Villa Capra
The Villa Capra was built by Andrea Palladio but finished by Vincenffarzo Scamozzi. The Villa Capra was built near Vicenza, Italy. The construction started in 1566 and was finished in 1571 taking it 9 years to be built. The Villa Capra was designed based upon the Italian Rennaisance building type. The Vila Capra is a house building.
The inspiration for the house came from Paolo Almerico, Pope Pius IV, a retiring priest who decided to return home. He could not have foreseen that that the house he commissioned from the architect Andrea Palladio would become one of the most inspirational architectural prototypes for the next five hundred plus years. However if Villa Capra has inspired a thousand subsequent houses, then the villa itself was undoubtedly inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. During his lifetime, Palladio designed more than 20 villas on the Venetian mainland. This house later known as 'La Rotonda' was to be one of his most well-known legacies to the architectural world.
The site selected was a hilltop just outside the city of Vicenza, at the time it was the fashion to be what is called today a 'gentleman farmer', buoyed by arcadian values prosperous Italians wished to enjoy the simple life. As a single man Almerico had no need of a vast Palazzo but wished for a sophisticated Villa and this is exactly what Palladio produced for him. The Villa Capra was a square building, completely symmetrical, as though an imaginary circle touched the walls of the square at any given point.
The interior design of the Villa was to be as wonderful, if not more so than the exterior. Among the four principal salons on the piano nobile are the West Salon. the East Salon, which contains an allegorical life story of the first owner Paolo Almerico, his many admirable qualities portrayed in fresco. The highlight of the interior is the central circular hall, domed and balconied, it soars the full height of the house up into the cupola, with pillars decorated in trompe l'oeil. Abundant frescoes create whole atmosphere that is more reminiscent of a cathedral than the principal salon of a country house.
From the porticos wonderful views of the surrounding countryside could be seen, this is no coincidence the Villa was designed to be in perfect harmony with the landscape. This was in complete contrast to such buildings. while appearing completely symmetrical has certain deviations, designed in order for each facade to complement the surrounding landscape and topography, hence there are variations in the facades, in the width of steps, retaining walls etc. Thus the symmetry of the architecture allows for the asymmetry of the landscape, and creates a seemingly symmetrical whole. The landscape is a panoramic vision of trees and meadows and woods, with the distant Vicenza on the horizon. The northwest portico is set into the hill as the termination of a straight carriage drive from the principal gates. This carriageway is an avenue between the service blocks, built by the Capra brothers who acquired the villa in 1591, they commissioned Vincenzo Scamozzi to complete the villa and construct the range of staff and agricultural buildings. As one approaches the villa from this angle one is deliberately made to feel one is ascending from some less worthy place to a temple on high. This same view, in reverse, from the villa, highlights the classical chapel on the edge of Vicenza itself, thus villa and town are united.
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