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Decorum and Comfort in Serlio's Domestic Architecture and the House of Delorme

Decorum and Comfort in Serlio's Domestic Architecture and the House of Delorme Sebastiano Serlio proposed appropriately decorated dwellings for the poor and the rich in his Book VI, Domestic Architecture, combining the Italian concept of 'decorum' (appropriate ornamentation) and the French concept, 'comfort' (function). Serlio's diverse cultural experiences in cities and his inheritance of Vitruvian tradition of 'décor' and 'distributio' became criteria for evaluating building appearance and use. In contrast, Philibert Delorme pursued French independent style and the honesty of structure and ornament, and relied upon the cause of Protestantism. The House of Delorme could be regarded as an urban prototype for Protestant dwelling. Serlio's and Delorme's works have a historical signifi cance that pursued realistic domestic architecture in response to social and cultural change. Infl uenced by their own cultural, religious, and social experience, they designed socially appropriate dwellings, focusing on 1) decorum in façade design, 2) comfort in plan design, and 3) urban intervention in site design. Keywords: Sebastiano Serlio, Philibert Delorme, decorum, distributio, comfort 1. Introduction: Concepts of Decorum 1.1 Serlio's Inheritance of Italian Renaissance Tradition of Decorum and Distributio th Sebastiano Serlio is a 16 Century architect who wrote nine treatises in his life. Serlio relied upon Vitruvian tradition in the design of ornaments and function. The evaluating criteria for decorum became complex in his career through diverse geographical i n f l u e n c e s f r o m B o l o g n a , R o m e , Ve n i c e , a n d Fontainebleau, refl ecting his changing religious belief from Catholicism to Protestantism. This complexity resulted in different judging criteria about ornaments a m o n g t r e a t i s e s a n d e v e n i n t h e c o n t e n t s o f o n e Fig.1. Serlio's Portals in Libro Extraordinario treatise, such as Libro Extraordinario. Especially wilderness of Fontainebleau, the twenty delicate portals d u r i n g h i s r e s i d e n c e i n F o n t a i n e b l e a u u n d e r t h e express Serlio's notion of decorum. Ironically, he wrote patronage of King Francois I, Serlio's criteria changed an excuse that if the rustication were removed, the with the influence of natural context, the emerging architecture underneath would be quite correct: concept of French comfort, architectural character, Doric, but dressed up differently and given a mask and, most importantly, the religious conflict between ….if the things were removed the portal would be pure Catholics and Protestants. In the preface of Libro and would have all its correct measurements. Extraordinario, he legitimatizes his "madness" in In this remark, Serlio resorted to Vitruvian tradition designing highly decorated portals by saying that: that presupposed a character of restraint in the Doric In the company of wild beasts rather than of men Order. This reference relies upon a pre-established …. a desire came into my mind to represent in visual cultural meaning beyond the honesty of form and form some rustic portals. In a transport of architectural structure. Some historians regard this reference as an m a d n e s s , I p r o d u c e d t h i r t y [ p o r t a l s ] … . w i t h n e w application of his concept of linee occulte (invisible fantasies surging in my mind…. I made twenty of more 2 line), a term found in Book I, On Geometry and in delicate workmanship. Book II, On Perspective. However, when the function While the first thirty portals illustrate strange and of domestic buildings is considered, geometric concept e x t r a v a g a n t l y d e c o r a t e d f e a t u r e s e x p r e s s i n g t h e alone cannot envision the cultural and social meaning associated with Serlio's portals. The topic of ornament and function needs to be considered in understanding *Contact Author: Hayub Song, Ph.D., t h e p o r t a l d e s i g n a s w e l l a s S e r l i o ' s D o m e s t i c BLT Architects, 170 hillview dr Architecture. On the relationship between ornament Springfi eld, PA, 19064 USA and meaning, Serlio associated the appropriateness to email: facadepoche@hotmail.com the place with characters of Christianity in his Book V, ( Received September 27, 2005 ; accepted February 20, 2006 ) Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering/May 2006/14 7 On Temples. This association of ornament and meaning f r o m t h a t o f t h e I t a l i a n m i m e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . needs to be expanded to that of domestic buildings. D e l o r m e c l e v e r l y d i s t i n g u i s h e d b e t w e e n p u r e l y The difference between temples and houses touches d e c o r a t i v e i m i t a t i o n a l o r n a m e n t s a n d o r n a m e n t s Vitruvius' two concepts of decorum: décor for temples, necessary to cover structural joints. Also, his argument and distributio for domestic architecture explain their about architectural orders deviates from Italian orders. difference clearly. Alina Payne differentiates Vitruvian For French Orders, Delorme argues that stone columns décor from distrubutio, as follows: have to be built in short drums laid one on top of the Though related, décor and distributio are therefore other, making a different proportion from Italians, not coincident: décor rests in the realm of coherence since the French stone quality is not strong as Italian of form, content, and purpose, whereas distributio is marble. Delorme put bands of horizontal decoration to active more narrowly as an agent of social/economic cover the stone drum joints. Likewise, his engineering coherence through clever husbanding of means…. One and technical ingenuity incorporated ornament into the (décor) looks predominantly to appearance, the other whole structure. (distributio) to function. Delorme's treatises combine theoretical and practical F o l l o w i n g Vi t r u v i u s ' d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n , A l b e r t i aspects following his knowledge on constructional c l a s s i f i e d b u i l d i n g s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e d e g r e e o f techniques. Delorme writes, ornamentation as well as functional requirements. The beams having been extended from the centers, Décor and distributio played as criteria in controlling and assembled with such joints as I've described, are extravagant ornamentation in private buildings, as found to be incredibly solid when constructed…. such follows: joints and assemblies cannot be discerned without the The private building, on the other hand, must be aid of ornamentation. so treated that it