Renaissance architecture, characteristics and examples

Renaissance architecture was a point of historical inflectionsince it marked the end of the particular darkness of the Middle Ages, and in turn, inaugurated a new stage in the path of humanity, that is, the Modern Age. As its name hints at it, the Renaissance architecture was the product of the Renaissance, and as a fundamental part of the movement, it adopted its ideals and axes of thought and extrapolated them to the design of buildings.

As successor of the Gothic and predecessor of the Baroque, the Renaissance architecture He settled the bases for a neoclassical that was still macerating in history. With polished aesthetic canons and a passion for geometry, The Renaissance architecture is perfect for lovers of the Fine Arts.

Renaissance architecture used classic columns and arches as characteristic elements.Jorge Jimenez / Pexels.

What is Renaissance architecture?

The Renaissance architecture It is a movement that was born thanks to the Renaissance period, and therefore, understood from the fifteenth century to the 16th century. Its legacy lies in abandoning medieval concepts and returning to the canons of ancient Greek and Roman cultures, as part of the idea of ​​the flowering that the movement supported. Unlike the neoclassical, of the 18th century, Renaissance architecture adjusted the classic elements to its buildingsbut I did not reproduce them in form and monumentality, as neoclassicism did. It is also remarkable how architecture turned around man and integrated new materials, such as marble, and mixed them with the traditional bricks, stones and woods.

In addition, the Architecture of the Renaissance also modified the notion that was stored from the architect, and separated the planner from the builder. With this change, Both architects and architecture were revalued, to be a professional practice and not artisans. Then, the anonymity of the architects was forgotten, and from the Renaissance, its authorship was recorded in the buildings and in the memory of the town.