Editing Renaissance architecture (section)

===Brunelleschi===
{{main|Filippo Brunelleschi}}
The person generally credited with bringing about the Renaissance view of architecture is Filippo Brunelleschi, (1377–1446).<ref>Cropplestone, Trewin, ''World Architecture'', 1963, Hamlyn. Page 243</ref> The underlying feature of the work of Brunelleschi was "order".
[[File:Piazza SS Annunziata Firenze Apr 2008 (3).JPG|thumb|upright|[[Ospedale degli Innocenti]] in Florence.]]
In the early 15th century, Brunelleschi began to look at the world to see what the rules were that governed one's way of seeing. He observed that the way one sees regular structures such as the [[Florence Baptistery]] and the tiled pavement surrounding it follows a mathematical order – [[linear perspective]].

The buildings remaining among the ruins of ancient Rome appeared to respect a simple mathematical order in the way that Gothic buildings did not. One incontrovertible rule governed all [[Ancient Roman architecture]] – a semi-circular arch is exactly twice as wide as it is high. A fixed proportion with implications of such magnitude occurred nowhere in [[Gothic architecture]]. A Gothic pointed arch could be extended upwards or flattened to any proportion that suited the location. Arches of differing angles frequently occurred within the same structure. No set rules of proportion applied.

From the observation of the architecture of Rome came a desire for symmetry and careful proportion in which the form and composition of the building as a whole and all its subsidiary details have fixed relationships, each section in proportion to the next, and the architectural features serving to define exactly what those rules of proportion are.<ref name= W&M>Robert Erich Wolf and Ronald Millen, ''Renaissance and Mannerist Art'', 1968, Harry N. Abrams.</ref> Brunelleschi gained the support of a number of wealthy Florentine patrons, including the Silk Guild and [[Cosimo de' Medici]].

[[File:Santa Maria del Fiore cupola (1622842169).jpg|thumb|left|The dome of [[Florence Cathedral]]]]

====Florence Cathedral====
{{main|Florence Cathedral}}
Brunelleschi's first major architectural commission was for the enormous brick dome which covers the central space of Florence's cathedral, designed by [[Arnolfo di Cambio]] in the 14th century but left unroofed. While often described as the first building of the Renaissance, Brunelleschi's daring design utilises the pointed Gothic arch and Gothic ribs that were apparently planned by Arnolfo. It seems certain, however, that while stylistically Gothic, in keeping with the building it surmounts, the dome is in fact structurally influenced by the great dome of Ancient Rome, which Brunelleschi could hardly have ignored in seeking a solution. This is the dome of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]], a circular temple, now a church.

Inside the Pantheon's single-shell concrete dome is coffering which greatly decreases the weight. The vertical partitions of the coffering effectively serve as ribs, although this feature does not dominate visually. At the apex of the Pantheon's dome is an opening, 8 meters across. Brunelleschi was aware that a dome of enormous proportion could in fact be engineered without a keystone. The dome in Florence is supported by the eight large ribs and sixteen more internal ones holding a brick shell, with the bricks arranged in a herringbone manner. Although the techniques employed are different, in practice, both domes comprise a thick network of ribs supporting very much lighter and thinner infilling. And both have a large opening at the top.<ref name=BF />

[[File:Einblick LH2 San Lorenzo Florenz.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The church of San Lorenzo]]

====San Lorenzo====
{{main|Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence}}
The new architectural philosophy of the Renaissance is best demonstrated in the churches of San Lorenzo, and [[Santo Spirito, Florence]]. Designed by Brunelleschi in about 1425 and 1428 respectively, both have the shape of the [[Latin cross]]. Each has a modular plan, each portion being a multiple of the square bay of the aisle. This same formula controlled also the vertical dimensions. In the case of Santo Spirito, which is entirely regular in plan, transepts and chancel are identical, while the nave is an extended version of these. In 1434 Brunelleschi designed the first Renaissance centrally planned building, [[Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence]]. It is composed of a central [[octagon]] surrounded by a circuit of eight smaller chapels. From this date onwards numerous churches were built in variations of these designs.<ref>Giovanni Fanelli, ''Brunelleschi'', 1980, Becocci editore Firenze</ref>