will not seem possible to remove W h i l e Vi t r u v i a n t r a d i t i o n f o c u s e d o n m i m e t i c anything. To the others, that is, the profane public, representation of architecture, Delorme achieved a must be left, I feel, a position midway between these unique representation mechanism through construction two (sacred buildings and private buildings). The technique. Ornamentation to him begins from this severest restraint is called for, in the ornament to necessity of structural demarcation. From technical private buildings, therefore, although a certain license n e c e s s i t y, o r n a m e n t a t i o n d e v e l o p s a n d i n c l u d e s is often possible. decorations, as follows: W h i l e A l b e r t i p r o p o s e s a b a l a n c e o f d e c o r u m When all these beams are assembled as I described and license, elsewhere he takes examples of twisted to you above, if they are to form a hall or a room, no columns, tree trunks, snakes, eagles, and other fantastic one will want to see the places for pegs hollowed out combinations as ornaments to entertain the viewer with in the middle of the beams. They would think such a a charming trick – or better still, to amuse them by spectacle, a heap of garbage or a spider's nest, which the wit of invention. And this architectural freedom is may in fact be the case. So, to avoid this unsightliness, allowed in town houses and villas with some degree of these beams must be adorned with gilded pieces or restraint. other ornaments, as sumptuous as possible…. to hide Vi t r u v i u s ' d é c o r a n d d i s t r i b u t i o , a n d A l b e r t i ' s the disparity underneath. decorum should not be limited to the ornamentation I f S e r l i o ' s d e c o r a t i o n c o m e s f r o m e i t h e r t h e of individual buildings. These topics need to embrace invention of an assembly of elements or the imitation the common characters they represent together in of antique elements, Delorme decorates to make a a city. Because Serlio proposes appropriate houses visual equilibrium of elements. This difference can be for every social class, Domestic Architecture should attributed to the difference of architectural practice: be understood in this aspect of urban concern. This while Serlio continued the mimetic representation concept of appropriateness was adapted to specific through traditional Renaissance elements, Delorme French social situations and functional aspect, named sought for structural honesty pertinent to French as "French comfort." This is evident in plan and façade context. design. In various plans for the poor and the rich, Serlio considered functional aspects. In façade design, 2. Serlio's and Delorme's Urban Intentions Serlio combined Italian classic elements, such as 2.1 Urban Modification orders and pediments, with French elements. Through Serlio's Domestic Architecture t h this, Serlio incorporated the tradition of decorum and While many architectural treatises from the 14 French comfort, i.e. appearance and use. C e n t u r y h a v e f o c u s e d o n i d e a l c i t y d e s i g n a n d 1 . 2 P h i l i b e r t D e l o r m e ' s F re n c h C o m f o r t a n d ideal building types, Serlio's Domestic Architecture Technique addresses the concept of urban modification of existing While Serlio inherited Italian tradition, Delorme cities through the insertion of appropriate housings for attempted to invent French independent elements. all social classes. Although Delorme studied in Rome for three years, his Many illustrations of houses for the poor and the method of architectural representation is quite different rich reflect that time's prosperity of the bourgeois class 8 JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song in Italy and France. Unlike Filarete's and Martini's place has a dignity of treatises on ideal cities, Serlio struggled with practical social institution co- situations of existing cities. Unlike his ideal urban present through time. design featured in his Book VIII, Military City, in His urban ideal was Domestic Architecture, Serlio focused on anonymous rather rhetorical and housings which had been neglected from architectural mimetic, much like c o n s i d e r a t i o n . T h i s w a s p o s s i b l e d u e t o S e r l i o ' s the works of Italian dwelling experiences from diverse cities: the Republic architects. In contrast, of Bologna, Roman papacy, Venetian mercantile, and i n h o u s i n g d e s i g n , monarchism in Fontainebleau. Far more than what he adapted buildings Palladio influenced through Venetian villa designs t o s i t e c o n d i t i o n s later, Serlio' Domestic Architecture was used as an and urban contexts. international standard in that time, influencing both In fact, the majority Italy and France. of dwelling area in In republic cities of Italy, artisans and traders came Paris was added after to have rights and autonomy to set up shop and sell t h e m o n a r c h s o l d Fig.2. Good Architect, their product or their labor to the public. They were their properties to the Philibert Delorme no longer members of a nobleman's extended family. public around 1540 th In the mid 15 Century, in cities such as Florence and i n o r d e r t o s u p p o r t Venice, the rise of the bourgeois was so decisive that the War of Religion. The monarch divided land into the richer merchants and bankers themselves became narrow building lots (lotissements) to increase their the ruling class. They built small palaces for the sales. From this time, Parisian housing developed immediate family rather than building a large house for narrow housing types. Delorme in Paris acknowledged extended family. For example, the Palazzo Ruchellai, t h i s c h a n g e a n d u t i l i z e d s p a c e s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e designed by Alberti, refl ects such social conditions and distance from the street. Serlio did not respond to the represents the decorum of private buildings. However, real site condition in the city in Domestic Architecture. the majority of private palaces created towers to make This was developed in his Book VII, On Situations. themselves lofty-looking, while the poor were forced Although Delorme did not provide complete urban to the outer periphery. While lofty towers were due to i d e a s , h e d e s i g n e d h o u s e s a c c o r d i n g t o r e a l s i t e pomposity, the poor sector was organized by King's situation and social change. policy of sectarization. Serlio's house for the poor was designed for this situation of relocating poor 3. Religious, Social, Cultural Aspirations of Serlio sectors to the periphery of a city. Unlike other treatises' and Delorme illustrations of decent and luxurious houses – Jacques 3.1 Serlio's Response to French Culture Androuet du Cerceau's Livre d'Architecture (1559), Serlio's residence in Fontainebleau under the King's representatively –, Serlio took account of dwellings of court infl uenced his design of housings. In the court, every social class. he was sponsored to write architectural treatises and In sum, what Serlio learned from diverse cities is not participated in palace buildings. merely the urban form of segregation, but rather the K i n g F r a n c o i s I consideration of evolving social classes ranging from brought the French the poor to the rich. Serlio acknowledged that time's R e n a i s s a n c e t o i t s highly differentiated number of socioeconomic strata p e a k , v o r a c i o u s l y and attempted to provide appropriate dwellings for importing the Italian 1 5 every social class. R e n a i s s a n c e . 