The University of Melbourne
FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND PLANNING
CULTURE & HISTORY of URBAN PLANNING
705-117
Lecture Notes
PART
©1999 C.M.Gutjahr
5
RENAISSANCE IN ITALY Practice
PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE RENAISSANCE
Although, the theoretical work of Ideal City designs pre-occupied Italian Renaissance architects
during that period 1430-1590, practical contributions made during the time were of equal
importance and from 1520 onward began to dominate urban activities.
Nature of Practical Contributions
-
fragmented work which, inspite of its various manifestations, does not achieve complete
concepts/overall schemes as suggested in the Ideal City work.
-
concerned with individual works of architecture and urban design rather than with overall
planning schemes - the accent being on the finite, localized environmental design problem
rather than on the total urban scale.
-
Renaissance planners became conscious of the interrelationship between spatial
elements within the urban scene: they awakened to the notion of
CAUSE and EFFECT or
ACTION and REACTION in urban design
i.e. they soon realised that one could achieve a variety of spatial effects by judiciously
applying the various planning techniques and principles that were being experimented with
(some earlier urban cultures e.g. Greece did this more instinctively).
Scope of Practical Renaissance
In view of the existence of many towns and cities of medieval and even older vintage, the
Renaissance in Italy presented relatively few opportunities for building entire new towns and,
therefore, few chances to implement Renaissance urban design, let alone Ideal City projects; the
exceptions being
1.
the NEW TOWNS of
Palma Nova
Grammichele
and possibly Sabbioneta & Livorno
2.
URBAN EXTENSIONS such as Lucca, Mantua, Padua, Modena etc.
3.
NEW FORTIFICATIONS & GATEWAYS such as Parma, Ferrara.
4.
PALAZZI for the great families, such as the Sforza, Visconti, Farnese, Este.
5.
RELIGIOUS EDIFICES AND ART in general.
Example:
•
Bramante's Tempietto in S. Pietro in Montorio, Rome, 1502-10 delightful
Renaissance temple/pavilion (chapel) absorbed ideas and standards of classical
architecture.
6.
TOWN IMPROVEMENTS Urban Renewal/Rehabilation projects. The urban planning
achievements of the Italian Renaissance, undoubtedly are to be found in the town
improvements of the period.
These include the numerous projects carried out within the medieval or older urban fabric
of existing cities; they were, in the main, single urban projects or developments aimed at
adapting the medieval (or even older) urban form to the new Renaissance order:
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
1
1.
-
Streets
straightening and widening existing streets
cutting new straight thoroughfares especially through slum areas
2.
-
Piazza and the monument
introduction and design of urban spaces and their monuments i.e. the principal
buildings, elements of street furniture which are regarded as parts of the one
architectural composition and which relate to each other.
-
the fascination with the piazza and the monument in Renaissance Italy, becomes
evident during 16th century.
-
it is, in fact, the framework within which Renaissance planners were most able to
work.
-
the piazza and its associated elements: monuments and fountain, enclosing
facades, pavements, towers, columns, loggiae, gates - become the principal
theme of urban design from the High Renaissance on through the Mannerist
phase into the Baroque era.
3.
Landscape Design - introduction of trees, lawn, flowers into public places and
streets, squares (previously unknown feature in urban development, inspired by
contemporary ideas in formal design of parks and gardens).
Examples:
VIGEVANO 30 km SW of Milano
Lodovico il Moro, Duke of this little Lombardy town, launched a development plan that set a
precedent for the dominating theme of Renaissance planning: the piazza.
In 1492, the medieval market was demolished and replaced, within two years, by a huge porticoed
square, conceived with the help of Ambrogio di Curtis, Bramante and Da Vinci. It became the
largest square in the city and a kind of external courtyard to the ducal palace.
The Piazza Ducale: indicates the 'form tendency' of the Renaissance and achieved complete
spatial continuity and unification of all contributing elements.
-
-
a precisely rectangular shape: 40 x 124m (48 - 134m ?)
enclosed on 3 sides by a continuous building facade:
• 3 storeys high of identical eave and roof lines
• identical windows of precisely similar size and shape, and at similar intervals;
(well-matched porticoes), producing continuity and a strong enclosed space
• with tall arcades at ground level and upper storeys used for residence
• ground floor, undisturbed by entering streets and footways, is used for shops.
emphasis on the horizontal effects of perspective
decorative paving of formal design emphasized and echoed symmetry of facades;
drain gutters in centre of sloping floor used to advantage in pavement design.
cathedral, built along 4th side in 17th century (i.e. Baroque) completes
composition
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2
Plan of Piazza Ducale, Vigevano
VENICE
Island city founded in 5th century A.D. developed in stages from a place of refuge to the strong
maritime power of the Venetians (member of Hanseatic League).
Constraints of location
A unique kind of plan dictated by its situation in the shallow waters of the Adriatic sea and affected
by
• sand, stone and pebble deposits (from rivers)
• water currents and conditions of navigation
• practicability of securing woodpile foundations
Venice's location is a compromise between communication with and defence from mainland.
These and other factors determined the precise limits of the city as well as its layout, both of which
were almost impossible to change and expand. They also determined the sweep of the Canale
della Guidecca and the Canale Grande as well as the placing of minor canals and bridges.
Lack of stable foundations resulted in dense housing concentration within a closely knit and
irregular network of canals and narrow lanes where air and water currents (so vital to health
conditions) had only limited effectiveness. Venice was frequently visited by black death and
plague; its population varied between 140,000 and 190,000 between the 14th and the 18th
centuries and has never exceeded 200,000 inhabitants.
