After Filippo Brunelleschi lost a contest to determine whose artwork would adorn the bronze doors of the Baptistery in Florence, he began to concentrate his attention on architecture. He later won a contest to build a dome on the Florence Cathedral. While working on the dome, he began trying to figure out the geometry of classical perspective and order.
 |
| Brunelleschi perspective discovery |
Brunelleschi was hired to design a hospital for the abandoned and orphaned children in Florence. The proportions in his design for the hospital were recreated classical proportions and he paid very close attention to the proportion in relationship to the details. Because of the strict dimensions and proportions of classical architecture, Brunelleschi designed the hospital as a series of stalls of space.
 |
Foundling Hospital~Ospedale degli Innocenti
Florence, Italy |
Each stall was expressed and defined by an arch. Within each stall, the proportion of the column was used as a unit of measure to produce adjacent blocks of space, each topped by a small dome that was supported by pendentives. The space between each column and between the columns and the back wall is equal to the height of the column.
 |
| View under the domes~pendentives |
 |
| Looking into domes~pendentives |
To further accentuate the order and proportionality of the building, Brunelleschi placed the outer windows directly between the columns and the middle of each arch. The windows are topped by pediments that further emphasize the verticality of the details. Additionally, the medallions between the arches and the precise placement help to solidify the qualities of unity, balance, and order.
 |
Windows/pediments/medallions
|
 |
| Medallion detail |
 |
| Medallion Detail~placement |
 |
| From the inside looking out |
Modern architects and designers still implement the order and proportionality of classical architecture for the same reasons used during the Greek/Roman Empires and the Renaissance, to emphasize balance, unity, and harmony.
 |
| Modern use of columns and stalls of space |
 |
Love this!!!
Modern arches/domes/pendentives |
 |
Columns/stalls/light~verticality/proportion
Sources:
|