2 . 2 D e l o r m e ' s A d a p t a t i o n t o R e a l i s t i c U r b a n D u r i n g h i s r e i g n , Situation r e l i g i o u s a u t h o r i t y Delorme provided no explicit theory on domestic a n d t h e K i n g ' s house designs. One example of Delorme's urban ideal, d o m i n a n c e b e c a m e however, is shown in his friend Francois Rabelais' a l l i e d . T h r o u g h f i c t i o n a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e a b b e y o f T h e l e m a i n t h e C o n c o r d a t o f G a rg a n t u a . R a b e l a i s e n v i s a g e s a n i d e a l c o u r t l y Bologna by Francois society housed in an ideal architectural setting. He I and Pope Leo X in is considered to be the first in France to combine 1 5 1 6 , t h e a l l i a n c e ideal architecture and Utopian society. Delorme also s o l i d i f i e d a u n i q u e 1 6 expressed this ideal in his illustration of the Good and s o c i a l s y s t e m . I t the Bad architect. The Good Architect is dressed as g a v e t h e F r e n c h Fig.3. On the Habitations within an academic in a fertile garden setting with antique Cities of All Ranks of Men, fol. 44v, kings greater control Domestic Architecture ruins and contemporary church and palace. This ideal o v e r t h e c h u r c h b y JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song 9 placing most high ecclesiastical appointments in the Fontainebleau, the high Renaissance spirit was being hands of the monarch. Even the nobility was appointed s a p p e d o u t o f t h e c o u r t . A l s o , D e l o r m e w a s n o t to higher clerical positions, which ensured financial satisfied with the culture of compliments and flattery remuneration. This situation was also advantageous in the court. Gossip was unrestrained in the court; to the monarch, since the nobility had to abide by people's sins, affairs, and pretenses were disseminated loyalty to the king. There was hardly a channel of easily. Delorme did not enjoy this atmosphere, and social mobility open to new men of talent and ability. after he was dismissed, he converted from Catholic to Soon, this church-state alliance confronted Protestant Protestant. revolt in the War of Religion (1562-1598). The ruling After the death of Francois I, Henry II continued group supported Catholics, while opponents were the policy of Francois I and carried absolutism to a on the side of Protestants. However, both parties had further point. The monarchy firmly identified itself the same policy of internment of the poor since they with the cause of Catholicism, though the size of the believed that the poor were mere parasites who created Protestant party grew bigger, resisting repression the ills of society. Catholics and Protestants shared the by the government. Under Henry II, patronage and idea that the poor were objects of almsgiving for the collecting continued, and this policy was to be carried salvation of the rich. This is an important issue, since to its fullest development by Louis XIV. However, in Serlio is the first architect who included the house for the last half of his reign (1541-1558) he was faced with the poor in architectural treatises. the complete destruction of all that had been achieved Before experiencing a French social schism, Serlio by Francois I. Further, the Wars of Religion (1562-1598) felt the need of housing for the poor in Venice, after threw the culture into anarchy. The struggle was he fled from the sack of Rome in 1527. Because of social and political as much as religious. The alliance wars and a series of famines and economic depressions between church and state continued. Anthony Blunt between 1500 and 1540, many poor people flocked writes that their manifestos are often similar: to cities in search of lodging, food and work. This It is particularly significant that both parties refer situation impelled Serlio to provide the designs for to the reign of Clovis as a sort of Golden Age which the poor and the repetition of the standard row house, they would like to revive. In fact, they look back which emulates a modern notion of standard housing. nostalgically to the limited monarchy of medieval Rosenfeld suggested a relationship between Serlio's France with the throne supported by a strong nobility designs for the poor and the Protestants' support for the and a powerful clergy. poor. However, it is not clear whether Serlio converted F r o m t h e P r o t e s t a n t s ' p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e u r b a n from Catholicism to Calvinistic Protestantism. Nor is atmosphere and public opinion played as momentum Serlio's participation certain in solving housing needs. in the struggle with ruling groups. In the beginning, However, it was an innovative idea to include houses the public hoped to regain their liberties taken away by for the poor in an architectural treatise. The house Francois I and Henry II. However, later bourgeois and for the poor was designed to give social decorum to artisans who were the majority of the public realized their houses. And their plans were intended to repeat that they would lose public power because of the through mirroring adjacent plans and sharing parti- feudal nobility. Ironically, the public needed the King's walls and chimneys. power in order to surpass the power of the feudal W h i l e t h e h o u s e f o r t h e p o o r r e p r e s e n t s t h e nobility: the patriotism of the public merged with royal architect's ethical attitude during the social conflict absolutism, and the bourgeois opened the gates of Paris b e t w e e n C a t h o l i c s a n d P r o t e s t a n t s , t h e v i l l a f o r to the King. The monarchy and the bourgeois came noblemen illustrates the inheritance of Renaissance to shape an allied social structure in Paris. The King's tradition and the life of the Renaissance Man. In the Catholic legacy and the public's Protestant life allied th 16 Century, Pierre de Bourdeille at the French court as a form of social hierarchy. Delorme, as