Architecture of Italy

by Jean Castex

Overview

Covering all regions of Italy—from Turin's Palace of Labor in northern Italy to the Monreale Cathedral and Cloister in Sicily—and all periods of Italian architecture—from the first-century Colosseum in Rome to the Casa Rustica apartments built in Milan in the 1930s—this volume examines over 70 of Italy's most important architectural landmarks. Writing in an authoritative yet engaging style, Jean Castex, professor of architectural history at the Versailles School of Architecture, describes the features, functions, and historical importance of each structure. Besides idetifying location, style, architects, and periods of initial construction and major renovations, the cross-referenced and illustrated entries also highlight architectural and historical terms explained in the Glossay and conclude with a useful listing of further information resources. The volume also offers ready-reference lists of entries by location, architectural style, and time period, as well as a general bibliography, a detailed subject index, and a comprehensive introductory overview of Italian architecture.

Entries cover major architectural structures as well as smaller sites, including everything from the well-known dome of St. Peter's at the Vatican to the Fiat Lingotto Plant in Turin. Ideal for college and high school students, as well as for interested general readers, this comprehensive look at the architecture of Italy is an indispensable addition to every architectural reference collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313320866
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/30/2008
Series:	Reference Guides to National Architecture
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

JEAN CASTEX is an architect and professor of architectural history at the Versailles School of Architecture, where he has served as president of the faculty. Professor Castex graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1968 and was awarded a doctorate from Paris VIII University in 1997 with a thesis on the seventeenth-century French architect Francois Mansart. He has published several books and articles on urban studies, including Urban Forms, the Death and Life of the Urban Block (1977), which he authored with Ph. Panerai and J. Ch. Depaule. His 1989 book on architecture of the fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries, Renaissance, Baroque, Classicisme, 1420-1720, was re-edited in 2004 and has been translated into Dutch and Spanish.

Table of Contents

Entries by Location     ix
Entries by Architectural Style and Period     xiii
Preface     xvii
Acknowledgments     xxv
Introduction     xxvii
Augustus Gate, Perugia     1
Baths of Caracalla, Rome     4
Ca d'Oro, Venice     7
Caffe Pedrocchi (Cafe Pedrocchi), Padua     9
Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill), Rome     12
Casa Rustici, 36 Corso Sempione, Milan     15
Casa Torre, San Gimignano     17
Castel del Monte, Puglia     20
Castelvecchio Museum of Art, Verona     22
Cathedral, Campanile, Batistery, and Campo Santo, Pisa     25
Church of the Autostrada, San Giovanni Battista, Campi Bisenzio     27
Collegio del Colle and Extensions, Urbino     30
Colonnade of Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome     32
Colosseum, Rome     35
Confraternity of San Bernardino, Chieri     38
Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome     42
Ducal Palace, Urbino     45
Fiat Lingotto Plant, Turin     47
Florence Cathedral Dome, Florence     50
Forum Romanum, Roman Forum, Rome     53
Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele (Victor EmmanuelGallery), Milan     56
Garzoni Gardens, Collodi     58
Hadrian's Villa (Villa Adriana), Tivoli     61
Horrea Epagathiana and Epaphroditiana, Ostia     63
House of the Faun, Pompeii     66
Isola Bella Gardens, Lake Maggiore     69
Laurentian Library, Florence     72
Mausoleum of Constantina (Church of Santa Costanza), Rome     74
Milan Cathedral, Milan     77
Monreale Cathedral and Cloister, Palermo     80
Monte Amiata Housing, Gallaratese, Milan     82
Orvieto Cathedral (Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary), Orvieto     86
Palace of Labor, Turin     89
Palatine Chapel, Norman Palace, Palermo     91
Palazzo dei Priori, Piazza Grande (Platea Comunis), Perugia     94
Palazzo del Te, Mantua     97
Palazzo Farnese, Caprarola     99
Palazzo Sanfelice, Naples     101
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence     104
Pantheon, Rome     107
Pazzi Chapel, Franciscan Convent of Santa Croce, Florence     110
Piazza del Campo, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena     112
Piazza Ducale, Vigevano     115
Piazza Pio II, Pienza     118
Piazza Vittorio Veneto (Piazza Po), Turin     121
Renovation of the Old Harbor, Genoa     123
Royal Hunting Lodge, Stupinigi     125
Ruins of the Greek City of Selinus, Selinunte     127
Saffa Area Public Housing, Canareggio, Venice     130
Saint Mark's Square, Venice     132
Saint Peter's Dome, Rome     135
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome     138
San Francesco (Saint Francis Basilica), Assisi     141
San Gaudenzio Dome, Novara     144
San Marco (Saint Mark's Basilica), Venice     148
San Vitale, Ravenna     151
San Zeno Maggiore, Verona     154
Sant' Andrea, Mantua     156
Sant' Andrea al Quirinale, Rome     160
Sant' Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna     163
Santa Maria della Consolazione, Todi     165
Santa Maria della Pace Cloister, Rome     169
Santa Maria della Salute, Venice     172
Santissima Sindone (Holy Shroud Chapel), Turin     175
Spanish Steps, Rome     177
Temple of Poseidon, Paestum     180
Theater, Taormina     183
Theater of San Carlo, Naples     186
Trevi Fountain, Rome     189
Trulli, Alberobello      191
Tuscolano II Public Housing, Rome     193
Velasca Tower, Milan     195
Viaduct of the Polcevera, Genoa     198
Villa Lante Gardens, Bagnaia     200
Villa Malaparte, Capri     203
Villa Rotonda, Vicenza     206
Glossary     209
Bibliography     217
Index     223