5/17/23, 2:17 PM Palladian architecture

Palladian architecture
2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Architecture

Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the
Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). The term "Palladian" normally refers to
buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; what is recognised as Palladian
architecture today is an evolution of Palladio's original concepts. This evolution of
Palladianism as a style began in the 17th century and continued to develop until the end of
the 18th century.

Palladianism became popular briefly in

Britain during the mid-17th century. In the
early 18th century it returned to fashion,
in not only England but many nothern
European countries. Later when the style
was falling from favour in Europe, it had
a surge in popularity in North America,
most notably in the buildings designed
by Thomas Jefferson. To understand
Palladian architecture as it later evolved,
one must first understand the
architecture of Palladio himself.
A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of
Palladio's I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, in a
Palladio's architecture modestly priced English translation published in
London, 1736.

Buildings entirely designed by Palladio are all in

Venice and the Veneto. They include Villa
Capra and Villa Badoer, as well as the
Redentore in Venice. In Palladio's architectural
treatises, as well as the buildings he designed
and built, he followed the principles defined by
the Roman architect Vitruvius and his 15th-
century disciple Leon Battista Alberti, who
adhered to principles of classical Roman
architecture based on mathematical proportions
"True Palladianism" in Villa Godi by
Palladio from the Quattro Libri
rather than the rich ornamental style also
dell'Architettura. The extending wings are characteristic of the Renaissance.
agricultural buildings and are not part of
the villa, in the 18th century they became Palladio always designed his villas with
an important part of Palladianism see reference to their setting. If on a hill, such as
photograph of Woburn Abbey below, Villa Capra, all facades were often designed to
be of equal value so that occupants could have
fine views in all directions. Also, in such cases,
porticos were built on all sides so that occupants could fully appreciate the countryside while
being protected from the sun, similar to many American-style porches of today. Palladio
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sometimes used a loggia as an alternative to the portico. This can most simply be described
as a recessed portico, or an internal single storey room, with pierced walls that are open to
the elements. Occasionally a loggia would be placed at second floor level over the top of a
loggia below, creating what was known as a double loggia. Loggias were sometimes given
significance in a facade by being surmounted by a pediment. Villa Godi has as its focal point
a loggia rather than a portico, plus loggias terminating each end of the main building.

Palladio would often model his villa elevations on Roman temple facades. The temple
influence, often in a cruciform design, later became a trademark of his work. Palladian villas
are usually built with three floors: a rusticated basement or ground floor, containing the
service and minor rooms; above this, the piano nobile accessed through a portico reached
by a flight of external steps, containing the principal reception and bedrooms; and above
this is a low mezzanine floor with secondary bedrooms and accommodation. The
proportions of each room within the villa were calculated on simple mathematical ratios like
3:4 and 4:5, and the different rooms within the house were interrelated by these ratios.
Earlier architects had used these formulas for balancing a single symmetrical facade,
however Palladio's designs related to the whole, usually square, villa.

Palladio deeply considered the dual purpose of his villas as both farmhouses and palatial
weekend retreats for wealthy merchant owners. These symmetrical temple-like houses often
have equally symmetrical, but low, wings sweeping away from them to accommodate
horses, farm animals, and agricultural stores. The wings, sometimes detached and
connected to the villa by colonnades, were designed not only to be functional but also to
complement and accentuate the villa. They were, however, in no way intended to be part of
the main house, and it is in the design and use of these wings that Palladio's followers in the
18th century adapted to become am integral part of the building.

The Palladian window

The Palladian, Serlian, or
Venetian window features
largely in Palladio's work,
almost a trademark in his early
career. It consists of a central
light with semicircular arch
over, carried on an impost
consisting of a small
entablature, under which, and
The Palladian, or Serlian, enclosing two other lights, one
arch or window, as on each side, are pilasters. In
interpreted by Palladio. the library at Venice,
Detail of drawing from
Quattro Libri
Sansovino varied the design
dell'Architettura. by substituting columns for the Late 18th century Palladian
two inner pilasters. To window in a neoclassical
describe its origin as being interpretation by Robert Adam
either Palladian or Venetian is not accurate; the motif was
first used by Donato Bramante (Ackerman) and later
mentioned by Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) in his seven-volume architectural book Tutte
l'opere d'architettura et prospetiva expounding the ideals of Vitruvius and Roman
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architecture, this arched window is flanked by two lower rectangular openings, a motif that
first appeared in the triumphal arches of ancient Rome. Palladio used the motif extensively,
most notably in the arcades of the Palazzo della Ragione in Vicenza. It is also a feature of
his entrances to both Villa Godi and Villa Forni-Cerato. It is perhaps this extensive use of
the motif in the Veneto that has given the window its alternative name of the Venetian
window; it is also known as a Serlian window. Whatever the name or the origin, this form of
window has probably become one of the most enduring features of Palladio's work seen in
the later architectural styles, evolved from Palladianism.