a Protestant, reported the atmosphere of Fontainebleau, that "thirty responded to this social situation in house design. I will houses, or rather palaces vying with each other to return to this with an example. please their King, of Princes, Cardinals and great In sum, Serlio was versatile in providing schemes Lords." Vasari even called Fontainebleau a second for almost every situation for the poor and the rich, Rome. Under the powerful reign of Francois I, most whether country or urban. In Book VII, On Situations, dignitaries who served for the kingdom resided in S e r l i o a c c o m m o d a t e d i r r e g u l a r s h a p e s o f s i t e s villas and built many at Fontainebleau. For the life of and topographical changes for housing. Delorme, a nobleman in the countryside, Serlio embodied an in contrast, did not provide complete thoughts on equilibrium of private and public life by providing a d w e l l i n g s . B u t t h e H o u s e o f D e l o r m e s h o w s h i s continuous spectrum of outdoor and indoor life. I will different stance from Serlio clearly. If Serlio responded return to this with an example. to social situation with his diverse cultural experience 3.2 Delorme's Protestantism and Italian tradition, Delorme showed his faith in D e l o r m e b e c a m e t h e a r c h i t e c t f o r t h e k i n g i n Protestant and its adaptation to urban culture. In the 1548 after Serlio was expelled from the court. In following, with two different examples, I will reveal 10 JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song how the gap and common interest of social change The only surviving remains of the Grand Ferrare is t h i n f l u e n c e d d w e l l i n g s i n t h e 1 6 C e n t u r y F r a n c e a boldly expressed entrance of the site. It is formed as through housing examples. a mixture of rustication and Doric column, similar to heavily-decorated portals in Libro Extraordinario. This 4. Architectural Examples entrance signifi es the division between rustic country 4.1 Serlio's Humanism in the Grand Ferrare landscape and the decent inner courtyard. Rusticated Grand Ferrare was built between 1544 and 1546 for parts represent the rustic nature of the context and the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. There are smooth Doric style and pediment represent restraint two plans in both versions of Domestic Architecture. a n d t h e d e c e n t m a n m a d e w o r l d . T h e c o p r e s e n c e The organization of space, and the difference between of nature and world is also expressed in the façade th the front and the back greatly infl uenced the 17 and design. The front was designed with grandiose French th 18 Century urban dwellings in Paris. The main body windows and dormers that assist the public use of the of the Grand Ferrare is the enfilade , (Fig.4.) which courtyard and the dignity of dwellers. In contrast, the is the continuation of one room's deep space. It is back combined sumptuous features of French styles winged by two wings and three open areas. On the left, and Italian styles. The front mediates wilderness there is a tennis court, a gallery and a chapel near the and the public dignity, and the back embodies the street. The right wing has a pantry and a wine cellar. licentiousness of private life. This contrast of the front The passageway through the middle of the right wing and the back continues the Italian tradition of public is for carriages and carts into the stable courtyard decorum and private licentiousness. This method behind. This passage divides all the services in the infl uenced the design of urban dwellings in Paris. right-hand quarter of the site, with the kitchen the In the Grand Ferrare, Serlio addresses a balance of farthest removed from the nature and the world, public and private life, decorum Cardinal's apartments at and licentiousness, emulating the ideal of Renaissance the far end of the offi ces. humanism. Through this balance of contrasts, the R o s e n f e l d w r o t e t h a t private life accommodates the extension of public life. t h e e n f i l a d e w a s i n u s e i n F r a n c e l o n g b e f o r e Serlio's arrival by taking example of the Hotel de Cluny (1456-1485). While the façade of the Hotel de Cluny expresses French Gothic with asymmetrical c o m p o s i t i o n s , S e r l i o c o m b i n e d I t a l i a n a n d Fig.6. Garden Facade of Grand Ferrare F r e n c h e l e m e n t s i n a F i g . 4 . G r a n d F e r r a r e , s y m m e t r i c f a c a d e . I n a Domestic Architecture, Avery v a r i a t i o n o f t h e G r a n d 4.2 The House of Delorme (1567) Version, folio no 11, Munich th F e r r a r e p l a n , S e r l i o In the mid 16 Century France, Protestant writers on Version, 14v-15r designed double enfi lades. economic, social, legal, and political matters criticized ( F i g . 5 . ) B e t w e e n t w o t h e f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h a n t i q u e a n d m o d e r n f o r e i g n e n f i l a d e s , a n i n t e r s t i a l art as a cultural vanity and aspired to create French space with stairs, toilettes, independent culture. By their standard, Serlio's works and a loggia is provided. were the imitation of Italian culture since he illustrated T h e m o d e r n t y p e o f many Renaissance style elements. Instead, Delorme corridor is yet to come. provided anti-classic decorum for middle class people T h e s t a i r f u n c t i o n s a s a and Protestants. His conversion from Catholic to service route for servants Protestant influenced his architectural works and or as a connection between treatises. The House of Delorme could be characterized t h e g r o u n d f l o o r r o o m as independent French style that Protestant nobility and and the upper fl oor room. nationalistic writers advocated. T h e d o u b l e e n f i l a d e s The illustrations of the House of Delorme make a create asymmetry between contrast to his prestigious country house commissions, the court façade and the although he didn't include his patron's villas in the F i g . 