RE13
Semester Research «Building & Landscape»
Belen Culcay
HS20
Research: Villa la Rotonda, Vicenza, 1567-1592
Architect: Andrea Palladio
Location: Vicenza, Italy
Type: Vacation House
Sources: http://designtheory.fiu.edu/documents/paper_palladio.pdf.
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The building is conceived as a whole. It looks completely symmetrical and each room was proportioned with mathematical precision. It present a square plan with 4 facades, each with a projected portico. The whole building is contained within an imaginary circle. The building is an intersection of a square with a cross. Each portico has its own entrance which lead to the domed central hall through a narrow corridor. The design reflected the humanistic values of Renaissance architecture.
The building was design to be in perfect harmony with the landscape. In order to allow each facade to complement the surrounding landscape and topography, each facade has subtle variations. For instance, in the width of steps, retaining walls, etc. As a result, the landscape is framed from the inside to create a perfect composition of trees, meadow, forest and the view of Vincenza in the horizon.
“Beauty will result from the form and correspondence of the whole, with respect to the several parts, of the parts with regard to each other, and of these again to the whole; so that the structure may appear an entire and complete body, wherein each member agrees with the other, and all necessary to compose what you intend to form.”
– Andrea Palladio
– Andrea Palladio