Early Palladianism
In 1570 Palladio published his book I Quattro
Libri dell'Architettura, inspiring architects across
Europe. During the 17th century, many architects
studying in Italy learned of Palladio's work.
Foreign architects then returned home and
adapted Palladio's style to suit various climates,
topographies and personal tastes of their clients.
Isolated forms of Palladianism throughout the
world were brought about in this way. However,
the Palladian style did not reach the zenith of its
popularity until the 18th century, primarily in
Inigo Jones was the designer of the
England, Ireland and later North America. Queen's House, Greenwich, begun in
1616, the first English Palladian house.
One of these students was the English architect
Inigo Jones, who is directly responsible for
importing the Palladian influence to England. The "Palladianism" of Jones and his
contemporaries and later followers was a style very much of facades only, and the
mathematical formulae dictating layout were not strictly applied. A handful of great country
houses in England built between 1640 and circa 1680, such as Wilton House, are in this
Palladian style, following the great success of Jones' Palladian designs for the Queen's
House at Greenwich and the Banqueting House at Whitehall, the uncompleted royal palace
in London of King Charles I.

However, the Palladian designs advocated by Inigo Jones were too closely associated with
the court of Charles I to survive the turmoil of the civil war. Following the Stuart restoration
Jones's Palladianism was eclipsed by the baroque designs of such architects as William
Talman and Sir John Vanbrugh, Nicholas Hawksmoor, and even Jones' pupil John Webb.

English Palladian revival (neo-Palladian)

The baroque style, popular in continental Europe, was never truly to the English taste. It
was quickly superseded when, in the first quarter of the 18th century, four books were
published in Britain which highlighted the simplicity and purity of classical architecture.
These were:

1. Vitruvius Britannicus published by Colen Campbell, 1715 (of which supplemental

volumes appeared through the century)
2. Palladio's Four Books of Architecture published by Giacomo Leoni, 1715
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3. Leone Battista Alberti's De Re Aedificatoria, published by Giacomo Leoni, 1726

4. The Designs of Inigo Jones... with Some Additional Designs, published by William
Kent, 2 vols., 1727 (A further volume, Some Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones and Mr.
William Kent was published in 1744 by the architect John Vardy, an associate of
Kent.)

The most popular of these among the wealthy

patrons of the day was the four-volume Vitruvius
Britannicus by Colen Campbell. Campbell was
both an architect and a publisher. The book was
basically a book of design containing
architectural prints of British buildings, which had
been inspired by the great architects from
Vitruvius to Palladio; at first mainly those of Inigo
Jones, but the later tomes contained drawings
and plans by Campbell and other 18th-century Palladian revival: Stourhead House, South
facade, was designed by Colen Campbell
architects. These four books greatly contributed
and completed in 1720. The design is
to Palladian revival architecture becoming based on Palladio's Villa Emo.
established in 18th-century Britain. Their three
authors became the most fashionable and
sought after architects of the era. Due to his book Vitruvius Britannicus, Colen Campbell
was chosen as the architect for banker Henry Hoare I's Stourhead house (illustration
below), a masterpiece that became the inspiration for dozens of similar houses across
England.

At the forefront of the new school of design was the

aristocratic "architect earl", Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of
Burlington, who saw baroque as a symbol of foreign
absolutism. In 1729, Burlington, with William Kent,
designed Chiswick House. This House was a
reinterpretation of Palladio's Villa Capra, but purified of
16th century elements and ornament. This severe lack
of ornamentation was to be a feature of the Palladian
Palladian revival: Stourhead revival. In 1734 William Kent and Lord Burlington
House, East facade, based on designed one of England's finest examples of palladian
Palladio's Villa Emo. Both images revival houses with Holkham Hall in Norfolk. The main
are from Colen Campbell's block of this house followed Palladio's dictates quite
Vitruvius Britannicus.
closely, but Palladio's low, often detached, wings of
farm buildings were elevated in significance. Kent
attached them to the design, banished the farm animals, and elevated the wings to almost
the same importance as the house itself. Often these wings were adorned with porticos and
pediments, often resembling, as at the much later Kedleston Hall, small country houses in
their own right. It was the development of the flanking wings that was to cause English
Palladianism to evolve from being a pastiche of Palladio's original work.

