All of his life’s work, including his apprenticeships, schooling, and design, seemed to have prepared him for this monumental assignment. For more than a century, the roof of the dome was open to the elements. The assignment had dismayed many an architect during this period. Several domes had been constructed using cement, but the formula for concrete had been lost during the Dark Ages. The architects were also leery of using the common flying buttresses of the Gothic style; they wanted the design to reflect the clean lines and simple style of their Greek and Roman past. Brunelleschi solved the dome-shaped puzzle with the idea to build two domes - a lighter, outer dome and a heavier, inner dome. The outer dome was constructed using brick and mortar placed in a herringbone pattern to eliminate the need for a central support. The inner dome was made using sandstone beams and marble from local quarries. This choice of materials had a hand in his winning of the commission, as it greatly reduced the cost of labor and…
While although Pope Leo X eventually cancelled the San Lorenzo project, Michelangelo’s labors are the labors of countless others who risked life and limb to get the marble out of the ground and transport it across land and water is truly worth noting. We rightly marvel at the great works of architecture from the pre-industrial world. We extol their design, their ingenuity in construction, and their durability. Perhaps we ought to marvel more that they even got any stone to the…
From this reading I have learned that there were many errors in the trial process. Brunelleschi needed to find a solution to the vast project of building the dome. He was an intelligent man but had to learn many new things as he tried to form a solution to his problem, “How do I make the world’s largest dome and not use Flying buttresses?” He was able to figure it out by putting hidden supports throughout the entire structure; they would be hidden by the masonry. This was the first time anything like this had been attempted, and it was a huge success. No one knew exactly what he has done for many centuries, and his innovation has been a long lasting achievement. His contributions were what sparked the renaissance movement…
While the religious icon had been a popular type of painting since the medieval period, a new style of icon emerged during the fifteenth century; this new icon was a type of hybrid. This new hybrid icon was a mixture of Western European and Eastern Greek and Byzantine styles while still maintaining its spiritual value. Not only did the west effect the east though, but byzantine styles had a great effect on the art of Venice; specifically in the work of Giovanni Bellini.…
Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi was born in Florence, Italy around 1386. He was born to Nicolo di Betto Bardi, a member of the Florentine Woolcombers Guild. His friends and family adopted the shortened moniker, Donatello, when he was only a child. This is what we know him as today. Donatello's first educational environment was at the home of the Martellis, a wealthy Florentine family of bankers and patrons closely linked to the Medici family. In the shop of a goldsmith within the Martellis family, Donatello learned metallurgy, fabrication of metals and various materials, and other skills of the trade. In around 1400, he began apprenticing with the metalsmith and sculptor, Lorenzo Ghiberti.…
4) Fillippo Brunelleschi: Italian architect and engineer, designer of the dome of the Cathedral of Florence, or la Duomo…
For my midterm book review I chose, Diary From The Dome: Reflections on Fear and Privilege during Katrina, by Paul A. Harris. Paul Harris is currently the manager of a library information desk at the University of California, San Diego. In his book, Mr. Harris begins by recounting his first visit to New Orleans 28 years prior to Hurricane Katrina. He falls in love with the city even though he only spends a few days there. He later makes several more trips. On his fateful trip to trip to the city in August of 2005; he gets a whole lot more than he bargained for.…
Brunelleschi’s Dome, the Santa Maria del Fiore Cupola, was an achievement inspired by cultural change. The task was to construct a dome atop the Florence Cathedral, the problem being that the patrons of the project wanted a design that was different from the Gothic architecture of cities such as Milan. A dome design of this size had never been accomplished before, but while many people asked, “can it be done?” Brunelleschi asked, “how can it be done?”. In order to overcome obstacles such as large expensive scaffolding, Brunelleschi invented cranes and hoists to accomplish the task of moving the heavy materials used to build the dome. His design actually was of one dome within another, with bands of stone that held it together like the bands…
European Renaissance was an era filled with curiosity and a need for knowledge. This need for knowledge supported many sailors, cartographers, mathematicians, explorers, navigators, architects, and many more. There was a particular architect that innovated many ideas for the Renaissance, that architect is Filippo Brunelleschi. Filippo Brunelleschi was a man of many talents which helped him to succeed in life. He designed places for children to live, the Florence Ospedale degile Innocenti. He designed the astounding dome which resides at the Florence Cathedral, which turned out to be a well-known church that is greatly recognised by many people in the world. Filippo Brunelleschi was a very important…
-Traits demonstrated in Renaissance art- observed of natural world and light, rebirth of Greek and roman ideas, and interest in human anatomy and idealized beauty…
Roman was known for their architectural accomplishments. Works like the Colosseum, the Aqueducts, the Pantheon were a few among many of their notable magnificent. The two innovations enabled Rome to attain those achievements were the invention of concrete and arches. In this paper, I attempt to look into their origins, their effect on Roman's life and what was the most notable works result from these inventions.…
Francesco Castello, often considered the greatest Baroque architect and a true genius, was born to a stonemason family in Bissone. He was related to the papal architects Carlo Maderno and Domenico Fontana; hence, it was in his blood to become a builder. He later changed his name to his mother’s family name, Borromini, and his true architectural career began. At the pinnacle of it all, we find the beautiful church of Sant’ivo Alla Sapienza, where his mastery in the creation of complex spaces is evident in a very confined project.…
The concept of modern architecture is necessary to be discussed. The historical background of modern architecture is illustrated as the decade after World War I. However, in 1851, the Crystal Palace (see the figure 1) caught people’s eye with its innovative approaches. It was one of the first buildings to use large amount of glass for the building’s surface and supported by structural metals. Hence, it was also regarded as the foreshadowing trends in…
History had a lot of amazing points in time where beautiful and remarkable things were created. One example of this was the amazing Gothic cathedrals that were created by architects during medieval times. Quite a few Gothic cathedrals were built all over Europe and other areas that took years to complete and a lot of tax money. Tourists still travel to these cathedrals that were built over 500 years ago. It is truly remarkable how these structures were built without today’s modern technology.…
Civilizations have evolved and prospered throughout history, producing unique buildings and architectural styles along the way. The buildings are expressed as society’s values and unique characteristics that are simply astonishing. Medieval cathedrals were the product of more than a 1000 years of both religion and architectural evolution. Medieval cathedrals played a major role in Christian heritage, the gothic and architecture. The medieval period, with its boundless faith and energetic spirit, found an ultimate expression in the cathedral…