1AR7

Theory of Architecture
Research Paper

Andrea Palladio
Biography
-Born Andrea Di Pietro della Gondola. Later named Palladio after the Greek goddess of wisdom. The new
name was given to Palladio by an employer, the scholar Trissino.
-Apprenticed to a stonecutter when he was 13 years old -Became an assistant in a masonry workshop in
Vicenza
-Learned the principles of classical architecture when he worked on new additions for a villa owned by
Gian Giorgio Trissino, a leading scholar of the time
-Born on November 30, 1508 in Padua, Italy during Renaissance
-based designs on values of Greek architecture and traditions of Roman architecture as outline by
Vitruvius
-one of the greatest architects in history of Western art
-known for his villas (in the Veneto), palaces (Vicenza) and churches (Venice), all located within the
Venetian Republic
-architectural theories were laid out in Quattro Libri dell Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture)
-his style was known as Palladianism (accorded the greatest priority to maintaining symmetry, perspective
and overall harmony, in the manner of Greco-Roman temple architecture, and was widely imitated during
the 17th and 18th centuries)
-a number of his buildings in Vicenza and in the Veneto are protected as UNESCO World Heritage Sites
-had much in common with another great architect of the Mannerism period, Giacomo da Vignola
The villa was build on project by Andrea Palladio for bishop Paolo Almerico, around 1570. In 1591 the
villa was bought by the noble family Capra. From 1911 La Rotonda is owned by the family of Count
Valmarana who opened it to the public in 1986.
In 1565 a priest, Paolo Almerico, on his retirement from the Vatican (as referendario apostolico of Pope
Pius IV and afterwards Pius V), decided to return to his home town of Vicenza in the Venetian
countryside and build a country house. This house, later known as 'La Rotonda', was to be one of
Palladio's best-known legacies to the architectural world. Villa Capra may have inspired a thousand
subsequent buildings, but the villa was itself inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.
In 1580, Palladio died and the new owners, the family Capra Vicenzo Samozzi commissioned the
construction of new units.
The design is for a completely symmetrical building having a square plan with four facades, each of
which has a projecting portico. The name La Rotonda refers to the central circular hall with its dome.

Each portico has steps leading up, and opens via a small cabinet or corridor to the circular domed central
hall. This and all other rooms were proportioned with mathematical precision according to Palladio's own
rules of architecture which he published in the Quattro Libri dell'Architettura.

Works and Timelines

Villa Godi (1537) , one of his first works

Villa Cornaro (1552-54, Piombino Dese, Treviso

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore (1562, Venice)

Villa Rotonda also known as Villa Capra or La Rotonda (156691 Vicenza)

Church of Il Redentore (1577-92, Venice)

Location

Country - Italy

Via della Rotonda, 45, 36100 Vicenza VI, Italy

Site Development Plan

Site development plans are detailed drawings (to scale) showing the proposed development of a specified
parcel of land, including the location and design of buildings, easements, utility layouts, parking
arrangements, public access, street patterns, drainage controls, existing vegetation and natural features,
landscaping, lighting and other similar features.
Preliminary and final site development plans are reviewed to determine if they demonstrate a satisfactory
quality of design in the individual buildings and the site, the appropriateness of the building or buildings
to the intended use, and the aesthetic appropriateness of the development to its surroundings.
The site for La Rotonda selected was at a hilltop just outside the city of Vicenza.

Floor Plan

Elevations

Sections

References:
http://architectuul.com/architecture/villa-capra-rotonda
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrea-Palladio
http://architecture.about.com/od/greatarchitects/p/palladio.htm
http://www.richardboscharchitect.com/Villas_of_the_Veneto/Villas_of_the_Veneto/Pages/Villa_Almerico
_-_la_Rotonda.html#1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Villa_Rotonda_front.jpg
http://www.olatheks.org/Development/Current/SiteDevelopmentPlans