Architecture History Exam 4 Short Answers

Have you read Chapter 12 of your textbook?

Read Chapter 12

Can you explain the political and economic conditions that allowed the Renaissance to occur?

1. The renaissance was an effort to imitate the lost world of ancient Greece and Rome. The Renaissance unlike the Middle Ages, stressed the individual, reason, beauty, and secular values. the economy of Italy benefited greatly from trade and thus some areas became industrialized such as Florence. The collapse of feudalism led to the release of social forces that led to the Renaissance. People were freer than ever before, and they were prepared to question and doubt and develop new ideas about society and to create new means of expression and styles of art to represent them.

On what ancient building type is the Palazzo Medici based?

11. Palazzo Medici is based on the domus. A square donut

What is the significance of the Tempietto?

12. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella commissioned Bramante for the project. It is the spot that they believed St. Peter was martyred. the completed building is a two-story cylinder capped by a hemispherical dome and surrounded by a one-story Doric colonnade with entablature and balustrade. Only the doorway is awkward in its random positioning within one of the sixteen repetitive column bays, its uniqueness celebrated only by a modest set of steps. His command of form and detail approaches perfection. one of the most harmonious buildings of the Renaissance

On what ancient building type is Bramante's Tempietto based? Why is that significant?

13. It is significant that the Tempietto is based off of the tholos because Bramante designed his building to embody both the Platonic preference for ideal form and Christian reverence for tradition, in this case rev¬erence for the circular martyrium of the early church.

Can you name, identify, and DRAW the several MOTIFS of classical architecture that we have studied thus far?

14. Temple front motif, Belvedere Motif, Triumphal Arch Motif

What role did Merchants play in the spread of the Renaissance?

15. They patronized or hired artists. They were the middle man between trade

Can you define "Appropriation" and "Associationism"? Can you name and explain examples of appropriation and association?

16. Appropriation-- the action of taking something for one's own use, typically without the owner's permission. Association-- a connection or cooperative link between people or organizations. Some examples of appropriation and association are when the Christian appropriated the tholos and the apse.

What is a "formal analysis" and can you write one of the buildings and sites we've studied?

17. A formal analysis is a visual description of a building.

Who was Alberti? Why is he important? What did he design?

18. Alberti was a classical theorist who saw architecture as a way to address societal order. He expanded on Vitruvius' thoughts in his own book of architecture. it is important for cata¬loging the features and proportions of the orders of antiquity and establishing a theory of harmonious pro¬portions to be observed in buildings. Alberti adapted proportional systems because he believed in regulating the plan, sections and elevations. Alberti payed careful attention to city planning as well as aesthetics. Alberti extended this approach to include other factors such as the purity of the water supply and the distribution of land uses. He built the Palazzo Ruecellai, Santa Maria Novella and Sant' Andrea Mantua.

Can you write a concise narrative that explains the transition from Ancient Rome to the Middle Ages to the Renaissance? If you can write such a narrative, it will no doubt include some or all of the acronym "SPEAR". Think about it.

19. Ancient Rome was a time of innovative city planning and great feats of architecture. For example, the aqueducts, the colosseum, the pantheon and so on, are all amazing accomplishments from Roman times. Romans delved into complex architecture and the complexity of a city. The Romans also believed in multiple gods and that the emperor was the closest thing to divinity. After the fall of the Roman Empire and the Middle ages came around monotheism was in full effect and pilgrimages became popular. The point of the pilgrimage was to save your soul from spending too much time in purgatory. During the middle ages, only God was revered and all architecture focused around that. This was also the time of the Black Plague so everyone was dying and upset and the church said only they could offer salvation from it. After the middle ages came the Renaissance which means "rebirth." The Renaissance celebrated the human body. They believed humans were God's most perfect creation and based architecture off of the human body. During the Renaissance the forgotten works of ancient Rome resurfaced and architects such as Alberti, Bramante, and Brunelleschi all referred back to ancient Roman buildings when creating their own. The Renaissance was the first time classical orders and entablatures, as well as great architectural feats were attempted since Roman times.

What role did Medieval centers of learning play in the Renaissance?

2. The role the medieval learning centers played is that the monks who lived there saved all the books and writings from ancient Rome and Greece therefore, making people able to rediscover these times during the renaissance

Can you name the five characteristics of Renaissance architecture?

20. 1. Plans and elevations regulated by the proportion of a module, usually based on the diameter measurement taken at the base of the column of one of the five orders. 2. The use of the orders to compose and/or articulate elevations. 3. The use of and new interpretations of ancient building types as precedent for form. 4. Development of motifs that have a lasting influence on architecture to the present day. 5. Emphasis on the horizontal rather than the vertical. Compare, for example, Gothic architecture, which emphasized the vertical. By contrast, note how the Palazzo Medici's height is mitigated by the horizontal emphasis of the cornice and belt courses.

