Common Core State Standard: ELA- Literacy SL K.1- K.3 through 12.1- 12.3 ELA- Literacy L K.

1 & K.6 through 12.1 & 12.6

Meet the Architect: Andrea Palladio

• Born 1508 in Padua
• Stonemason, sculptor, architect
• Published Four Books on Architecture in 1570
Although Andrea Palladio was born more than 500 years ago, he
is the reason the White House and Supreme Court in Washington,
D.C. look the way they do. These famous buildings were made by
people hundreds of years after his death. How did Palladio inspire
this type of architecture?
Palladio was a 16 year-old stone mason when a wealthy man
named Trissino took him in, provided him with lessons in geom-
etry, and took him to Rome to study ancient buildings. Palladio
made drawings and took careful notes about all that he saw. He
thought the architecture there was so beautiful that he wanted to
try making modern buildings with the same ancient elegance. Pal-
ladio then designed many buildings, a lot of them private homes,
and added Roman features. He is famous for his “temple fronts”
– he frequently put columns at the entrances of his buildings. He
didn’t realize these entrances were for temples, never for homes
in ancient Rome. His style became very popular, and as more and
more people read his books, more buildings in his style developed
around the globe.

GET CREATIVE!
Think about the town or city you live in. Can
you think of any buildings that have col-
umns? What are these building used for?
What do people do there?