Unique Quality of Venice's Town Plan
Venice is the clearest example of a cellular unit of planning, organised by neighbourhoods or
precincts. It was divided into six neighbourhoods each harbouring one of six city guilds. Each
neighbourhood contained its own town centre or 'campo'1 (including its own fountain, school,
church, guildhall etc ...) which followed on a smaller scale the pattern of the dominant centre of the
city, the Piazza San Marco.
The 'campos' and 'campielli' of Venice form a network of light-filled open spaces which provide
unexpected relief from and contrast to the shadowy, narrow streets and passages, and in which
each space is comprehensible only in relation to the others.
1
Campo (pl. campi) = ground, field
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3
The canals, especially the Grand Canal, provide additional open space and represent, instead of
the traditional wall, the urban container of the city. Water, then, serves as means of
communication (177 canals), as protection, as visual relief, and as boundary between the city's
major functional zones and as important urban design element in heightening the illusion of space.
Unlike other cities, Venice manages to express its structure very clearly in the differentiation and
zoning of urban functions (administrative, communal, residential, industrial) separated by traffic
ways and open spaces. In spite of its complex physical order, Venice preserved a strong unity as
well as avoiding a static design: it allowed for growth, change, re-adaptation and needs of
successive generations, and presents a living, flexible plan. Yet there is continuity in its change.
Perspective View of the Piazza San Marco and the Piazzetta
Venice
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Plan of the Piazza and Piazzetta San Marco, Venice
PIAZZA SAN MARCO & PIAZZETTA
'Le plus beau salon de l'Europe' - Napoleon
"This square is the supreme European example of a communal organisation combining
convenience of location and pictorial magnificence."
The Square consists of 5 spatial elements:
1.
The piazza
2.
The piazzetta
3.
Small piazza north of the basilica
4.
Spatial link bounded by 3 flagpoles, clocktower, & entrance portals of St. Mark
5.
Interior courtyard of Doge's palace.
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Detailed plan of Venice
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Venetians' identification with this square is an expression of the total civic life of their city, while the
local square of their neighbourhood, which provides a reflection of the total civic magnificence,
remains the actual centre of their daily activities.
Evolution of Piazza S.Marco
"A self-conscious process and result of a long series of agonizing decisions, constantly aimed at
perfecting the square."- Edmund Bacon
Site originally occupied by orchards of St Mark.
Plan of Piazza San Marco, early 12th century
827
Chapel of St Mark (originally built as private chapel of the Doge).
888
Campanile of timber construction
Doge's Palace.
976
Lodging houses for pilgrims to Holy Land established close to Campanile.
St Mark partially burnt down.
1042
1085
St Mark's plan completely transformed to present shape
interior dates to thisperiod
1172
Piazza with market stalls takes shape 12th century:
space is widened
1176
exterior of basilica of St Marks with its 5 entrance portals is formed.
buildings fronting onto square have continuous development since that time.
1180
two columns - defining south side of Piazzetta
1309
Doges Palace rebuilt (first constructed at end of 8th century as a fortress outside 1429
walls of the early Venetian settlement). Expanded, altered and reshaped until 1578.
Eastern enclosure to piazzetta, and anchor to entire composition.
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Most
Plan of Piazza San Marco, early 16th century
13291415
Campanile, built of brick (connected to buildings on south side of Piazza).
14801517
Old Procurator's Hall (Procuratie Vecchie) Northern enclosure to
Piazza. State magistrates with representative functions.
1505
Three flagpoles erected in front of Basilica.
1536
1584
Library, by J. Sansovino (completed after his death by Scamozzi), provides
western enclosure to the Piazzetta
Positioned beyond general building line of the Riva degli Schiavoni, along the Grand
Canal, to terminate vista and draw attention toward squares.
1584
New Procurator's Hall (Procuratie Nuove) designed by Scamozzi and completed in
1640 by Longhena.
In redeveloping the southern side of the piazza and the western side of the piazzetta,
the widths of the spaces was increased, leaving the campanile as a free-standing
vertical element, providing a perfect 'hinge' between the two spaces
17221735
Paving treatment of the spaces, constitutes unifying design element.
1810
Napoleon ordered the demolition of the Church of S. Geminiano which formed
western enclosure of piazza, and replaced by the Procuratie Novissime (Fabrica
Nuova).
1902
Campanile collapsed - successfully restored in 1912.
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CHURCHES OF S. GIORGIO MAGGIORE & IL REDENTORE (by Andrea Palladio ,1518-1580)
The design and orientation of these two churches reflect the idea that the urban environment is not
only composed of built form (solid structures) but also the urban space in between.
Built during the second half of the 16th century, they marked a turning point in the concept of the
size of urban space. The natural space, in this case water and sky, which separates these
churches from the St. Mark's Square composition is part of a visual relationship: both churches lay
across the basin of San Marco and were designed to serve as backdrop to the view from the
Piazzetta.
The facades of the two churches were in keeping with classical concepts yet the overriding design
consideration was the visual link with the greatest Venetian basilica, San Marco itself; the shape
and colour of their pearl grey domes, their white facades, and their pink curtain walls echo the
basilica San Marco and the cityscape with its essential colour scheme. The facades of both
churches face S. Marco rather than their own neighbourhood.