5 . A V a r i a t i o n o f garden façade, which had treatise. The way the façade was illustrated resembles G r a n d F e r r a r e , D o m e s t i c been kept in symmetry in Serlio's illustration of comic scene stage setting. In Architecture, Avery Version, f o l i o 1 2 , M u n i c h Ve r s i o n , the original plan. the comic scene, Serlio depicted a scene of domestic 15v-16r streets filled with houses and shops equipped with JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song 11 open balconies, cornices with moldings, and chimneys. which are much more elaborate. Similarly, in Delorme's illustrations, elements like The use of pillars reminds us of Alberti's lesson on mutule and dormers illustrate the house as middle the use of pillar to support arches. Because the square class. section of arches didn't match with round columns, The plan of the house, with the mass set back from Alberti insisted to use pillars instead of round columns. the street is not a new type. But its austere appearance And it was also evident in the ruin of an ancient delivers Delorme's criteria of decorum for the middle Roman aqueduct. Against Alberti's lesson, in the 16th class. Delorme elaborates, as follows: century, however, the use of round columns to support Some might be thinking, after having read what I an arch became common. Delorme, however, resorted have written on the façades of buildings, to show the to the economic reason and the technical insight in arrangements of windows, that I want to oblige them, order to provide a structurally sound ornament to the or even compel them, to put columns and pillars on middle class house. the facades of houses, which I have not claimed at A r e c e n t s t u d y o f all: for all those who wish to spend modestly have Delorme from a religious no need of such refinements and enrichments on the p o i n t o f v i e w i n d i c a t e s facade of a house, just as their resources are unable to that the plan of the house, meet such great expenditures: but it is quite true that e s p e c i a l l y t h e l o c a t i o n the composition and order of windows, which will o f t h e e n t r a n c e , r e f l e c t s be set in the facades of houses, ought to conform to th e f ear f r o m th at times ' such proportions and measurements, so that which one persecution of Protestants. sees on one side might be seen on the other without The main entrance of the columns or pillars. h o u s e i s l o c a t e d u n d e r I n s t e a d o f u s i n g the peristyle, hidden from I t a l i a n o r d e r s o r the street view. To enter, a n t i q u e e l e m e n t s , o n e i s f o r c e d t o f o l l o w Delorme designed the a n a n g l e d r o u t e p a s s i n g f a c a d e f o c u s i n g o n u n d e r t h e a r c a d e o n t h e window composition left-hand side; one would Fig.9. Plan of the House of a n d p r o p o r t i o n s . then find a hidden flight Delorme E l s e w h e r e , D e l o r m e of stairs leading to a p r o p o s e d h i s o w n concealed entryway. proportion as 'divine This hidden entrance proportion', which he p r a c t i c a l l y e n a c t s set as his eternal goal t h e P r o t e s t a n t s ' Fig.7. Courtyard Perspective of the in architecture. In the perception of being House of Delorme, Architecture h o u s e , t h e v e r t i c a l pushed into a corner. o r d e r i n g o f F r e n c h B e i n g d e s i g n e d w i n d o w s a t t h e f r o n t d u r i n g t h e w a v e o f a n d t h e b a c k w a s persecution against continued. The mutule P r o t e s t a n t s , t h i s between roof and walls, house functioned as a Fig.10. Garden Facade of the House in the form of scrolls, secured private place of Delorme m a k e s t h e h o u s e f r o m p e r s e c u t i o n . attractive and covers For the same reason, a small chapel is located at the the joint of roof joists center of the back of the house in a round shape. a n d w a l l s . Vi s u a l l y, Facing the garden, private spaces such as chapel Fig.8. Comic Scene in Serlio's the mutule makes the for secret meetings and bedroom with terraces are Book II roof appear fl oating on provided in a secure place. Due to the round shape, the walls. This mechanism of covering structural joints and use of pediment, and the terrace, the back looks more decorating is the same as the case of squat stone drums domestic than the front. of the French Order. He also suggests moderate pillar In sum, the house of Delorme was designed to be design for middle class houses, as follows: specifi c to the urban site condition and cultural change I offer you also in this illustration square pillars Protestants wanted to establish. Open spaces in the connected by arches to create a peristyle below and front and the back were designed to provide security a gallery above, all without columns, nor pedestals, and privacy. Also, Delorme's intention of employing capitals and cornices: this is to show how the learned French independent elements and French-specific and expert architect can devise an elegant building, materials are evident. While Serlio's plans reflect without great expense, that will look as good as others Humanism's approach of the balance of public and 12 JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song private life, Delorme's plan shows that time's insecure domestic architecture is to establish an architecture Protestant life in the city. which "draws people toward others", as follows: There is surely another kind of architecture that 5. Conclusion: Socially Appropriate Dwellings w o u l d s e e k t o g i v e f u l l p l a y t o t h e t h i n g s w h i c h Practicing in the same era, Serlio and Delorme have been so carefully masked by its anti-type; an endeavored to provide appropriate dwelling types with architecture arising out of the deep fascination that different perspectives. In France, particularly, conflicts draws people toward others; an architecture that of 1) Italian architectural tradition and emerging recognizes passion, carnality and sociality. The matrix French independent style, 2) religious change from of connected rooms might well be an integral feature Catholics to Protestants, influenced the shaping of of such buildings. dwelling culture. In Serlio's and Delorme's cases, their M o r e t h a n E v a n s ' a l t e r n a t i v e o f ' t h e m a t r i x o f religious belief, cultural experience from countryside connected rooms', Serlio and Delorme pursued a spatial Fontainebleau and urban Paris, court life and outside and life practical continuity, providing appropriate court life influenced their house designs. Serlio relied forms of interruption from the outside – nature and city upon the mix of Italian and French elements, and the – to the inside of houses. In order to embody this, they mimetic representation of traditionally associated resorted not only to architectural tradition, but also to meanings. For example, rustication meant the bestial architectural invention, balancing appearance and use, e n v i r o n m e n t o f n a t u r e , w h i l e t h e D o r i c c o l u m n decorum and comfort. symbolized restraint. Delorme avoided the use of Italian elements and mimetic representation. Instead, Notes S e b a s t i n o S e r l i o ( 1 4 7 5 – 1 5 5 4 ) i s a n I t a l i a n a r c h i t e c t a n d he relied upon his technical insight and allegorical theoretician, born in Bologna. He was in Rome from 1514 until representation that gives meaning to candid structure the sack in 1527 and worked under Baldassare Peruzzi. Few and its honest ornamentation. For example, Delorme's traces exist of his buildings in Venice, where he lived from 1527 structure and ornamentation could be read as that to 1540. Invited to France by Francis I, he appears to have served in an advisory capacity for the construction of the palace at time's Protestant belief that candid Christian belief is Fontainebleau. worth more than formal church service. Serlio, Sebastiano.