Palazzo Valmanara

Palazzo Valmanara 

(Palazzo Valmanara Street View)

The Palazzo Valmanara located in the city of Vicenza, Italy. Is a work of the 16th century Italian Renaissance. Designed by Andrea Palladio in 1565 for Giovanni Valmanara, who was a fan of Palladio's and had publicly supported him with past projects such as the porticoes of the basilica. The building itself is located on a tight inner city street, leaving a pronounced impression on those passing by due to its inhuman scale.

The facade on the Palazzo Valmanara is scaled way up using the "Giant Order". From an elevation the building would seemingly be a two floor structure with a basement. In reality the first floor is actually a double height space with a third floor above that. The details on the street facing facade are overly pronounced as well. With just the few inches of space Palladio created a facade that seemingly has more depth then it actually does. From the semi-exposed columns to the non functional third story balconies, all these details at to the depth of the facade. A heavy cornice line that gets pushed and pulled creates a rhythm moving across the facade. Bas relief sculptures where also placed in, adding another dynamic to the scene.

In plan, the building has a main axis to travel along. The interior courtyard space sits in the middle of this axis while the program spaces surround it. There is also a large gathering space in the rear of the building. For the most part the program spaces are symmetrical, dis-including the slightly different rooms getting slashed by the street side facade. " Remaining unfinished till today, the Palace belongs to the late period of Palladio. Unlike the ideal as set out in Palladio's Quattro Libri dell'Architettura the building, raised over the foundation and using part of the main walls of an existing 4th Century building, incorporates variations that conform and harmonize with the structure of the site".

In March of 1945 the Palazzo Valmanara was actually hit during an Allied bombing run. While the facade was not altered the building did lose a lot of the main floor hall and roof, as well as a portion of the attic. In 1960 the palazzo was sold by the Valmanara family to Vittor Luigi Braga Rosa who led restoration efforts for the building 

Works Cited
Fletcher, Banister. Andrea Palladio: His Life and Works. London: George Bell and Sons, 1902. Print.