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9
FLORENCE
Established in Republican Roman times at the crossing point of the Via Cassia with the river Arno
and named Florentia. It was destroyed by Consul Sulla during the civil war of 82 B.C., and rebuilt
nearby.
Although now predominantly associated with the Renaissance, Florence remains substantially a
medieval city. It is a very fine example of a medieval radio-concentric plan, in which two medieval
walls enclosed the original Roman Castrum. The city enjoyed rapid growth during the 13th and
early 14th centuries, its urban area increasing from 197 acres to about 1500 acres by 1340.
The Florentine urban planners of the Renaissance applied their energies to bring about
clarification within the disorder and clutter of the medieval city: old houses and sheds were torn
down, new straight streets and rectangular open squares were carved out of the crowded quarters
and crooked alleys of the dense urban form.
The Renaissance attempts at regularizing and clarifying the structures of (mainly northern Italian)
medieval cities resulted in new urban space, more light and many embellishments, first in Florence
and eventually in Bologna, Siena, Milano, Vicenza, Brescia, Livorno, and Lucca.
Edmund Bacon has suggested that it was in Florence that the Renaissance first found its full
expression. It was there that a growing network of interconnecting streets and squares provided
the beginning of a city-wide design structure on a new scale - the Renaisssance Scale - which was
later to reach its fullest magnificence in the development of Rome.
One of the key elements in the Renaissance transformation of Florence is the building of town
palaces or palazzi, which sometimes occupied a whole insula or street block of the early Roman
grid plan, as did the Strozzi Palace. The palazzo became the classical device in the unification of
the street facade and while not many were able to be complemented by suitable spatial openings
and settings, the wealthy despotism of the age gradually encouraged and facilitated the clearance
of large areas of land in front of a palace the perimeter of which was rebuilt with suitably unified
buildings to form a piazza worthy of the palazzo.
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10
View of Renaissance Florence,
dominated by Brunelleschi's dome of S.Maria dei Fiori
There are, at least, two piazzas of great significance to Renaissance urbanism in Florence:
the PIAZZA DELLA SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA
Florence cathedral, known as S. Maria dei Fiori, provided the city with a spiritual and visual centre
which became the orientation point of much Renaissance and later work. From the late 13th
century on the cathedral became the focal point of a process of urban surgery and re-development
as streets around it were straightened and remodelled, purely for aesthetic reasons. One such
street was the Via dei Servi, a new straight street laid out by Servite monks to connect the
cathedral with their church, the S.S. Annunziata, to the north.
This project was, ultimately, to result in one of the Renaissance's finest urban spaces embodying
its spirit in the equilibrium of its dimensions and the serenity of its balance: the Piazza della
Santissima Annunziata which provides a forecourt to the church, the loggia of which terminates a
long vista from the cathedral.
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Plan of Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, Florence
The Design Elements:
1421-Brunelleschi's Foundling's Hospital (Ospedale degli Innocenti), the earliest
1424 example of Renaissance architecture in Florence, sets the pattern for the eventual
development of the piazza.
A building of great beauty and elegance, the hospital adopts new forms of construction of
vaults and columns. Its elements and spaces are clear, light, symmetrical and carefully
proportioned.
1454
Antonio da Sangallo, the Elder constructs the Loggia to the church (S.S. Annunziata),
creating an open-sided entrance gallery in a design harmonious with Brunelleschi's work.
1516-A third side to the square is provided by the construction of the Hall of the
1525
Confraternity of the Servants of Mary, by Antonio da Sangallo, the Elder and Baccio
d"Agnolo.
1601-Giovanni Caccini rebuilds and enlarges the porch (loggia)except central arch
1604 of the church and provides the square with its final form.
1608
Equestrian Statue of Ferdinand I , by Giovanni di Bologna
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1629
Two fountains, by Pietro Tacca
contribute to the unity and balance of the square, completing the original concept of
Brunelleschi. Continuous paving emphasizes the spatial unity of the emsemble.
The Second Man Principle:
The Annunziata square, better than most urban spaces, exemplifies a fundamental aspect of
Renaissance urban design : the Second Man Principle.
While the unity of the square is achieved by the way its three related arcades tie together the
separate buildings into one architectural whole, this was done incrementally and not, as one would
suppose , in one single design.
Brunelleschi set the form of the piazza and established a design concept which could either be
destroyed or carried forward by the subsequent additions. His strict axiality, balanced form, and
idea of visual unity were carried to their logical conclusion during the ensuing two centuries by
other architects who respected and understood the Second Man Principle.
The Renaissance concept of 'a space created by several buildings designed in relation to
one another' triumphed and set a strong precedent in western urban design culture for the
communal as against the individualist street facade.
View of the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata,
Florence
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13
PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA and PIAZZA DEGLI UFFIZI
The two squares form an impressive urban spatial complex, comprising:
1.
Piazza della Signoria
-
the dominant element and essentially medieval in appearance
civic centre of Florence for six centuries
2.
the smaller and subordinate space north of the Palazzo Vecchio along the eastern edge
of the Piazza della Signoria
3.
Piazza degli Uffizi
-
the completely Renaissance element in the spatial composition
Sketch of the Piazza Della Signoria (in centre and to the left)
and the Piazza Degli Uffizi (the corridor like space at the top right)
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Piazza della Signoria (top)
and
Piazza degli Uffizi (bottom)
Design Elements:
Palazzo Vecchio (or Signoria Palace)
begun 1288-1314, by Arnolfo di Cambio
dominant, bold yet elegant medieval public palace, among the most significant in
Italy.
additions carried out during the Renaissance
complete internal restoration without changing exterior appearance, by Vasari
forms the eastern wall of the main piazza and, as in the case of the Campanile of
the Piazza San Marco in Venice, provides the pivot for three related urban spaces.
