world into the Catholic Church.
• In the centre of the square is a 25.5-
meter-tall obelisk
• Between the obelisk and fountains is a
circular stone that marks the focal
points of an ellipse.
• If you stand on one of these points, the
two rows columns of the colonnade
line up perfectly and appear to be just
a single row.
• On top of the colonnade are 140
statues of saints, crafted by a number
of sculptors between 1662 and 1703.

St. Peter's Square

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Bramante – greek cross
+ dome, (similar to
pantheon) addition of
peristyle and lantern

Michelangelo – greek
cross, pyramidal
composition, extended
entry porches

Sangallo junior –
extended vestibule,
latin cross

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 Sanctuary
semicircular
apses

Transepts
terminated by
semicircular
apses 137’6’’ dia
dome

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 St. Peter’s Floor Plan

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
St. Peter's Basilica
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
 • SEMI CIRCULAR BARREL VAULTS – 150’ HT
• GIGANDIC ORDER OF CORINTHIAN PILASTERS

HIGH ALTER TWISTED COLUMNS

most important artworks in the chapel are the
frescoes by Michelangelo on the ceiling and on
the west wall behind the altar.

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
The Pieta, by Michelangelo
The Pieta, by Michelangelo

David
1504
Marble
The Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo
Creation of Man The Last Judgment
The Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo
The Sistine Chapel’s Ceiling
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1508 - 1512
 The Sistine Chapel Details

The
Creation
of the
Heavens
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical
style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and
gradually spread across Europe.
Baroque architecture is a construction style that began in the 16th century during
the Baroque era. This type of construction adopted the Roman way of architecture but
instead modernized it to a new fashion with an aim to show the might of the Roman
Catholic Church.

PROMINENT FEATURES OF BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE

Broad naves: In churches, it is characterized by broad naves (the central part of a church
where services are held) with oval forms.

Unfinished elements: A famous element of Baroque architecture is the deliberately

unfinished architectural elements that help give the design a unique feature.

Lighting: Another distinctive feature of this architectural works is the use of lighting
effects as it employs the use of either intense light as well as shaded lights to bring the
contrast.

Ornate finishings: The ceiling frescoes in this type of architecture are usually large
scale. One feature that is common with Baroque architecture is the use of ornaments,
plaster or marble finishing that give it a decorative look.

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
 FEATURES
• Sense of continuous movement, mainly created by walls which alternate from convex to
concave
• Dome, column, pilasters, entablature and other classical components
• Freedom with which these features are incorporated ( a freedom the true renaissance
architect would not accept)
• Giant orders- two storeys high
• Gables are broken or curve inside before meeting their apex
• Large windows are rectangular and the smaller are more ornamental and circular, semi
circular or oval
• Ground plan – oval, most fluid geometrical forms and the one which most readily creates a
sense of movement.

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
 ELEMENTS
• Elements of the Baroque architecture are complicated decorations, paintings and
contrasts between light and shadow.
• The final effect of this style is tension and humility.
• Baroque looks different in different countries.
• In Italy, where it started, the style is reflected in dramatic churches with irregular
shapes, huge domes and extravagant ornamentation.
• In France is highly decorated combined with classical features. Sacred buildings
and chateaux were typical for this style.

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
INTRODUCTION TO BERNINI
• Italian artist and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini was perhaps that greatest artist during
the 17th century. Bernini is credited for developing the Baroque style.

• Bernini was a skilled sculptor who used bronze and marble to complete some of his most
famous works of art.

• In addition to sculpting, Bernini was a skilled architect who designed and built beautiful
tombs, altars, and chapels.

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
• Rococo developed out of Baroque.

• Both styles feature elaborate ornament and decoration, and both

were used in large structures with a social or cultural status

• Baroque architecture is serious, dramatic, and heavy.

• On the other hand, Rococo is light, airy and decorative.

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
Rococo, also known as 'late Baroque', was an extreme, decorative
development of Baroque architecture that emerged in the 18th century as a
reaction against grandeur and symmetry. It was a more fluid and florid
elaborate style, comprising ornate, asymmetric designs and pastel shades.

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
 ROCOCO - INTRODUCTION
• During the reign of the French king, Louis XV, a new style of decoration
evolved.

• It is much lighter and more fanciful in concept, making use of asymmetrical

arrangement, curving lines, and unusual combinations of natural motifs.

• The French words for two of the most popular motifs gave the style its name—
rocaille (rustic work or arrangements of imaginary rocks) and coquille (shell)
were combined as rococo.

• Rococo style, in interior design, the decorative arts, paintings, architecture and
sculpture that originated in Paris in the early 18th century but was soon adopted
throughout France and later in other countries.

• Was in many respects a continuous of the baroque, particularly in the use of

light and shadow and compositional movement.

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
 CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
• Gentle colors, combined with the glance of gold: light pink, cream, light
blue, light shades of purple, green, yellow, peach, pearl, cream colors, etc..

• Rococo tends to mythological and erotic subjects: images and figures of

nymphs, cupids, Dryads, ancient gods and goddesses adorning the interior
in this style.

