The project
«Vi sono state fatte le loggie e in tutte quattro le faccie: sotto il piano delle quali, e della Sala sono le stanze per la comodità, et uso della famiglia. La Sala è nel mezo, et è ritonda, e piglia il lume sopra. I camerini sono amezati. Sopra le stanze grandi, le quali hanno i volti alti secondo il primo modo, intorno la sala vi è un luogo da passeggiare di larghezza di quindici piedi e mezo». Palladio, I Quattro Libri dell’Architettura
Andrea Palladio himself wrote about the Rotonda his second book of the Quattro libri dell’Architettura, published in 1570: Paolo Almerico’s isn’t described as a villa, as one would expect, but as a palace due to its proximity to the city. Almerico commissioned the architect to create a place for his recreation, a building that combined the housing needs with duties, a place where he could spend his last years years between lethargy and ‘holy agriculture’.
The choice of the location is fundamental: just about a quarter of a mile from the city walls, the hill in which la rotonda stands on was guaranteed to offer the clean air all members of the Veneto nobility desired at the time.
The square plan of the villa was rotated 45 degrees, its four corners facing the four cardinal points to mitigate sun exposure and winds.
The humanistic recovery of antiquity is one of the pillars of the villa:
the idea of a circular building with a dome comes from the Pantheon of Rome, the pronaos supporting the pillars are inspired by ancient temples, while the concept of a suburban Villa that also serves as an agricultural business re elaborate Pliny the Younger’s scripts. Because, contrary to what it seems, the Rotonda was also the base of agricultural business: the owner, Paolo Almerico, who thanks to the altitude had complete visual control of his land. However, unlike other Veneto villas, the rustic annexes were far from the main building.
The villa appeared isolated without any walls or hedges to protect it, which is what makes the Rotonda so unique. The Villa is an icon of perfection and harmony because of the visual relationship Palladio was able to create between the villa and the landscape.
The project
«Vi sono state fatte le loggie e in tutte quattro le faccie: sotto il piano delle quali, e della Sala sono le stanze per la comodità, et uso della famiglia. La Sala è nel mezo, et è ritonda, e piglia il lume sopra. I camerini sono amezati. Sopra le stanze grandi, le quali hanno i volti alti secondo il primo modo, intorno la sala vi è un luogo da passeggiare di larghezza di quindici piedi e mezo». Palladio, I Quattro Libri dell’Architettura
Andrea Palladio himself wrote about the Rotonda his second book of the Quattro libri dell’Architettura, published in 1570: Paolo Almerico’s isn’t described as a villa, as one would expect, but as a palace due to its proximity to the city. Almerico commissioned the architect to create a place for his recreation, a building that combined the housing needs with duties, a place where he could spend his last years years between lethargy and ‘holy agriculture’.
The choice of the location is fundamental: just about a quarter of a mile from the city walls, the hill in which la rotonda stands on was guaranteed to offer the clean air all members of the Veneto nobility desired at the time.
The square plan of the villa was rotated 45 degrees, its four corners facing the four cardinal points to mitigate sun exposure and winds.
The humanistic recovery of antiquity is one of the pillars of the villa:
the idea of a circular building with a dome comes from the Pantheon of Rome, the pronaos supporting the pillars are inspired by ancient temples, while the concept of a suburban Villa that also serves as an agricultural business re elaborate Pliny the Younger’s scripts. Because, contrary to what it seems, the Rotonda was also the base of agricultural business: the owner, Paolo Almerico, who thanks to the altitude had complete visual control of his land. However, unlike other Veneto villas, the rustic annexes were far from the main building.
The villa appeared isolated without any walls or hedges to protect it, which is what makes the Rotonda so unique. The Villa is an icon of perfection and harmony because of the visual relationship Palladio was able to create between the villa and the landscape.
The Building
La Rotonda is a building with a central plan, a cubic volume that spins around a circular room with a dome. The diagonal axes of the main body follow the directions of the cardinal points, while the four facades are identical: each has a pronao, with a tympanum supported by six ionic columns and a majestic staircase leading directly to the noble floor.
La Rotonda has no foundations: it is self sustaining thanks to the arches and the brick cross-vaults on the ground floor, which constitutes the structural grid of the perpendicular axes on which the upper floors rest on. If you look carefully at the villa’s perspective you will notice that the noble floor and the attic each cave in a few centimeters compared to the floor below, acting as a sort of “step pyramid” on three levels, making the whole structure stable. Additionally the four very protruding logge other than being scenic they also ensure that the building is held up firmly.
As a very experienced architect, Palladio possessed deep knowledge of materials and excellent organisation and financial skills within his building sites. For example, he used stone to carve the capitals and the bases of the columns. He created the columns’ shafts with perfectly shaped bricks, which were then coated in lime plaster mixed with marble powder. The final result are magnificent marble like columns which complement the warm and delicate stonework.