What are sumptuary laws? What is the significance of the Renaissance Palazzo in relation to sumptuary laws?

22. Sumptuary laws were laws that said architecture that wasn't churches had to be modest. It was a visible hierarchy to emphasize the church. They appealed these laws, so the palazzos could be built

Who was Vitruvius, when did he live, and what is his significance?

3. Vitruvius was a roman architect who lived during the height of the roman empire. He was an architect amongst other things and wrote the 10 books of architecture. Based on part on Greek originals, his work was doubtless not the only one of its kind, but it is the only intact treatise on architecture we have from antiquity, and as such it has been consulted carefully by architects from the Renaissance to the present seeking to understand the principles of Roman design

What is the significance of Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man"?

4. The Vitruvian man is important because of its bilateral symmetry. It is a testament that humans are God's perfect creation. Can be placed into to perfect geometric shapes. Architecture is based on the human form. Human¬ists were convinced that God's cosmic order could be expressed on earth through such mathematical propor¬tions, which were inevitably related to the mensuration of the human body. In this context, the circular church rep¬ resented the most perfect form, absolute, immutable, echoing celestial harmony. They made drawings of the human figure inscribed within the basic outline of the circle and square, thereby demonstrating that human proportions reflected divine ratios. Of these drawings, the most famous is the Vitruvian Man

Why did the Renaissance happen in Italy first, and not in another European country?

5. Trade was booming in Florence and became industrialized. the newly wealthy wool merchants and bankers sought prestige and status through their patron¬ age of arts and letters, and artists and architects displayed this support through their development of new forms in painting, sculpture, and architecture.

Can you trace and explain the development of the Renaissance Palazzo in Italy?

6. The first palazzo was built in 1444 by Bartolomeo for the Medici family. This palazzo was first built to protect the family like the defense towers had done. The Palazzo Medici was a domus form and emphasized horizontality. The 2nd floor is called the "piano Nobile." They tore down 82 houses to build the palazzo which showed their power and is also an act of gentrification. Bartolomeo used 3 different types of rustication to help tie it to the earth. Introduction of the bi-partite window. First complete and correct use of the classical cornice since roman times. The cornice projects out eight feet from the building, supported by acanthus¬ leaf modillions or large brackets, and it combines with the string course between the floor levels to create a strong horizontal emphasis, even though the facade is eighty¬ three feet high. The palazzo form of this urban house built by the Medici family can be added to the temple, stoa, and basilica as fundamental form types that have been repeated and reinterpreted down to the present day. the Medici Palace reflects Michelozzo's connection to Renaissance circles through its symmetry, inclusion of classical elements, and careful use of mathematical proportions. The next palazzo was two years later by Alberti. he applied superimposed Doric and Corinthian orders to demarcate the individual floors; this was the first use of the classical orders on a Renaissance domestic building. where diamond¬ shaped masonry units were used as formwork for concrete walls. Here, however, the subdivision serves only as a surface texture reflective of antique practices. The final form of the palazzo is Bramante's Palazzo Caprini in 1512. The piano nobile was articulated by Doric columns. Bramante had full expression of the orders and the golden section. It produced a more three-dimensional façade. Its own model was the ancient Roman insula or apartment house.

What is the structural and symbolic significance of the Florence Cathedral?

7. The Florence Cathedral is what many consider to be the beginning of the Renaissance. First dome to span a wider diameter since ancient times and first space to be domed since the pantheon. Using both roman construction and gothic traditions Brunelleschi created a gothic pointed arch section instead of a semi-circular to reduce the outward thrust. In order to reduce the dead load, he created a double shell of radial and concentric ribs, a strategy traceable both to ancient monuments such as the Pantheon and to Florentine medieval work such as the nearby cathe¬dral baptistery. There are 8 large ribs and in between each of them is 2 smaller ribs which makes 24 ribs in total. The 1st shell of the dome has iron in it which was an overcompensation.

Can you name and draw the five ancient building types? Can you site them as precedents for the buildings we've studied?

8. Domus—palazzo Tholos-- tempietto Portico— Theatre— Epidaurus theatre Basilica—St. peter's

What is a precedent? Can you identify precedents for the buildings we studied?

9. Precedent-- an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances. The pantheon is a precedent for the Duomo as well as Sant' Andrea Mantua. Tholos and the Basilica are precedents for the Renaissance church