Aeolian Winds and the Spirit in Renaissance Architecture: Academia Eolia Revisited

ISBN-13: 9780415398046 / Angielski / Miękka / 2006 / 192 str.

Barbara Kenda

Opis

"Aeolian Winds and the Spirit in Renaissance Architecture" introduces new dimensions of thinking about architectural theory. Investigating Renaissance pneumatic architecture with respect to other disciplines of arts and sciences, the collected essays substantiate the thesis that pneuma (air, wind, spirit, soul) is a fundamental link for establishing harmony among the human body, a building, and the cosmos. While much of sixteenth and seventeenth century scholarship has been devoted to the mathematics of ideal architecture, the book proves that essence, wind and ventilation are all part of the classical principles of building, and that one of the primary goals of Renaissance architects was to enhance the powers of pneuma so as to foster the art of well-being. This volume, written by leading architectural historians and scholars, delineates ancient and Renaissance theories and practice of pneumatology, and indicates a link to contemporary environmental questions. It examines Anaximenes, Hippocrates, Galen, Trento, Romano, Alberti, Serlio, Palladio, Scamozzi and other thinkers and humanists. Moreover, the essays illustrate the most famous examples of hygienico-therapeutic villas, including Rotonda, La Rocca Pisana and Eolia, a pneumatic model of Renaissance Venetian architecture.

Spis treści

1. Introduction  2. Chasma Ges: Delphic Pneuma and the Cult of Asklepios  3. 'Study the Warm Winds and the Cold': Hippocrates and the Renaissance Villa  4. The Role of the Winds in the Architectural Theory from Vitruvius to Scamozzi  5. Making Visible the Invisible: Signs of Aer in Renaissance Treatises  6. Poetry and 'Spirited' Ancient Sculpture in Renaissance Rome: Pomponio Leto's Academy to the Sixteenth-Century Sculpture Garden  7. The Winds in the Corners: Giulio Romano, The Elements and the Palazzo Te's Fall of the Giants  8. The Breath of Cities

O autorze

Barbara Kenda is a Professor at the School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame. She is the author of several articles on pneumatic architecture. Recently, she was a senior fellow at Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University.