Despite the geometric rigor, the appearance of the villa is not that of a thick block, but of a graceful structure, which has a dynamic appearance thanks to the chiaroscuro of both its full and empty volumes. Perfectly symmetrical and corresponding on all sides, La Rotonda mirrors the setting of the facades.
The Building
La Rotonda is a building with a central plan, a cubic volume that spins around a circular room with a dome. The diagonal axes of the main body follow the directions of the cardinal points, while the four facades are identical: each has a pronao, with a tympanum supported by six ionic columns and a majestic staircase leading directly to the noble floor.
La Rotonda has no foundations: it is self sustaining thanks to the arches and the brick cross-vaults on the ground floor, which constitutes the structural grid of the perpendicular axes on which the upper floors rest on. If you look carefully at the villa’s perspective you will notice that the noble floor and the attic each cave in a few centimeters compared to the floor below, acting as a sort of “step pyramid” on three levels, making the whole structure stable. Additionally the four very protruding logge other than being scenic they also ensure that the building is held up firmly.
As a very experienced architect, Palladio possessed deep knowledge of materials and excellent organisation and financial skills within his building sites.For example, he used stone to carve the capitals and the bases of the columns. He created the columns’ shafts with perfectly shaped bricks, which were then coated in lime plaster mixed with marble powder. The final result are magnificent marble like columns which complement the warm and delicate stonework.
Despite the geometric rigor, the appearance of the villa is not that of a thick block, but of a graceful structure, which has a dynamic appearance thanks to the chiaroscuro of both its full and empty volumes. Perfectly symmetrical and corresponding on all sides, La Rotonda mirrors the setting of the facades.
The floors
The building is laid out on three floors, plus a mezzanine: entrance to the ground floor is accessed from the garden through a passageway under the external steps; the upper floors can be reached via four spiral staircases built in the corners of the square where the central hall is inscribed, which serve as supporting pillars for the entire height of the villa.
The ground floor was used as service areas, like the kitchen that still exists. The ceilings are low and are marked by cross vaults; the circular space in the centre is exactly in line with the lantern that crowns the dome: in this precise point is the perforated stone mascaron, which connects the ground floor with the noble floor and which served as the Rotonda’s cooling system in the summer months.
The noble floor is the level which represents the building, its high ceilings are decorated with frescoes and stuccos. It’s accessed from the the pronai’s four steps: their widths, if extended, emulate a greek cross inside the square plan and the central room is inscribed at their intersection point.There are four rectangular corner rooms and four dressing rooms that are connected and that lead to the spiral staircases; the main hall can be reached from four corridors, different in sizes, which start from the logge’s entrances.
The small internal spiral staircases also serve as a mezzanine composed of four small rooms placed above the dressing rooms of the noble floor, which are lit by the small windows located below the gables. The attic, which originally had no internal subdivisions was mainly used for storage functions for agricultural commodities. This had been recognised by Francesco Muttoni between 1725-1740; the attic is illuminated by sixteen small windows in and overlooks the main hall with a narrow circular balcony.
The floors
The building is laid out on three floors, plus a mezzanine: entrance to the ground floor is accessed from the garden through a passageway under the external steps; the upper floors can be reached via four spiral staircases built in the corners of the square where the central hall is inscribed, which serve as supporting pillars for the entire height of the villa.
The ground floor was used as service areas, like the kitchen that still exists. The ceilings are low and are marked by cross vaults; the circular space in the centre is exactly in line with the lantern that crowns the dome: in this precise point is the perforated stone mascaron, which connects the ground floor with the noble floor and which served as the Rotonda’s cooling system in the summer months.
The noble floor is the level which represents the building, its high ceilings are decorated with frescoes and stuccos. It’s accessed from the the pronai’s four steps: their widths, if extended, emulate a greek cross inside the square plan and the central room is inscribed at their intersection point.There are four rectangular corner rooms and four dressing rooms that are connected and that lead to the spiral staircases; the main hall can be reached from four corridors, different in sizes, which start from the loggie’s entrances.
The small internal spiral staircases also serve as a mezzanine composed of four small rooms placed above the dressing rooms of the noble floor, which are lit by the small windows located below the gables. The attic, which originally had no internal subdivisions was mainly used for storage functions for agricultural commodities. This had been recognised by Francesco Muttoni between 1725-1740; the attic is illuminated by sixteen small windows in and overlooks the main hall with a narrow circular balcony.
The central hall and the dome
The whole composition of the villa revolves around the fulcrum of the central circular room which has given la rotonda its name. It includes the noble floor and the attic up to the dome vault and, finally, a lantern.
