1546

Vicenza’s town council entrusted Palladio with the responsibility of building the Regional Palace’s lodges, symbol of municipal power. However works started in 1549: this job made Palladio the city’s official architect, a role that guaranteed him 5 golden Scudi until his death. Palladio surrounded the pre existing medieval building with a double order of arches, keeping in mind its existing openings and paths and creating a design that allows light to penetrate freely through the arches’ vaults. The result is an unprecedented building, defined by the architect as ‘the modern basilica’, and which expressed his intention to adapt antique designs to modern purposes, just as he did in those years with his villas.

Palladio envisioned joining the noble residences and agricultural places of work. However he was faced with resistance from his commissioners and with pre existing building’s layouts. An example of this is the case of Villa Pojana in Pojana Maggiore, where the palladian barchessa was still separate to the noble residence.