(1560) Libro Extraordinario. Lione: Appresso G. The writings and buildings of Serlio and Delorme Rovillio. p.3. s h o w t h a t t i m e ' s c o n t e n t i o u s i s s u e s o f d o m e s t i c Ibid., p.18. architecture. Their houses show the appropriateness of These linee occulte are used as a practical guide in the formation of various geometric planes. In designing facades of buildings, dwelling culture relevant to specific situation. However th th linee occulte were conceived as continuous invisible but regulating in the 17 and 18 Centuries, houses were secularized lines. Similarly, this concept of hidden geometric lines can be imitating Serlio's styles, while his ethical attitudes were found in Alberti's lineamenta, building lineaments, forming drained out. construction lines that defines and encloses the surface of a Serlio's pursuit of socially appropriate architecture building. There are two versions of Domestic Architecture. One is the in c u l m i n a t e s i n t h e i d e a o f t h e c o n c a t e n a t i o n o f a Munich State Library, called the Munich version and the other is c i t y t h r o u g h a p p r o p r i a t e h o u s e s o f e v e r y s o c i a l in the Avery Library in Columbia University in New York, called c l a s s . O n t h i s p o i n t , S e r l i o ' s B o o k V I , D o m e s t i c the Avery Version. Architecture should not be understood as a pattern Payne, Alina. (1999) The Architectural Treatise in the Italian book for choosing styles, but as complete proposals for Renaissance. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. p.41. Alberti, Leon Battista. (1988) On the art of building in ten appropriate houses in a city. books. translated by Joseph Rykwert with Neil Leach and Robert In Delorme's case, although his house cannot be Tavernor. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, p.293. compared to the scope of Serlio's complete works, his 8 Philibert Delorme (1510–1570) is a French architect. Having house expresses a deeply committed ethical concern traveled in Italy from 1533 to 1536, he introduced into France of that time's Protestant life in a city. The House of a form of classicism that endured until the mid-18th cent. As court architect to Francis I and Henry II, he designed the tomb of Delorme does not bear a historic obligation that Serlio Francis I at Saint-Denis, a chapel at Villers-Cotterets, Châeau Neuf applied in using decoration and ornaments. If it has at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and part of the palace of Fontainebleau. one, it would be a realistic urban life during the War of For Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, he planned (c.1550) Religion. the superb châeau at Anet. Delorme, Philibert. (1561) Nouvelles inventions pour bien bastir What we can learn from Serlio and Delorme is et a petits fraiz. Paris : De l'imprimerie de Federic Morel ... p.18. neither an aspiration of ideal cities, nor a headlong th th Ibid., p.315. secular interest in private life, which the 17 and 18 It is not sure whether a modern concept of town planning was th Centuries architecture indulged. Robin Evans found applied to the 16 century French cities. Because of the lack of t h t h this indulgence of private life in the 17 and 18 research materials – maps and building records -, the research th on the early 16 century town configuration cannot be complete. Century enfilade configuration. He criticized the class As an alternative approach, the treatises of architects, remaining division that enfilade created – the division of served buildings, and the description of writers were taken in this paper. nobility and servants – and interpreted that modern See Thompson, Renaissance Paris: Architecture and Growth corridor also originated from the service route of 1475-1600. servants. Instead, he suggests that his aim of study of JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song 13 12 However, in his Book VIII, "Military City," Serlio used Polybius's 9) Thomson, D. (1984) Renaissance Paris: Architecture and Growth sixth book which provided an invaluable resource concerning the 1475-1600. London: Zwemmer. ideal layout of the Roman city. These ideal city schemes arranged 10) Thones, C. (ed.) (1989) Sebastiano Serlio. Milan: Electa. buildings and streets in a rigorous geometric plan based on antique precedent. Serlio comments on the 'ideal' feature in his works, "I did this not because I thought that there would be anyone in this century, which is so full to the brim with avarice, who would undertake such a project, but to exercise the little intellect that I possess, which can find no peace unless occupied in my beloved architecture." (Serlio, Book VIII, fol, 1v). Ackerman, James. (1994) Introduction in Sebastiano Serlio on Domestic Architecture. ed. by Myra Nan Rosenfeld. Cambridege: MIT Press, p.9. The subtitle of Book VII is "in which there is a treatise on the many situations which can occur for the architect in diverse places, both with irregular shapes of sites and with the restoration or remodeling of houses, and the procedure we should follow in making use of other buildings and similar things, as you can read on the following page." (1575) Leonardo da Vinci was his court painter; Raphael and Titian portrayed him. He paid attention to letters, patronizing poets and scholars. He collected the library which would later become the Bibliotheque Nationale and founded the College de France in Edelstein, Marilyn Manera. (1974) The Social Origins of the Episcopacy in the Reign of Francois I. French Historical Studies. 8. B r a u d e l , F e r d i n a n d . ( 1 9 7 2 ) T h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n a n d t h e Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. New York: Harper & Row. pp.326-328. I cited from Rosenfeld, p.43. Ibid., p.104. Blunt, Anthony. (1999) Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700. 5th ed. New Haven, Connecticut : Yale University Press. p.133. Enfilade is the French alignment of all the doorways in a series or suite of rooms that creates a vista when the doors were open, as in a palace. Doorways were usually placed near the window- walls. This system avoided corridor. Privacy was provided by the hangings around a bed. Evans, Robin. (1978) Figures, Doors and Passages. Architectural Design. 