Unit summary 2 - ALTERNATIVES

Church of the Gesu, Giacamo della Porta,( Roth, page 401)

This unit focuses on the progression of cultures and societies toward ALTERNATIVES from the ancient establishments that were set in place by the achievements of the Greek and Roman Societies. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD, the void left by the Roman government dominance was filled by the rise in power and importance of the churches. The churches took on the responsibility of reassembling an organized society. Of course, when the church took a central role in organized society, it lead to construction of great churches and temples.
Though the Roman Empire crumbled in power, the buildings they built were left to be studied and inspired the “Romanesque” churches and styling we can still see today. Circa 1000 ad – 1200 ad, patterns of geometrical surface decoration on the front façade of churches became the main identifying feature of the Italian churches. A good example of this is the San Miniato al Monte in Firenze. Italian churches of the period also tended to break into separate buildings where French churches were more put together into one structure. By and large, continuities and distinctions arose between churches all across Europe during this period. Cathedrals in Europe represented a transformed classical order from the FOUNDATIONS laid by the Greeks and Romans into a new way of interpreting the standard.
Moving forward with the renaissance period, RATIONALITY became the underlying theme for the mentality of the thinkers and designers of the time. The goal was to “bring things to rest” with the use of verticals and horizontals. This can be seen in the palazzos such as the Palazzo Medici, where the designs are developed out of the necessity for residential living quarters in an urban city and working environment. The typical pattern for a palazzo was to have a grand yet simple in looks 3 story structure; the ground level floor was where business and work took place, the second floor or, “piano nobiele” was the floor for entertaining guests and the third floor was the private living quarters for the family. Like the Medici family, many wealthy families constructed these palazzos to demonstrate their “high” place in society.
Emerging from this period was a designer who some would claim is, “the most influential and copied designer of all time,” Palladio. His work was largely influenced by the classical work of the Greeks and Romans like many others but his “alternative” was to take the front columnar facades that were previously only used for temples and government buildings and applied them to residential structures. In his Villa Rotunda, he used large elaborate facades on all four sides of the structure, not just the front. The main reason for Palladio’s popularity and widespread influence to other designers (including Thomas Jefferson many years later) was that he was the first to write and publish volumes of books on architecture and his philosophy towards it. This now enabled information and design to travel and be spread more widely and efficiently than ever before.
Right on the heels of the renaissance movement came the baroque period. While the renaissance mentality focused on the rotational, it was the goal of the baroque period to pursue the emotional element of design and style to the fullest. This involved the pushing and pulling of planes in the interior spaces as well as the facades of buildings in an effort to create more drama. Columns would be embedded into walls in full form as opposed to just a pylaster. Though the period was very effective in creating an obvious style that is easily identified, it also is heavily criticized as being overly flamboyant and gaudy. It was in effect this over elaborate style that lead to people becoming exhausted with the style of the baroque and lead to the next era of the Architecture Parlent, Following the baroque period, designers pulled back and reverted to “re-writing” down the rules of ancient architecture. This is where we keep moving forward into the study of the history and theory of architecture.