Piazza della Signoria
-
angular, entered by several streets from all sides and different and irregular
angles (hence, quite alien to Renaissance ideas)
increased in size during medieval construction of the Palazzo as surrounding
development (small churches and palaces) had to be pulled down to create room
for the Palazzo itself and an appropriate open space; land was still being acquired
by the end of the 14th century.
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15
East Elevation of Piazza della Signoria with Palazzo Vecchio (centre and left)
and Piazza degli Uffizi (centre and right)
Loggia di Lanzi (Loggia of Orcagna) 1376-1381
-
designed by Cione, Talenti and others
airy structure of three arcades west of the Palazzo Vecchio, forming the corner
building at the juncture of the two main squares.
its large openings anticipated Renaissance ideas of form and proportion.
(note: Michaelangelo's intention to continue such a system of arcades around the
entire square never eventuated).
The 'Arringhierra'
-
-
platform running along the base of the main facade of the Palazzo Vecchio, from
which orators harangued the people. It contains a number of free-standing
sculptures arranged along an axis of vision parallel to the main facade, relating the
Uffizi square visually to the dome of Florence cathedral.
the sculptures are:
1438
the 'Marzocco', a copy in stone of the original symbolic lion of the Florentine
republic, by Donatello.
1460
Giuditta and Oloferne, a bronze by Donatello and symbol of liberty.
1503
David, marble statue by Michaelangelo (original now in the Academy Gallery).
-
1533
1563
1594
on the same axis but at ground level are:
Hercules and Cacus, marble group by B. Bandinelli.
Neptune's Fountain, by Ammannati, placed at 45˚ angle to the corner 1575
of the Palace.
Equestrian Statue of Cosimo I, by Giambologna, defines the limits of the minor
side square.
The free-standing sculptures and the fountain create a strong visual wall which
greatly helps to define the limitations of the two urban spaces in accordance with
Renaissance ideals.
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The sculptures provide a link or continuity between the two main spaces. This is achieved by the
effects of their optical qualities on the viewer, who is confronted by a complete and organised
design composition calculated to be directional and to induce movement along a visual axis linking
the Arno embankment and the dome of the cathedral.
Palazzo and Piazza degli Uffizi
1560
the narrow, symmetrical shaft of space linking the Piazza della Signoria with the
river.
Cosimo I orders Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) to build a palace for the city's
administrative judiciary offices (the Uffizi).
Vasari planned two long 28 m. high facades along opposite sides of a very narrow
space, almost a street, which becomes the Piazza degli Uffizi. Many existing
buildings were demolished during the course of construction.
note: the Uffizi project beyond the general building line along the Arno river
embankment, thus interrupting the flow of space and vision and drawing attention
and pedestrian circulation to the piazza ( cf. Sansovino's Library, Piazzetta of San
Marco)
The narrow piazza links the Lungarno at the river end, via a portico, with the
Piazza della Signoria by a perspective view which focuses attention onto the
jutting corner and tower of the Palazzo Vecchio and beyond onto Duomo, the
city's cathedral.
The squares of Florence display all the subtleties of the Italian Renaissance. They are not,
however, the result of one single design execution, nor the expression of one defined style.
Their formation took several centuries and was achieved in a series of small, slow, and
carefully conceived architectural and planning measures.
ROME
Introduction
No other city parallels Rome's individual urban character and personality, either as:
(i)
(ii)
ROME I, capital of the most perfect of Empires surrounding the entire Mediterranean
coast
or
ROME II, ROMA SECUNDA, the Papal city of the Renaissance and Baroque.
This can be said of the city's political mission as well as of its urban morphology, which developed
as its physical reflection.
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No other city displays such a multifacetted amalgam of order, chaos, creative design, and decay.
Today, we have come to realize that Rome I and II are rapidly being destroyed (since 1870) by
Rome III, a city which has failed as capital of a united Italy.
Population Size
1871 220,000 inh.
1971 2,640,000 inh. (approx)
1990 +3 million inh. (est.)
Inner city 1871
Inner city 1971
146,000 inh.
72,000 inh.
The city of Rome, its glorious imperial days over, declined for a period of 1000 years, shrinking in
terms of power, influence, but also in size and population.
It was not to rise again until around 1500, to become the centre, first of artistic development, then
of Baroque city planning until the mid-17th century.
It was in Rome that the Renaissance reached its zenith and that the Baroque means of expression
was first applied, ultimately to penetrate the whole of western culture.
The history of the development of Rome from the late Middle Ages to the Baroque and beyond,
was largely determined by its Popes who combined immorality, hypocrisy, excesses and religious
fervour with frenetic urban activity.
For Rome was the seat of an international religious power: the Papacy, which is supported by no
worldly empire, but by faith alone. This is Rome's uniqueness: it is the focus of a vast Christian
empire and of western civilization.
It must be understood, however, that Rome's citizens had little part in the development of their city.
Papal dictatorship was able to create one of the most sumptuous pieces of civic design, Baroque
Rome, which continues to dominate the entire face of the city today and served as the prototype
for other capital cities.
ROME II
Its history begins after fall of Rome of the Constantines and the early Popes.
