Opus Week 6

Macro to Micro

In the renaissance people were looking back at the foundations of antiquity and attempting to build off of and improve upon the building achievements made by the Greeks, Romans, and other ancient civilizations. They also were looking back at ancient texts such as those by Cicero, Virgil, Plato, and Aristotle. A new generation of thought emerged. The poet Petrarch from mid-fourteenth-century Florentine 'stressed the study of the ancient authors and reliance on one's own observations' (Roth 356). Juxtaposing the repugnant conditions of the medieval period, the renaissance focused on beauty and the appreciation of nature. Detail played a large role in renaissance architecture. Most notably renaissance churches were full of intricate details, complex plans, and innovative building techniques (Roth 358). These details were not only for aesthetic purposes but they also visually extended the space (Blakemore 97). Wood beams, intricate domes, and detailed frescoes reached across the ceilings and expanded buildings such as renaissance churches. Churches and cathedrals represented heaven and architects used building techniques such as large scale columns, domes, and entrance ways that would leave the impression of a space that was broad and as intricate as possible.

Salisbury Cathedral

Cathedrals were not entirely about grandiose scale and the impression of heaven, they also were a place to worship and socialize. Church was where entire communities gathered and one's hierarchy in the community was constituted by where that person sat during the service. Families who invested in the church were able to sit in their own private chapels during a service since their money went to the building of these chapels. Often these wealthy families sat in a balcony area literally looking down upon those below them in stature. Church, much like the opera in the 17th century, was a place to 'see and be seen' (Roth ...).


One can diagram the Cathedral to further clarify the 'circulation, hierarchy, and function' of each space. Renaissance cathedrals usually were built in a cross-plan, a plan that formed the shape of the Christian cross. People would enter from the bottom of the cross and would proceed down a long aisle with pews flanking either side. Balconies and private chapels lined the outer walls of the church, and were placed closest to the alter. The top of the cross where the horizontal section overlaps the vertical aisle is where the most important people sat in their private chapels at the closest place to the alter and to heaven. Because these people were wealthy and were the dominant contributors to the church they were closest to God and were pardoned into heaven before all others of the church.


Another factor of the Cathedral that can be diagrammed is the three pronged Porch-Court-Hearth. The Porch-Court-Hearth layout was formally introduced in Greek society. The porch, court, and hearth are exemplified in the Acropolis. The porch is the entrance and at the Acropolis it is the Propylaia. The court is the gathering space where people disperse after entering. The hearth is the more secluded area towards the back with a religious statue for worship (Blakemore 31). This set-up is also represented in Roman households and the cathedrals of the renaissance. In Roman homes the porch and court were quite similar to the original purpose of entrance way and gathering area. The hearth in a Roman household would be the bedrooms or private rooms in the back.


The Porch-Court-Hearth trio are parts that make up the whole composition of the building. Dictionary.com defines a composition as 'combining parts or elements to form a whole'.