Architecture And The Senses In The Italian Renaissance

"This is the first study of Renaissance architecture as an immersive, multisensory experience, combining first-hand experiences with historical analysis. Questioning the universalizing claims of contemporary architectural phenomenologists, David Karmon emphasizes the infinite variety of meanings produced through human interactions with the built environment. He reconstructs the Renaissance understanding of the senses, examines how architecture and the senses shaped daily practices and contributed to new forms of understanding, and presents literary and visual sources that provide abundant evidence for sustained attention to the multisensory experience of the built environment in the Renaissance world. By exploring how the 'experiential trigger' of architecture creates a multi- faceted dynamic experience between the object and the individual, Karmon's book offers a new and innovative approach to the study of Renaissance architecture"--

This is the first study of Renaissance architecture as an immersive, multisensory experience that combines historical analysis with the evidence of first-hand accounts. Questioning the universalizing claims of contemporary architectural phenomenologists, David Karmon emphasizes the infinite variety of meanings produced through human interactions with the built environment. His book draws upon the close study of literary and visual sources to prove that early modern audiences paid sustained attention to the multisensory experience of the buildings and cities in which they lived. Through reconstructing the Renaissance understanding of the senses, we can better gauge how constant interaction with the built environment shaped daily practices and contributed to new forms of understanding. Architecture and the Senses in the Italian Renaissance offers a stimulating new approach to the study of Renaissance architecture and urbanism as a kind of 'experiential trigger' that shaped ways of both thinking and being in the world.

"There may not be any book on architecture so delightful to dip into; one wishes there were a pocket edition to take on an Italian vacation—not only for its information and vision but for such pleasant reminders as that the citizens of Treviso carried Tullio Lombardo's friezes through the town in triumph before they were attached to a building."—D. J. R. Bruckner, New York Times Book Review

The development of Italian Renaissance architecture was one of the most relevant cultural phenomena of the 15th and 16th centuries, not only for the environment that gave birth to it and for centuries followed its course, but also for the reverberations it caused outside of Italy and in the epochs that followed. In fact, it became the reference model for most European courts, which were inspired as much by the decorative elements (take for example France's palace at Fontainebleau or Scotland's Stirling Castle) as by the architectonic system and stylistic conventions. This extraordinary flowering, theorized and implemented by people of absolute genius such as Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti (to limit ourselves to the most prominent figures), encompasses masterpieces such as the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence or that of Saint Peter's in Rome, as well as perfectly harmonious structures such as Maser's Villa Barbaro, Vicenza' Basilica and Venice's Biblioteca Marciana.This comprehensive compilation of Italian Renaissance architecture richly documented, illustrated and organized by type of construction, major architects and geographical location reveals and celebrates a unique artistic period that lasted for almost two centuries, from the early 1400s through the end of the 1500s, two points in time perfectly reflected in the figures of Brunelleschi and Buontalenti.

"Well-illustrated, undeniably useful, Murray's book is truly welcome." --Architectural Design "Informed in content and concise in style . . . a perfect introduction to the architecture of the Italian Renaissance." --Richard Stapleford, Cooper Union School of Architecture A classic guide to one of the most pivotal periods in art and architectural history, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance remains the most lucid and comprehensive volume available. From Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Palladio, and Brunelleschi to St. Peter's in Rome, the palaces of Venice, and the Medici Chapel in Florence, Peter Murray's lavishly illustrated book tells readers everything they need to know about the architectural life of Italy from the thirteenth through the sixteenth centuries.

Urbino, Rome, Florence, Milan, Ferrara... but also Mantua and Imola, Carpi and Saluzzo, Naples and Sicily: a collection of case studies on the Renaissance renewal of Italian court palaces from a comparative perspective.

The Architecture of Humanism offers a brilliant analysis of the theories and ideas behind much of nineteenth- and twentieth-century architecture. It discusses the classical tradition as reflected in the architecture of Renaissance and Baroque Italy and the role given the human body in that tradition. It is recommended reading for all architecture students, and essential for those interested in the revival of classical architecture.