Architectural styles evolve and change to suit the requirements of each individual client.
When in 1746 the Duke of Bedford decided to rebuild Woburn Abbey, he chose the
Palladian style for the design, as this was now the most fashionable of the era. He selected
architect Henry Flitcroft, a protege of Burlington. Flitcroft's designs, while Palladian in
nature, would not be recognised by Palladio himself. The central block is small, only three
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bays, the temple-like portico is merely

suggested, and it is in fact closed. Two
great flanking wings containing a vast
suite of state rooms replace the walls or
colonnades which should have
connected to the farm buildings; the farm
buildings terminating the structure are
elevated in height to match the central
block, and given Palladian windows, to
ensure they are seen as of Palladian
design. This development of the style
was to be repeated in countless houses, English Palladianism Woburn Abbey, designed by
and town halls in Britain over one Burlington's student Henry Flitcroft in 1746.
hundred years. Falling from favour Palladio's central temple is no longer free standing,
during the Victorian era, it was revived by the wings are now elevated to near equal
Edward Blore for his refacing of importance, and the cattle sheds terminating
Palladio's design are now clearly part of the facade.
Buckingham Palace in 1913. Often the
terminating blocks would have blind
porticos and pilasters themselves, competing for attention with, or complementing the
central block. This was all very far removed from the designs of Palladio two hundred years
earlier.

English Palladian houses were now no longer the small but exquisite weekend retreats from
which their Italian counterparts were conceived. They were no longer villas but "power
houses" in Sir John Summerson's term, the symbolic centres of power of the Whig
"squirearchy" that ruled Britain. As the Palladian style swept Britain, all thoughts of
mathematical proportion were swept away. Rather than square houses with supporting
wings, these buildings had the length of the facade as their major consideration; long
houses often only one room deep were deliberately deceitful in giving a false impression of
size.

Irish Palladianism
During the Palladian revival period in Ireland,
even quite modest mansions were cast in a neo-
Palladian mould. Palladian architecture in Ireland
subtly differs from that in England. While
adhering as in other countries to the basic ideals
of Palladio, it is often truer to them - perhaps
because it was often designed by architects who
had come directly from mainland Europe, and
therefore were not influenced by the evolution
that Palladianism was undergoing in Britain, or
perhaps because Ireland was more provincial Irish Palladianism: Russborough, Ireland
and its fashions changed at a slower pace than in 1826. Designed by the German Richard
elsewhere. Whatever the reason, Palladianism Cassels circa 1750, it is closer in design to
still had to be adapted for the wetter, colder Palladio's concepts than similar Palladian
weather.

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One of the most pioneering Irish architects was style houses in England, such as Woburn
Sir Edward Lovett Pearce (1699–1733), who Abbey.
became one of the leading advocates of
Palladianism in Ireland. A cousin of Sir John
Vanbrugh, he was originally one of his pupils, but rejecting the baroque, he spent three
years studying architecture in France and Italy, before returning home to Ireland. His most
important Palladian work is the former Irish Houses of Parliament in Dublin. He was a
prolific architect who also designed the south facade of Drumcondra House in 1727 and
Cashel Palace in 1728.

One of the most notable examples of Palladianism in Ireland is the magnificent Castletown
House, near Dublin. Designed by the Italian architect Alessandro Galilei (1691–1737), it is
perhaps the only Palladian house in Ireland to have been built with Palladio's mathematical
ratios, and one of the two Irish mansions which claim to have inspired the design of the
White House in Washington.

Other fine examples include Russborough, designed by Richard Cassels, an architect of

German origin, who also designed the Palladian Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, and Florence
Court, County Fermanagh. Irish Palladian Country houses often have robust Rococo
plasterwork, frequently executed by the Lafranchini brothers, an Irish speciality, which is far
more flamboyant than the interiors of their contemporaries in England. So much of Dublin
was built in the 18th century that it set a Georgian stamp on the city, to the disgust of Irish
nationalists; until recently Dublin was one of the few cities where fine late 18th-century
housing could be seen in ruinous condition. Elsewhere in Ireland after 1922, the lead was
removed from the roofs of unoccupied Palladian houses for its value as scrap. Many
roofless Palladian houses can still be found in the depopulated Irish countryside.

North American Palladianism

Palladio's influence in North America is evident almost
from the beginning of architect designed building there.
In 1749 Peter Harrison adopted the design of his
Redwood Library in Newport, Rhode Island from
Palladio's Architecture in Four Books, while his Brick
Market, also in Newport, of a decade later is also
Palldaian in conception.