The external dome, completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, is very different from the one designed by Palladio in the “Quattro Libri”: it described as a perfectly hemispherical dome, which would have given the building a very slender look. However, today it appears as a lowered spherical cap on a tambour similar to Rome’s Pantheon. Just like the Pantheon, it is topped by an oculo that, instead of being open, was crowned by a lantern through which light shines through dimly.
In line with the lantern, a grotesque bas-relief face appears on the floor of the hall. The perforations across it allow fresh air of the floor below to rise to the noble floor, cooling the villa during the hottest months.
The central hall and the dome
The whole composition of the villa revolves around the fulcrum of the central circular room which has given la rotonda its name. It includes the noble floor and the attic up to the dome vault and, finally, a lantern.
The external dome, completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, is very different from the one designed by Palladio in the “Quattro Libri”: it described as a perfectly hemispherical dome, which would have given the building a very slender look. However, today it appears as a lowered spherical cap on a tambour similar to Rome’s Pantheon. Just like the Pantheon, it is topped by an oculo that, instead of being open, was crowned by a lantern through which light shines through dimly.
In line with the lantern, a grotesque bas-relief face appears on the floor of the hall. The perforations across it allow fresh air of the floor below to rise to the noble floor, cooling the villa during the hottest months.
The geometry
The plan is based on the intersection of simple geometric shapes, circles and squares: these two figures determine all the proportions. The base module is the square in which the circle of the main hall is inscribed; the plan of the main body consists of four modules, each loggia that has a flight of stairs is a module. The facade and the shape of a harmonic rectangle whose height (from the garden to the roof) is obtained by tracing a 30 degree angle on the width of the large square plan.
The rotonda is based on arithmetic relationships that can also be found in music; still, the arrangement of the columns, six for each pronaos, follows the rules of the beautiful proportion given by vitruvius and taken up by Palladio in the projects of his villas: the intercolumns measure two and a quarter column diameters, just like the ancient Eustilo temples.
The circle and the square, are therefore the archetypal shapes from which the villa’s design is developed. Such perfect geometry, symbolizing the sky and the earth, are defined by palladio as “the most beautiful and the most regulated”. The Rotonda is a microcosm regulated by universal laws, a mirror of the celestial harmony at the center of which, according to the anthropocentric conception of the renaissance, there is Man.
The geometry
The plan is based on the intersection of simple geometric shapes, circles and squares: these two figures determine all the proportions. The base module is the square in which the circle of the main hall is inscribed; the plan of the main body consists of four modules, each loggia that has a flight of stairs is a module. The facade and the shape of a harmonic rectangle whose height (from the garden to the roof) is obtained by tracing a 30 degree angle on the width of the large square plan.
The rotonda is based on arithmetic relationships that can also be found in music; still, the arrangement of the columns, six for each pronaos, follows the rules of the beautiful proportion given by vitruvius and taken up by Palladio in the projects of his villas: the intercolumns measure two and a quarter column diameters, just like the ancient Eustilo temples.
The circle and the square, are therefore the archetypal shapes from which the villa’s design is developed. Such perfect geometry, symbolizing the sky and the earth, are defined by palladio as “the most beautiful and the most regulated”. The Rotonda is a microcosm regulated by universal laws, a mirror of the celestial harmony at the center of which, according to the anthropocentric conception of the renaissance, there is Man.
The light
The way in which the light enters the rotonda and illuminates the external volumes, is another example of how palladio had thought of every detail. The edges of the villa’s square point towards the four cardinal points, ensuring that throughout the day the side facing south east and south west each have equal time for the sun to shine on them. Even during winter these two sides of the building are equally lit by the sun. passing from 20 degrees to 0 degrees, the first of the hours 7.30-9.30, the second of the hours 15.00-16.30.
During the summer solstice the rays enter the villa with an inclination of 59 degrees, at the equinoxes of 27 degrees, at the winter solstice of 9 degrees. From here it can be deducted that, if in the summer the sun has a rather vertical angle of incidence, the inside of the rotonda remains more shaded and therefore fresh; on the contrary the very low winter sun enters with its long rays, at times passing through the entire width of the noble floor.
The light
The way in which the light enters the rotonda and illuminates the external volumes, is another example of how palladio had thought of every detail. The edges of the villa’s square point towards the four cardinal points, ensuring that throughout the day the side facing south east and south west each have equal time for the sun to shine on them. Even during winter these two sides of the building are equally lit by the sun. passing from 20 degrees to 0 degrees, the first of the hours 7.30-9.30, the second of the hours 15.00-16.30.
During the summer solstice the rays enter the villa with an inclination of 59 degrees, at the equinoxes of 27 degrees, at the winter solstice of 9 degrees. From here it can be deducted that, if in the summer the sun has a rather vertical angle of incidence, the inside of the rotonda remains more shaded and therefore fresh; on the contrary the very low winter sun enters with its long rays, at times passing through the entire width of the noble floor.
