Villa Badoer

. It replaced a medieval castle which guarded a bridge across a navigable canal.

Architectural Details

The villa is constructed on the foundations of the old castle, saving money, and giving a slightly raised setting to the building. An imposing three-flight staircase leads to the front door of the villa. This was the first time Palladio used his fully-developed temple pediment in the facade of a villa.

The house is framed by two semi-circular arcade wings, or curved loggias. These originally housed agricultural activities, for this was a working villa, like Villa Emo and various other designs by Palladio. Unusually among Palladio's completed works, the wings here do not actually touch the villa, and they are set slightly in front of it. Palladio noted that the curved loggias had the effect of seeming to embrace visitors coming to the house. Vasari thought that they were beautiful, and even fantastic.

As in most of the villas designed by Palladio, the attic is a granary, the ground floor, the "piano nobile", is where all the livable rooms (for sleeping, eating, etc.) are located, and the raised basement is used for storage and for service rooms such as the kitchen.The piano nobile retains its original think that the interior is relatively small and unimpressive, compared to the grandiose exterior.

The plan of Villa Badoer presented in Palladio's I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura of 1570 is somewhat different from what was really built there. For instance, there is no portico in the rear and the roof is different.

Conservation

The building was renovated at the end of the 20th century.In 1996 UNESCO designated Villa Badoer as part of the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto". [ [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/712/multiple=1&unique_number=843] ] ] The building is open to the public.

References

* Boucher, Bruce. "Andrea Palladio: The Architect in his Time". New York: Abbeville Press, 1998.
* Rybczynski, Witold "The Perfect House: A Journey with the Renaissance Master Andrea Palladio". Scribner, New York 2002.

ee also

Palladian Villas of the Veneto