Stage 1. Roman Middle Ages
-
-
forces of renewal and progress invariably succumb to the forces of decay and decline
dried up water supply forced population to take refuge in area within narrow bend of Tiber
Christian sites and monuments vegetated outside urban walls, first blossoming then
declining in turn
the 'consecration' of monuments as a result of legend and history gave visitors the illusion
of 'Mirabilia Urbis Romae', diverting attention from the conflict between reconstruction and
decay.
Papal efforts to introduce new building regulations only succeed in as far as each new
religious institution/foundation was granted inalienable rights. Rome failed to follow the
example of many small towns of Toscana or Umbria which amalgamated into viable,
functioning communes able to survive economically.
Medieval Rome depended on subsides and the church was unable to guarantee these.
Conditions became so bad that popes finally left their city to take refuge in AVIGNON
under the protection of the French King.
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-
the legacy of the period was the task to integrate the new religious centres, often outside
the settled urban area in the riverbend, into the city's urban structure e.g. the seven major
centres of pilgrimage.
Reasons for Rome's Development
1.
Pope's power over city is unlimited
-
as in other capitals or Residence Cities, all attempts at communal self-government
failed
-
from Martin V (1417-31) to Pius VI (1735-99):
• 45 Popes ruled over Rome
• most were old men
• the average reign was 8.5 years
• almost each of them faced three building challenges:
(a)
extensions to Papal Palace, the Vatican, the Lateran and (later) the summer
residence on the Quirinal
extensions to Family residence usually with city palace and a villa, often also a
Family church
opening up of urban areas by new street system and water supply
(b)
(c)
2.
this led to Rome being unique in terms of number and size of family residences
(surpasses aristocratic mansions of any other city)
By virtue of their preeminent position in the Catholic Church, Popes enjoyed unique
resources.
Their State (Patrimonium Petri) and City were not supported by their own efforts or income
but, as in Antique Rome, by outside income.
In addition, all holy orders were required to keep their headquarters in the city and spent
much money there.
Another source of income was the, then, only form of mass tourism, the Pilgrimage. Most
Nations had a national church located in Rome, where their pilgrims could meet in
attached hostels:
e.g.
Santa Maria dell'Anima (Germans)
San Luigi dei Francesi (French)
Rome thus differs from all other cities in that it is largely subsidized. Income from arts and
crafts and trade were relatively insignificant.
3.
A Sense for the Ideal
Rome displayed a willingness to devote donations and foundations to monumental
architecture in order to symbolize the striving for the ideal and perfection.
This sense was especially imbued with what has been called the 'Idea of Rome'.
City thought of itself not only as eternal and unique but also as having a mission for
salvation and order in the world. The city as well as the Papacy identified with this
mission. This mission was to be fulfilled and self-defined, at least in part, by the building of
monumental architecture; in the Renaissance and Baroque it unleashed unequalled
design forces and energies.
The architects and artists who characterized the importance of the Popes and the 'Idea of
Rome' in stone and marble were never Romans themselves; just as over two thirds of the
Popes and the financial resources came from outside.
All met in Rome in the pursuit of one aim only and each individual, whether Pope, artist, or
financier proved himself in terms of his understanding of Rome's mission and the
contribution he made to meet this challenge.
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19
The beginning of urban improvement policiess
1294-1303
Pope Boniface VIII introduces the idea of the Jubilee Year to stimulate Christian
enthusiasm and improve papal finances by sale of indulgences.
Papal financial policy, from now on, relies heavily on income from the pilgrim industry, and the
continuing policy of subsequent popes for the rebuilding of Rome related extensively to this regular
influx of pilgrims into the city. It aimed at
•
•
•
facilitating their movement between the 7 main churches
providing suitable accommodation
policing the city for pilgrims safety
Rome, of course, had a wider role to play in promoting the general authority of the church and
several popes after Boniface VIII had visions of a revival of the "glory that once was Rome".
Apart from the brief interludes presented by the Jubilee years medieval Rome was much slower
than her northern neighbours in the resurgence of urban life which had already begun during the
11th century.
The 14th century plunged Rome into uncontrolled disorder:
1309-77
1329
the papacy was exiled to Avignon and became dependent on the French court.
earthquake severely damaged ancient buildings
1347
black death took toll of an already reduced population.
The political and physical situation of the city began to improve slowly only after the return of the
Popes from Avignon, their new address in the Vatican, and the rise to papal power of the Medicis
and other powerful mercantile families.
1370-78
Gregory XI re-established papacy in Rome; struggles between papacy and
leading families result in another 25 years of decline.
Stage 2: Renaissance Developments
Rome, at the beginning of the Renaissance, was in a poor physical state:
Floods
-
Tiber river defences had broken down (1420 flood level reached high altar of Pantheon)
Water Shortage
-
drainage system was silted up (aqueducts were long since destroyed) and water was
scarce.
Disease/Overcrowding
-
all the inherent deficiencies of Rome's location had reasserted themselves and disease
was ever present threat. It was a city of overcrowded quarters separated by vast
uninhabited areas (mainly the hills). It was poverty stricken, its population and clergy living
in squalor.
Small Central Area
-
the medieval centre of Rome, with its insalubrious climate (hardly liveable and usable and
left undeveloped during imperial days) was situated opposite the Castello S. Angelo
wedged into a fold of the Tiber, and extended only as far as the Capitoline hill and the
Theatre of Marcellus. Late medieval city population contained only about 19,000
inhabitants within the Aurelian Wall.