48. pp.267-278. It is certain that Delorme came across Serlio's works because Delorme was a successor of Serlio's position of the architect for the King. Also his illustrations show affinity to Serlio's style. Mutule is a projecting rectangular block or bracket situated above the triglyph and beneath the corona of a Doric cornice. Randall, Catharine. (1997) Philibert de l'Orme, Protestantism and Architecture: Peculiarities of Style. Princeton: Princeton Theological Seminary. Evans, Robin. (1978) Figures, Doors and Passages. Architectural Design. , 48. p.278. References 1) Blunt, A. (1999) Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700. 5th ed. New Haven, Conneticut : Yale University Press. 2) Coats, C.R. (1997) Philibert de L'Orme, Protestantism and architecture : peculiarities of style. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton Theological Seminary. 3) Delorme, P. (1561) Nouuelles inuentions pour bien bastir et a petits fraiz A Paris : De l'imprimerie de Federic Morel ... 4) Evans, R. (1978) Figures, Doors and Passages. Architectural Design. , 48. 267-278. 5) Onians, J. (1968) Style and Decorum in Sixteenth-Century Italian Architecture. Ph.D. diss. Warburg Institute, London University. 6) P a y n e , A . ( 1 9 9 9 ) T h e A r c h i t e c t u r a l Tr e a t i s e i n t h e I t a l i a n Renaissance. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. 7) Péouse de Montclos, J.-M. (2000) Philibert de l'Orme : architecte du roi, 1514-1570. Paris : Mengè. 8) Rosenfeld, M.N.(ed.) (1978) Sebastiano Serlio on domestic architecture : different dwellings from the meanest hovel to the most ornate palace. New York : Architectural History Foundation. 14 JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering Taylor & Francis

Decorum and Comfort in Serlio's Domestic Architecture and the House of Delorme

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Abstract

Sebastiano Serlio proposed appropriately decorated dwellings for the poor and the rich in his Book VI, Domestic Architecture, combining the Italian concept of 'decorum' (appropriate ornamentation) and the French concept, 'comfort' (function). Serlio's diverse cultural experiences in cities and his inheritance of Vitruvian tradition of 'décor' and 'distributio' became criteria for evaluating building appearance and use. In contrast, Philibert Delorme pursued French independent style and the honesty of structure and ornament, and relied upon the cause of Protestantism. The House of Delorme could be regarded as an urban prototype for Protestant dwelling. Serlio's and Delorme's works have a historical signifi cance that pursued realistic domestic architecture in response to social and cultural change. Infl uenced by their own cultural, religious, and social experience, they designed socially appropriate dwellings, focusing on 1) decorum in façade design, 2) comfort in plan design, and 3) urban intervention in site design. Keywords: Sebastiano Serlio, Philibert Delorme, decorum, distributio, comfort 1. Introduction: Concepts of Decorum 1.1 Serlio's Inheritance of Italian Renaissance Tradition of Decorum and Distributio th Sebastiano Serlio is a 16 Century architect who wrote nine treatises in his life. Serlio relied upon Vitruvian tradition in the design of ornaments and function. The evaluating criteria for decorum became complex in his career through diverse geographical i n f l u e n c e s f r o m B o l o g n a , R o m e , Ve n i c e , a n d Fontainebleau, refl ecting his changing religious belief from Catholicism to Protestantism. This complexity resulted in different judging criteria about ornaments a m o n g t r e a t i s e s a n d e v e n i n t h e c o n t e n t s o f o n e Fig.1. Serlio's Portals in Libro Extraordinario treatise, such as Libro Extraordinario. Especially wilderness of Fontainebleau, the twenty delicate portals d u r i n g h i s r e s i d e n c e i n F o n t a i n e b l e a u u n d e r t h e express Serlio's notion of decorum. Ironically, he wrote patronage of King Francois I, Serlio's criteria changed an excuse that if the rustication were removed, the with the influence of natural context, the emerging architecture underneath would be quite correct: concept of French comfort, architectural character, Doric, but dressed up differently and given a mask and, most importantly, the religious conflict between ….if the things were removed the portal would be pure Catholics and Protestants. In the preface of Libro and would have all its correct measurements. Extraordinario, he legitimatizes his "madness" in In this remark, Serlio resorted to Vitruvian tradition designing highly decorated portals by saying that: that presupposed a character of restraint in the Doric In the company of wild beasts rather than of men Order. This reference relies upon a pre-established …. a desire came into my mind to represent in visual cultural meaning beyond the honesty of form and form some rustic portals. In a transport of architectural structure. Some historians regard this reference as an m a d n e s s , I p r o d u c e d t h i r t y [ p o r t a l s ] … . w i t h n e w application of his concept of linee occulte (invisible fantasies surging in my mind…. I made twenty of more 2 line), a term found in Book I, On Geometry and in delicate workmanship. Book II, On Perspective. However, when the function While the first thirty portals illustrate strange and of domestic buildings is considered, geometric concept e x t r a v a g a n t l y d e c o r a t e d f e a t u r e s e x p r e s s i n g t h e alone cannot envision the cultural and social meaning associated with Serlio's portals. The topic of ornament and function needs to be considered in understanding *Contact Author: Hayub Song, Ph.D., t h e p o r t a l d e s i g n a s w e l l a s S e r l i o ' s D o m e s t i c BLT Architects, 170 hillview dr Architecture. On the relationship between ornament Springfi eld, PA, 19064 USA and meaning, Serlio associated the appropriateness to email: facadepoche@hotmail.com the place with characters of Christianity in his Book V, ( Received September 27, 2005 ; accepted February 20, 2006 ) Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering/May 2006/14 7 On Temples. This association of ornament and meaning f r o m t h a t o f t h e I t a l i a n m i m e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . needs to be expanded to that of domestic buildings. D e l o r m e c l e v e r l y d i s t i n g u i s h e d b e t w e e n p u r e l y The difference between temples and houses touches d e c o r a t i v e i m i t a t i o n a l o r n a m e n t s a n d o r n a m e n t s Vitruvius' two concepts of decorum: décor for temples, necessary to cover structural joints. Also, his argument and distributio for domestic architecture explain their about architectural orders deviates from Italian orders. difference