Text II. Symmetry first: the centrally planned building

Medieval churches were almost invariably based on longitudinal ground-plans, which usually took the form of a cross. In Romanesque and Gothic building in particular this directional structure was the usual form for sacred architecture. But it was by no means the only form: during all historical periods buildings were also created on the basis of a symmetrical ground-plan. In these centrally planned buildings all the elements are related to a central point, and unlike basilicas these buildings have no clear orientation. The central ground-plan can take the form of a circle, a polygon, or a square even a Greek cross with four arms of equal length can be the basic form of a centrally planned building.

More than any other period in history, it was the Renaissance which saw the greatest artistic flower­ing of the ideal of the centrally planned building. But the story of the centrally planned building also starts with a work of Roman architecture: its culmi­nation is ultimately represented by the Pantheon in Rome.

This circular building was built between 118 and 125 A.D. and surmounted with a massive dome. The Pantheon remained in use even after the Roman period as a Christian church, and today numbers among the best preserved monuments of ancient Rome.

In early Christian architecture it was mainly baptisteries and tombs which were built on a round or polygonal footprint. The commonly used octa­gonal ground-plan can be seen, for example, in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, which was built in the sixth century. A similarly octagonal dome with a diameter of 16 meters covers the central space.

An ambulatory surrounds the octagon, which is lit by round-headed windows, and which leads into the interior through similarly high round arches. This ambulatory extends over two stories, and in the upper story there are galleries which in turn are enclosed by semi-domes. The floral and ornamental mosaics that cover the floor and the altar area of the church date from the sixth century. Occasionally the original central ground-plan of a building disappeared as a result of later modifica­tions and can no longer be recognized at first sight.

This is the case in the Palatine Chapel in Aachen, Germany,

which was built on an octagonal ground-plan. Since its creation in 790 the church has been restructured many times and today the octagon forms the center of Aachen Cathedral. Originally the small church was part of Charlemagne's* imperial palace. For the rulers of the early medieval period, who had no fixed residence but continually traveled around their empire, these palaces were places to live and conduct the business of government, serving to consolidate their power at the same time. Most imperial palaces are only known through archeological excavations, and of the building in Aachen too, only the chapel remains. The main room which is enclosed by a dome is a two-story octagon just 20 meters in diameter, attached to the choir in the east. The octagon opens up through arches leading to the vaulted, 16-sided ambulatory. Charlemagne's throne stood in the upper church: the emperor was crowned in Aachen and also chose the Palatine Chapel as his burial place. The centrally planned building remained a common architectural form as a tomb or baptistery. Up until the age of Classicism it offered an alternative to the cross-shaped church ground-plan. During the Renaissance interest in the culture of Antiquity inspired the rediscovery of Vitruvius's books on architecture from the first century B.C. The Roman architectural theorist had thoroughly researched ideal proportions and had found them in the forms of the circle and the square. Thus, he concluded, these fundamental forms should also be the original forms for temple buildings. Renaissance architects adopted the strictly geometrical ground-plans in the form of a circle or square, considering them to be the epitome of symmetry. For architectural theorist Leon Battista Alberti the centrally planned building was an image of divine order.

As a result centrally planned buildings played a major role in Renaissance church building. At the same time it did not go un­noticed that with the central ground-plan reference was being made to ancient and therefore pagan temples, such as the Pantheon for example, and thus was in competition to the basilica with its basic form of a cross composed of a nave and transept. One of the first people who put into practice the knowledge derived from the study of the centrally planned buildings of Antiquity was Donato Bramante. Originally his small round temple in Rome, the Tempietto of S. Pietro in Montorio, was intended to form the center of an equally circular courtyard. However this idea was not realized: it remained a round building located in a square cour­tyard, but the architect Sebastiano Serlio* preserved the idea as a drawing in his Seven Books of Architecture.

In the Renaissance the centrally planned form was not only of renewed interest in church building, but it was also being debated beyond the realm of sacred architecture. Following the architecture of Antiquity, architects took inspiration from the central ground-plan in their designs for secular buildings as well. Andrea Palladio, the most sought-after villa architect in the Veneto*, took the country houses of the ancient world as his model. When the well-off Venetians in the sixteenth century discovered the advantages of country living beyond the lagoon, Palladio built suitable villas for them, drawing on models from the architecture of Antiquity. One of his clients was Paolo Almerico, who moved back to the mainland of the Veneto at the end of his professional career in Rome. Palladio built La Rotonda for him, thus creating a building that would continue to have great influence until the age of Classicism.

Almerico's country residence was begun in 1566 outside the city of Vicenza, and owes its name to the circular hall surmounted by a dome which is located in the exact center of the villa. With La Rotonda Palladio realized the idea of the perfect centrally planned building: further salons are arranged sym­metrically around the domed central hall according to the strictly square ground-plan. The entrance too follows ancient models: Palladio designed it as a temple frontage this was extremely daring for a secular building. Six Ionic columns support the triangular pediment, which is decorated with sculp­tures. Symmetry was the greatest requirement here, too, and as a result Palladio was not content with creating the entrance facade as a temple frontage, but he also placed similar porticos on all four sides of the building. By dispensing with a main view, and instead affording the same importance to all the building's axes, Palladio emphasized the symmetry of the architecture.

Notes:

Charlemagne - Карл I Вели́кий — король франков с 768 года, король лангобардов с 774 года, герцог Баварии c 788 года, император Запада с 800 года. Старший сын Пипина Короткого и Бертрады Лаонской. По имени Карла династия Пипинидов получила название Каролингов.

Sebastiano Serlio - Себастьяно Серлио (1475—1554) — итальянскийархитектор-маньеристпозднегоРенессансаизШколы Фонтенбло. Один из ведущих теоретиков архитектуры своей эпохи.

Veneto - Ве́нето — это один из двадцати регионов Италии с населением около пяти миллионов человек. Столицей и крупнейшим городом региона является Венеция. Венето, в рамках Венецианской республики, в течение тысячи лет был независимым государством.