-
Medieval churches were dangerously decayed while few ruins of classical Rome had
remained.
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
20
Few Streets
-
Rome which had conquered and held an Empire with its impressive road system, was, in
1424, a landscape of ruins virtually without any streets or roads. Pilgrims had to find their
own way to the holy shrines.
Yet during this 2nd stage of Rome II, the city developed into a unique structure both politically and
physically.
1417-31
Martin V
Martin V brings settled, orderly government to the city for the first time since
Boniface but achieved little practical renewal apart from repairing churches. Yet
his pontificate established the social and economic conditions essential for the
work of the future popes.
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
21
1431-47
Eugenius IV
During his reign, the arrival of the Renaissance in Rome is marked by the new
bronze gates of St. Peter's, designed by Antonio Filarete.
During the last two pontificates some bridges were restored and repairs
undertaken at St. John Lateran.
Rome was rebuilt between 1450 and 1650 by 20 popes and hundreds of architects working without
a master plan until Sixtus V yet, nevertheless, achieving a remarkable unity of style and magificient
visual effects. The popes, starting with Nicholas V, made tremendous efforts to penetrate the
medieval muddle.
We are confronted by a series of partial, incremental plans seldom committed to paper.
The atmosphere of the Eternal City, and the vast scale of the Papal urban projects, fired the
imagination of artists and architects and inspired them to create works unequalled elsewhere
during that period.
Rome became the centre for contemporary talent; most of the great works were executed by
visiting masters e.g. Michelangelo from Florence, Bramante and Raphael from Urbino. Their
talents, heightened by the city's unique atmosphere, and exposed to a diversity of forces produced
vital, individual, expressive, polyphonic creations.
1447-55
Nicholas V
Determined to increase the prestige of the Church by building a magnificient new Rome. Faith,
sustained only by doctrines was not enough for Nicholas, who did not forget that the 'uncultured
masses ' needed something that appealed to the eye' as well.
The grandiose plans in preparation for the Jubilee Year of 1450 offered the opportunity to restore
Rome to imperial splendour, new development, of course, being centred around objects of
Christian interest.
-
credited with decision to rebuild St Peter's and the Vatican employed Alberti and
Rossellini on preliminary work.
-
Founded Vatican Library; the Vatican became the residence of the popes,
adjoining the early Christian basilica on the site of the burial place of St Peter.
-
the Borgo, the area that connected the Vatican with the Castello S. Angelo,
underwent development and transformations
-
rebuilt aqueduct of the Virgin; (Aqua Virgine 63,000 cubic m/day) improved water
supply, and installed fountains for public use.
-
in a Bull of that year, he exempted the Quirinal, Viminal and Esquiline Hills from
taxes in an attempt to persuade people to resettle the deserted higher parts of the
city.
-
made available key sites for new buildings at nominal rents.
1450
-
the jubilee produced revenue, also, for repairing churches, walls and fortifications.
1453
-
extended hospitality to the emigré intelligentsia from Constantinople when it fell to
the Turks (Important impetus to Renaissance developments generally).
1447
Nicholas was absorbed by the fundamental rule of classic urban aesthetics: creating perspectives
which focus the eye on an object of beauty (note: as Churches and Palaces are expensive and
bulky to instal at end of perspectives, he used cheaper more manageable items of urban design:
gates, statues, fountains, columns and most, importantly, obelisks.)
During the second half of the 15th century, there is much activity in the area between St. Peter's
and the Tiber, and in the district around the S. Angelo Bridge (became City's business centre
during Renaissance). The square at the bridge head, the 'Piazza di Ponte' became focal point of 3
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
22
radiating main arteries, all partly made up of short lengths of irregular medieval lanes and partly
composed of 15th century improvements.
1471-84
-
1480
-
Sixtus IV (della Rovere)
One of the most energetic Popes in promoting new work, often referred to as
restaurator urbis. A Franciscan monk, promoter of the Dogma of the Immaculate
Conception of Mary.
prior to Jubilee year of 1475, converted old Ponte Rotto in the Ponte Sisto, to
avoid recurrence of a previous pedestrian crush (200 people died) Introduced
one-way traffic, making crowd use Ponte S. Angelo in going to St. Peter, and the
Ponte Sisto in returning across Tiber. Also, to link up the populous district of
Trastevere, to the city centre.
issued Papal Edict, commanding that all building projections and street
obstructions be cleared away. This resulted in straightening of the roads radiating
from the Piazza di Ponte or Platea Pontis (today Piazza S. Angelo).
He straightened these streets:
(a)
Via Peregrinorum, which led to Theatre of MarceIlus
(b)
Via Papalis (Corse Vittorio Emmanuele) provided tortuous connection with the
capitol and, further with the Lateran.
(c)
Via Recta or Retta (including its most famous section, the Via dei Coronari) in
part of ancient origin, made difficult connection with the later formed Piazza
Colonna and the Corso or Via Lata.
Rome was to have two major examples of radiating street schemes (patte d'oie):
(a)
that radiating from the Ponte S. Angelo, and;
(b)
that radiating from the Piazza del Popolo.
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
23
Plan section of central Rome showing streets laid out by Popes Sixtus IV and Julius II note the
'Patte d'oie' at the southern end of the S.Angelo bridge (top, far left)
The idea of the 'patte d' oie', Versailles being its ultimate expression, is as far as Rome is
concerned a function also of city's topography with its 7 hills and the single bridge linking it with the
Vatican and Borgo.