Grand Chamber of the Prince, Hotel de Soubise

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
 CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
• Rococo emphasized pastel colours, sinuous curves, and patterns based on flowers, vines,
and shells.

• Rococo style started out in the decorative arts and architecture.

• Furniture and facades became sensational, and interiors and costumes are decorated with
shells, frills, gold leaf and ribbons.

Cuvilles Mirror Room, Anolienburg, Germany.

This is the finest example of Rococo interior design
ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
OTTOBEUREN ABBEY

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
 OTTOBEUREN ABBEY
• Ottobeuren is a Benedictine abbey, located in Ottobeuren, near Memmingen in
the Bavarian Allgäu, Germany. For part of its history Ottobeuren Abbey was one of the
40-odd self-ruling imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire and, as such, was a
virtually independent state.

• Nave of Ottobeuren Basilica is 89 m long and 36 m high. Each tower is 82 m tall.

• Altar of basilica is in the south and not in the east, as it is common in churches. This is
caused by the wish to create the abbey in a cross-shaped form – basilica is the upper
part of this cross.

• While the building was designed in late Baroque style, interior was designed in the
similar Rococo style and is one of best known examples of this style worldwide.

• Interior has light colors, it is lavishly adorned with frescoes and other embellishments.
The beautiful frescoes were painted by Austrian painters Johann Jakob
Zeiller and Franz Anton Zeiller but sculptures created by Johann Joseph Christian.

• Basilica has sixteen beautiful altars.

• The beauty of Ottobeuren Basilica is not entirely light and easy. Macabre "adornment"
of basilica is complete skeletons of four people in glass coffins, belonging to saints.
 OTTOBEUREN ABBEY

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
 OTTOBEUREN ABBEY

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
 OTTOBEUREN ABBEY

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
 OTTOBEUREN ABBEY

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
 • The Louvre is the world’s largest art museum and a great work of rococo.

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th to
13th century under Philip II.

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
PALLADIAN ARCHITECTURE
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from and inspired by
the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580).

Palladian architecture today is an evolution of his original concepts. Palladio's work was
strongly based on the
symmetry, perspective, and values of the formal classical temple architecture of
the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

From the 17th century Palladio's interpretation of this classical architecture was adapted
as the style known as "Palladianism". It continued to develop until the end of the 18th
century.
• Plain exteriors based on rules of proportion.
• Interiors were richly decorated.
CHARACTERISTIC
• Highly symmetrical. FEATURES
• Symmetry and balance implemented by GrecoRoman
• Pediments over doors, windows, mirrors, fireplaces
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
 The Rotunda (University of Virginia)
The Rotunda is a building located on The Lawn on the original grounds of
the University of Virginia. It was designed by Thomas Jefferson to represent the
"authority of nature and power of reason" and was inspired by
the Pantheon in Rome. Construction began in 1822 and was completed shortly
after Jefferson's death in 1826.
 The Rotunda (University of Virginia)
Jefferson's design was influenced by the architectural drawings of Andrea
Palladio and is an example of Palladian architecture. The direct source for
Jefferson's inspiration is believed to be a drawing of the Pantheon in the 1721
Leoni translation of Palladio, which Jefferson owned and referred to during the
building process. Jefferson used the detailed measurements of the Pantheon
to guide the proportions of his Rotunda. The Pantheon's dome is 143 feet in
diameter, while Jefferson's Rotunda is 77 feet, "being half that of the
Pantheon and consequently one fourth in area, and one eighth in volume."
The Rotunda (University of Virginia)
the Rotunda is divided into three floors:
• the lower two contained classrooms and lecture halls,
• while the third served as the university library.
• This space, ringed by columns and crowned by a domed ceiling, was the greatest
built expression of Jefferson’s rational, Neoclassical ideals.
 Palladian window

A Palladian window is a specific design, a large, three-section window where the

center section is arched and larger than the two side sections. Renaissance
architecture and other buildings in classical styles often have Palladian windows.
 Andrea Palladio
• foremost villa architect of the Renaissance -
Andrea Palladio,
• was not a Mannerist
• In fact, his simple style could arguably be
described as High Renaissance, or nearly so
• Palladio may well be the most influential
architect of all time, given the widespread
embrace of his style during the Neoclassical era
• Palladio's most striking innovation was to graft
the classical temple front onto residential
architecture
• A true temple front is a portico (covered porch
with columns), while a cosmetic temple front
can be formed by a simple pediment.
• In either case the entrance can be recessed,
which allows for a covered entrance even
without a portico.
• The common features of Palladio's villas are
captured by the term Palladian style.
• The common features of
Palladio's villas are captured by
the term Palladian style.
• Three standard features of
Palladian-style buildings may be
identified.
One: the overall plan is a central block
flanked with identical wings, which
ensures perfect symmetry; the central
block is faced with a temple front
Two: the interior plan is also symmetrical,
with a great hall at the centre (see
example).
Three: the building has an exposed
basement, a major story and an attic
story, with stairs leading up to the main
story.
Palladian window