The amateur architect Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

once referred to Palladio's "I Quattro Libri
dell'Architettura" as his bible. Jefferson acquired an
intense appreciation of Palladio's architectural
concepts, and his designs for the Jefferson Monticello
estate and the University of Virginia were based on
American Palladianism: The drawings from Palladio's book. Realising the powerful
Rotunda at the University of
Virginia, designed in the Palladian political significance pertaining to ancient Roman
manner by Thomas Jefferson. buildings, Jefferson designed many of his civic
buildings in the Palladian style. Monticello (remodelled
between 1796 and 1808) is quite clearly based on
Palladio's Villa Capra, however, with modifications, in a style which is described in America
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today as Colonial Georgian. Jefferson's Pantheon, or Rotunda, at the University of Virginia

is undeniably Palladian in concept and style.

In Virginia and Carolina, the Palladian manner is epitomised in numerous Tidewater

plantation houses, such as Stratford Hall or Westover Plantation, or Drayton Hall near
Charleston. These examples are all classic American colonial examples of a Palladian taste
that was transmitted through engravings, for the benefit of masons—and patrons, too—who
had no first-hand experience of European building practice. A feature of American
Palladianism was the re-emergence of the great portico, which again, as in Italy, fulfilled the
need of protection from the sun; the portico in various forms and size became a dominant
feature of American colonial architecture. In the north European countries the Portico had
become a mere symbol, often closed, or merely hinted at in the design by pilasters, and
sometimes in very late examples of English Palladianism adapted to become a porte-
cochere; in America, the Palladian portico regained its full glory.

Thomas Jefferson must have gained particular

pleasure as the second occupant of the White
House in Washington, which was doubtless
inspired by Irish Palladianism. Both Castletown
and Richard Cassel's Leinster House in Dublin
claim to have inspired the architect James
Hoban, who designed the executive mansion,
built between 1792 and 1800. Hoban, born in
Callan, County Kilkenny, in 1762, studied
architecture in Dublin, where Leinster House
(built circa 1747) was one of the finest buildings The White House, designed by James
at the time. The Palladianism of the White House Hoban, who had studied Palladianism in
Ireland.
is interesting as it is almost an early form of
neoclassicism, especially the South facade,
which closely resembles James Wyatt's design for Castle Coole of 1790, also in Ireland.
Ironically, the North facade lacks one of the floors from Leinster House, while the Southern
facade gains a floor extra than Castle Coole, and has an external staircase more in the
Palladian manner. Castle Coole is, in the words of the architectural commentator Gervase
Jackson-Stops, "A culmination of the Palladian traditions, yet strictly neoclassical in its
chaste ornament and noble austerity". The same can be said of many houses in the
American Palladian style.

One of the adaptations made to Palladianism in America was that the piano nobile now
tended to be placed on the ground floor, rather than above a service floor, as was the
tradition in Europe. This service floor, if it existed at all, was now a discreet semi-basement.
This negated the need for an ornate external staircase leading to the main entrance as in
the more original Palladian designs. This would also be a feature of the neoclassical style
that followed Palladianism.

The only two houses in the United States - from the English colonial period (1607-1776) -
that can be definitively attributed to designs from the Four Books of Architecture are
architect William Buckland's The Hammond-Harwood House (1774) in Annapolis, Maryland
and Thomas Jefferson's first Monticello. The design source for the Hammond-Harwood
House is the Villa Pisani at Montagnana (Book II, Chapter XIV) and for the first Monticello
(1770) the design source is the Villa Cornaro at Piombino Dese (Book II, Chapter XIV).
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Thomas Jefferson later covered this facade

with later additions so that the Hammond-
Harwood House remains the only pure and
pristine example of direct modeling in
America today.

Decline of Palladianism
By the 1770s, in England, such architects as
Robert Adam and Sir William Chambers
The architect Giacomo Quarenghi, active
were in huge popular demand, but they were between 1780s and 1810s, transformed the
now drawing on a great variety of classical city of Saint Petersburg, Russia into the
sources, including ancient Greece, so much outdoor museum of Palladian revival.
so that their forms of architecture were
eventually defined as neoclassical rather
than Palladian. In Europe, the Palladian revival ended by the end of the 18th century. In
North America, Palladianism lingered a little longer; Thomas Jefferson's floor plans and
elevations owe a great deal to Palladio's Quattro Libri. The term "Palladian" today is often
misused, and tends to describe a building with any classical pretensions.

Post-Modern revival
Palladian motifs, particularly the window, made a comeback during the Post-Modern era.
The architect Philip Johnson frequently used it as a doorway, as in his designs for the
University of Houston School of Architecture building ( 1985), 500 Boylston Street ( 1989),
Boston, Massachusetts and the Museum of Television and Radio building ( 1991), New York
City. When asked about it, Johnson replied, "I think Palladian windows have a rather prettier
shape. I wasn't trying to make any more important point than that." (Lewis, O'Connor, 1994,
p.170) I.M. Pei was to use the design for the main entrence of his 1985 Bank of China
building in Hong Kong.

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