Sixtus IV thus started on establishing a direct network of main streets linking the major churches.
Streets were partly newly broken through urban fabric, and partly widened paved and kept clear.
Regulations clearly separating public from private property took a long time in establishing
themselves. Sixtus IV was an able administrator and advanced reformer who supported the
general principle that personal interest must be subordinated to the general good and that the
rights of owners are not always paramount.
Sixtus IV financed much of his public works (including part of St.Peter's) from the income of a
large brothel which he had built (income: 20,000 ducats per annum).
1503-13
Julius II
Former Franciscan monk, politician of strong nationalist outlook and father of 3
daughters.
-
city became vast workshop with Vatican as focal point, as Julius pursues
energetically his schemes for road building, new bridges, hydraulic works and for
the construction of various edifices.
Built the two straight streets on either side of the Tiber
• the Lungara, on the right bank (west side)
• the Via Giulia, on the left (Bramante) (east side)
Leo X (Medici)
1513-21
-
built 10,000 houses to meet the increased population
appointed Raphael as Maestro di Strade; ordered him to create a system of 3
streets leading straight on from the Piazza del Popolo:
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
24
1.
the present Via Babuino then hardly in existence, along the Pincio gardens.
2.
the Via Leonina (now Via di Ripetta) on the right leading to the Tiber, which was
to have an aspect more worthy of the Pope's name (this was completed).
the central street (now the Corso) which existed since ancient days, the Via Lata,
being the urban extension of the Via Flaminia and leading to the Capitol.
3.
1534-49
Paul III (Farnese)
-
successfully completed the work around the Piazza di Ponte by establishing
further short and direct connecting streets from the Piazza to the medieval and
Renaissance roads across the city. This pattern of short but radiating streets is
the first of its kind. It included the :
Via Paolo
Via dei Panico, which intersects the Via dei Coronari
Via Trinitatis , begin of
-
produced Via Babuino, radiating from the Piazza del Popolo.
1550-55
-
Julius III
continued Via Trinitatis (via Condotti)
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
25
Plan of Rome showing the road network developed by various Renaissance Popes
and of some Baroque connections by Pope Sixtus V e.g. Strada Felice
(see lecture notes Part 6 - Baroque Italy)
1559-65
Pius IV
Development of Rome takes energetic leap toward the south east.
1561
-
constructs the Via Pia, a 2 km long straight road, connecting the deserted Quirinal
hill with Michaelangelo's Porta Pia.
1572-85
-
Gregory XIII
gave new rules for the erection of buildings in Rome which prepared for the great
plan of his successor.
"houses should be joined together and open spaces between buildings should be
closed by blank walls"
-
his evident aims: to unify city scape, and to form coherent urban spaces defined
by continuous building surfaces.
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
26
-
straightens out, fragmentarily, the old road connecting S. Maria Maggiore with the
basilica of S. Giovanni in Laterano, the Via Gregoriana.
Modern street map of Rome showing Renaissance streets
opened by respective Popes as indicated
CONTRIBUTION OF RENAISSANCE PLANNING IN ITALY
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
27
1.
The City as a total concept.
Discovery of spatial entity of city (the Ideal Cities); its parts make up one larger organism.
2.
Rational order of city, as represented in the geometric, regular concepts of 'Ideal Cities'
(function subjected to figure, form)
many existing cities were re-developed in accordance with the principles set out in the
writings of theorists; the existing Italian urban heritage was infiltrated by the 'Ideal'
concepts of the period, to varying degrees.
-
3.
Relationship between architectural elements and urban environment
i.e. the structure of urban space (perspective, harmony balance, symmetry).
-
the existence of so many established, historical towns in Italy removed the opportunity to
put the total plan concepts of the Ideal Cities into practice, the only exceptions being
Sabbioneta (c. 1570), Leghorn (c. 1575), Palma Nova (1593), and Grammichele (1693);
(the first two being rather new towns than ideal ones).
Practical planning measures were, therefore, limited to the formation of new piazzas and
thoroughfares, individual relationships between buildings; etc.
One can distinguish the following:
Strong stylistic trends in practical measures of Italian Renaissance
a.
Desire for spatial unity/harmony to which all other architectural tendencies are
subordinated.
b.
Extensive use of arcades as an architectural and visual connector of facades
surrounding urban space.
Middle Ages:
Now:
Vigevano)
c.
each house has individual facade or arcade
identical motif repeated by each house (we saw this in
Use of monuments, fountains, flagpoles in organizing or articulating spaces (in
Middle Ages such elements treated as free-standing structures without any wider
relationship).
It is, therefore, in the aspect of 'piazza + monument' design, that the Italian Renaissance offers
us a wide field of study and demonstrates its capacity to bring spatial and architectural elements of
cities to the highest levels of artistic and aesthetic expression (this ability was already evident in
medieval Italy).
The fusion of aesthetic, architectural, and spatial design philosophies with the existing urban
framework is Italy's claim to fame.
The Renaissance (including the Mannerist phase) is generally regarded as making a break with
the Middle Ages - but there is a link.
It is a period of transition - a gradual overcoming of tradition and legacies until complete
freedom of form and flow is achieved during the Baroque.
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
28
Principal references are shown in bold.
INTRODUCTION
AND
BACKGROUND
TO
THE
RENAISSANCE
PERIOD:
Black, C. et al. (1993) Cultural Atlas of the Renaissance, Time-Life Books, Amsterdam.
