General aims of the Course
Divided into a series of lectures and in a design laboratory, the Course proposes essentially two chief aims.
The first is to provide the student with the methodological tools necessary for interpreting Italian architecture from the fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. Through an appropriate selection of works presented in the cultural, social and economic context, the lessons will briefly illustrate the developments of the architectural activity, historicizing the role of the client, design guidelines, executive techniques.
The second object is to operate a welding between the elements highlighted in the lectures and the contemporary architectural project, in particular with reference to the concrete activity. Organized according to the methods of a workshop, this second part of the course will focus on contemporary neighbourhoods and open public space and will be divided into two phases: the first will summarize the data emerging from the reasoned selection of squares from antiquity to the twentieth century presented during the lectures, highlighting compositional principles, representative purposes and formal solutions; in the second one, on the basis of what has been acquired, the students will be invited to elaborate a brief design hypothesis referring to areas previously identified.
The final aim of the course will be to allow students to acquire basic cognitive and critical means related to a reasoned framework of the evolution of Renaissance and Baroque architecture, considered in the articulation of its various components; secondly, to stimulate the reflection on historical architecture as a tool for understanding the current architectural reality and at the same time considered in its action as a concrete stimulus and a valid aid for the purposes of contemporary project.
Main topics
The sixteenth century
Bramante: cloister of S. Maria della Pace; S. Pietro in Montorio; Palazzo Caprini; Belvedere courtyard; projects for St. Peter.
After Bramante: architecture of the first half of the sixteenth century in Rome and in Abruzzo. Raphael (Chigi chapel, Branconio dell'Aquila palace, project for S. Pietro). Baldassarre Peruzzi (Villa Farnesina, Massimo alle Colonne palace). Giulio Romano (Stati Maccarani palace, architect's house). Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (Baldassini and Farnese palaces; S. Maria di Loreto; project for S. Pietro). Cola dell'Amatrice (facade of S. Bernardino).
Architecture of the first half of the sixteenth century in Lombardy and in Veneto: Giulio Romano (Te palace). Michele Sanmicheli (palaces Canossa, Bevilacqua, Porta Palio). Jacopo Sansovino (Marciana library, Loggetta di S. Marco, Corner palace).
Michelangelo's architecture: New sacristy of S. Lorenzo; Laurentian library; Farnese palace; Campidoglio square; project for S. Pietro; Sforza chapel.
Architecture of the second sixteenth century in Rome: Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola (villa Giulia, temple of S. Andrea on the Flaminia, S. Anna dei Palafrenieri, Farnese palace in Caprarola, church of Jesus). Pirro Ligorio (Pio IV Casino).
Architecture of the second sixteenth century in Veneto: Andrea Palladio (basilica of Vicenza, Chiericati and Valmarana palaces, the Rotonda, the Olympic theater, churches of S. Giorgio Maggiore and Redentore).
The seventeenth century
Birth and development of Baroque architecture in Rome: G. L. Bernini (Carlo Maderno, Baldacchino di S. Pietro, Quattro Fiumi fountain, Cornaro chapel, S. Andrea al Quirinale, Assunta di Ariccia, S. Tommaso da Villanova in Castel Gandolfo; Louvre projects). Francesco Borromini (S. Carlino at the Four Fountains, Oratorio dei Filippini, S. Ivo alla Sapienza, S. Agnese in Agone, S. Andrea delle Fratte). Pietro da Cortona (Ss Luca e Martina, S. Maria della Pace). Carlo Rainaldi (S. Maria in Campitelli). Carlo Fontana (Ginetti and Cybo chapels, S. Marcello al Corso façade).
Baroque architecture in Piedmont: Guarino Guarini (S. Lorenzo, chapel of the Holy Shroud, Palazzo Carignano palace).
Baroque architecture in Venice: Baldassarre Longhena (S. Maria della Salute, Pesaro palace).
The eighteenth century
The developments of Baroque architecture in Rome: Alessandro Specchi (port of Ripetta); Francesco de Sanctis (Trinità dei Monti stairway; Trinità dei Pellegrini facade); Filippo Raguzzini (St. Ignatius square); Nicola Salvi (Trevi Fountain). Florentine architects in Rome: Alessandro Galilei (facade of S. Giovanni in Laterano, Corsini chapel) and Ferdinando Fuga (facade of S. Maria Maggiore).
Baroque architecture in Piedmont. Filippo Juvarra (church of Superga, facade of S. Cristina, Madama palace: hunting palace of Stupinigi).
Baroque architecture in the Kingdom of Naples: Luigi Vanvitelli (Royal Palace of Caserta). Baroque architecture in Abruzzo, Puglia and Sicily.
Student reception - Exam methods
The teacher will be available to the students for any clarifications on the topics and methods of the Course at the Department of Architecture (blue scale, 2nd floor) according to the calendar indicated on-line and in the paper table; or, limited to synthetic communications, to the e-mail address: m.villani@unich.it
The reservation must be made online. The exam is individual: the student must demonstrate the knowledge and ability of historical-critical framing of the works and the topics dealt with,also through the aid of synthetic graphic schemes (plans, elevations, sections). The documents drawn up within the Laboratory must be presented for examination; further information on how to do so will be provided during the course.
General bibliography
The basic texts for exam preparation are shown below. More detailed bibliographic references, aimed at deepening the specific topics addressed, will be provided during the lessons and / or during the reception hours.
C. L. FROMMEL, Architecture of the Italian Renaissance, Milan 2009.
W. LOTZ, Architecture in Italy 1500-1600, Milan 1997.
R. WITTKOWER, Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750, Turin 1993.
P. PORTOGHESI, Baroque Rome, Rome-Bari 1995.