Braunfels, W. (1988) Urban Design in Western Europe: Regime and Architecture, 900-1900, The
University of Chicago Press, Chap. Four, Five, Six.
Brucker, G. (ed.) (1971) The Society of Renaissance Florence : A Documentary Study, Harper
Torchbooks, Harper & Row Inc., New York
Clark, Sir Kenneth (1969) Civilisation: A personal View, London, B.C.C. & John Murray.
Ferguson, W.K. (1940) The Renaissance. Berkshire Studies in European History New York, Holt,
Rinehart and Winston.
Hale, J.R. (1966) Renaissance, 'Great Ages of Man' series, New York, Time Life International.
Hale, J.R. (1977), Renaissance: Fortification: Art or Engineering?, Norwich, Thames, Hudson.
Hohenberg, P.M. & Lees, L.H. (1985) The Making of Urban Europe 1000 - 1950, Harvard Univ.
Press, Cambridge, Part 2, Chap 5.
Kostof, S. (1985) A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals, Oxford Uni. Press, Chap. 17, 19, 20.
FORTIFICATIONS:
de la Croix, H. (1972) Military Considerations in City Planning. New York, George Braziller.
Duffy, C. (1979) Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, Routledge &
Kegan Paul, London.
Hale, J.R. (1978) Renaissance Fortification: art or engineering? , Thames and Hudson, London.
Hogg, I. (1981) The History of Fortification, Orbis Publishing, London.
Mumford, L. (1961) The City in History, Penguin Books, Chap 12, Sections 5 & 6.
Pepper, S. (1973) 'The Meaning of the Renaissance Fortress' in Architectural Association
Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 2.
Thompson, M.W. (1987) The Decline of the Castle, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Toy, S. (1955), A History of Fortification, London, Heinemann, Chapter 17.
Turner, H.L. (1971) Town Defences in England and Wales: An architectural and documentary
study A.D. 900-1500, London, John Baker.
IDEAL CITIES
Alberti, L.B. (1955) The Books on Architecture, London, A. Tiranti.
Filarete Trattato di Architettura di Antonio Filareto being the treatise on Architecture by Antonio di
Piero Averlino, known as Filarete, translated and with an introduction and notes by John R.
Spencer, Yale University Press, New Haven & London.
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
29
Johnston, N. J. (1983) Cities in the Round, Univ. of Washington Press, Seattle &London.
Gutkind, E.A. (1967) Urban Development in Southern Europe: Italy and Greece, Vol.IV - Int.
History of City Development, New York, The Free Press, pp. 111-129.
Morris, A.E.J. (1971) History of Urban Form, London, George Godwin
Muratore, G. (1975) La Citta Rinascimentale: Tipie Modelli attraverso i trattati, Milano, G. Mazzotta.
Rasmussen, S.E., (1951) Towns and Buildings , Cambridge, M.I.T. Press, pp. 20-27.
Rosenau, H. (1974) The Ideal City in its Architectural Evolution, London, Routledge &Kegan Paul.
Vitruvius, (1960) The Ten Books on Architecture, New York, Dover Publications.
RENAISSANCE CITY PLANNING
Argan, G.C., (1970) The Renaissance City, London, Studio Vista.
Bacon, E.N. (1967) Design of Cities, London, Thames and Hudson, pp. 84-100.
or
Bacon, E.N. (1974) Design of Cities, New York, The Viking Press. pp. 98-119.
Benevolo, L. (1980) The History of the City, Scolar Press, London.
Brucker, G. (1983 & ’69) Renaissance Florence, University of California, Berkeley.
Burke, G. (1971) Towns in the Making, London, Edward Arnold, pp. 68-72.
Chambers, D.S. (1970),The Imperial Age of Venice, London, Thames & Hudson.
Coubier, H. (1985) Europäische Stadt-Plätze: Genius und Geschichte, Köln, DuMont Verlag.
Curl, J.S. (1970) European Cities and Society, London, Leonard Hill, pp. 88-94.
Dickinson, R.E. (1951) The West European City, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, Chapter 5:
Sec. 3, Chapter 18, Sections 1 and 2.
Fazio, M. (1990) Historische Stadtzentren Italiens, Dumont Buch Verlag, Köln.
Giedion, S. (1970) Space, Time and Architecture, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
Gutkind, E.A. (1967) Urban Development in Southern Europe: Italy and Greece, Vol. IV International History of City Development, New York, The Free Press.
Howard, D. (1980) The Architectural History of Venice, B.T. Batsford Ltd, London.
Kostoff, S. (1991) The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings through History, Thames
and Hudson, London.
Levey, M. (1996) Florence a portrait, Jonathan Cape, London.
Morris, A.E.J. (1972) History of Urban Form, London, George Godwin..
Mumford, L. (1961) The City in History, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, Chap. 12, Sections 1,2,4 and 7.
Rasmussen, S.E., (1951) Towns and Buildings, Cambridge, M.I.T. Press.
Stewart, C. (1952) Prospect of Cities, London, Longmans and Co.
Wittkower, R. (1973) Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, Academy Editions, London.
Webb, M. (1990) The City Square Thames and Hudson, London, Chap 3.
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
30
Young, Norwood (1901) The Story of Rome, J.M. Dent.
Zucker, P. (1959) Town and Square - from the Agora to the Village Green, New York,
Columbia Univ. Press, pp. 99-120.
Renaissance in Italy (H.S.5)
31