clearly. Alina Payne differentiates Vitruvian For French Orders, Delorme argues that stone columns décor from distrubutio, as follows: have to be built in short drums laid one on top of the Though related, décor and distributio are therefore other, making a different proportion from Italians, not coincident: décor rests in the realm of coherence since the French stone quality is not strong as Italian of form, content, and purpose, whereas distributio is marble. Delorme put bands of horizontal decoration to active more narrowly as an agent of social/economic cover the stone drum joints. Likewise, his engineering coherence through clever husbanding of means…. One and technical ingenuity incorporated ornament into the (décor) looks predominantly to appearance, the other whole structure. (distributio) to function. Delorme's treatises combine theoretical and practical F o l l o w i n g Vi t r u v i u s ' d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n , A l b e r t i aspects following his knowledge on constructional c l a s s i f i e d b u i l d i n g s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e d e g r e e o f techniques. Delorme writes, ornamentation as well as functional requirements. The beams having been extended from the centers, Décor and distributio played as criteria in controlling and assembled with such joints as I've described, are extravagant ornamentation in private buildings, as found to be incredibly solid when constructed…. such follows: joints and assemblies cannot be discerned without the The private building, on the other hand, must be aid of ornamentation. so treated that it will not seem possible to remove W h i l e Vi t r u v i a n t r a d i t i o n f o c u s e d o n m i m e t i c anything. To the others, that is, the profane public, representation of architecture, Delorme achieved a must be left, I feel, a position midway between these unique representation mechanism through construction two (sacred buildings and private buildings). The technique. Ornamentation to him begins from this severest restraint is called for, in the ornament to necessity of structural demarcation. From technical private buildings, therefore, although a certain license n e c e s s i t y, o r n a m e n t a t i o n d e v e l o p s a n d i n c l u d e s is often possible. decorations, as follows: W h i l e A l b e r t i p r o p o s e s a b a l a n c e o f d e c o r u m When all these beams are assembled as I described and license, elsewhere he takes examples of twisted to you above, if they are to form a hall or a room, no columns, tree trunks, snakes, eagles, and other fantastic one will want to see the places for pegs hollowed out combinations as ornaments to entertain the viewer with in the middle of the beams. They would think such a a charming trick – or better still, to amuse them by spectacle, a heap of garbage or a spider's nest, which the wit of invention. And this architectural freedom is may in fact be the case. So, to avoid this unsightliness, allowed in town houses and villas with some degree of these beams must be adorned with gilded pieces or restraint. other ornaments, as sumptuous as possible…. to hide Vi t r u v i u s ' d é c o r a n d d i s t r i b u t i o , a n d A l b e r t i ' s the disparity underneath. decorum should not be limited to the ornamentation I f S e r l i o ' s d e c o r a t i o n c o m e s f r o m e i t h e r t h e of individual buildings. These topics need to embrace invention of an assembly of elements or the imitation the common characters they represent together in of antique elements, Delorme decorates to make a a city. Because Serlio proposes appropriate houses visual equilibrium of elements. This difference can be for every social class, Domestic Architecture should attributed to the difference of architectural practice: be understood in this aspect of urban concern. This while Serlio continued the mimetic representation concept of appropriateness was adapted to specific through traditional Renaissance elements, Delorme French social situations and functional aspect, named sought for structural honesty pertinent to French as "French comfort." This is evident in plan and façade context. design. In various plans for the poor and the rich, Serlio considered functional aspects. In façade design, 2. Serlio's and Delorme's Urban Intentions Serlio combined Italian classic elements, such as 2.1 Urban Modification orders and pediments, with French elements. Through Serlio's Domestic Architecture t h this, Serlio incorporated the tradition of decorum and While many architectural treatises from the 14 French comfort, i.e. appearance and use. C e n t u r y h a v e f o c u s e d o n i d e a l c i t y d e s i g n a n d 1 . 2 P h i l i b e r t D e l o r m e ' s F re n c h C o m f o r t a n d ideal building types, Serlio's Domestic Architecture Technique addresses the concept of urban modification of existing While Serlio inherited Italian tradition, Delorme cities through the insertion of appropriate housings for attempted to invent French independent elements. all social classes. Although Delorme studied in Rome for three years, his Many illustrations of houses for the poor and the method of architectural representation is quite different rich reflect that time's prosperity of the bourgeois class 8 JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song in Italy and France. Unlike Filarete's and Martini's place has a dignity of treatises on ideal cities, Serlio struggled with practical social institution co- situations of existing cities. Unlike his ideal urban present through time. design featured in his Book VIII, Military City, in His urban ideal was Domestic Architecture, Serlio focused on anonymous rather rhetorical and housings which had been neglected from architectural mimetic, much like c o n s i d e r a t i o n . T h i s w a s p o s s i b l e d u e t o S e r l i o ' s the works of Italian dwelling experiences from diverse cities: the Republic architects. In contrast, of Bologna, Roman papacy, Venetian mercantile, and i n h o u s i n g d e s i g n , monarchism in Fontainebleau. Far more than what he adapted buildings Palladio influenced through Venetian villa designs t o s i t e c o n d i t i o n s later, Serlio' Domestic Architecture was used as an and urban contexts. international standard in that time, influencing both In fact, the majority Italy and France. of dwelling area in In republic cities of Italy, artisans and traders came Paris was added after to have rights and autonomy to set up shop and sell t h e m o n a r c h s o l d Fig.2. Good Architect, their product or their labor to the public. They were their properties to the Philibert Delorme no longer members of a nobleman's extended family. public around 1540 th In the mid 15 Century, in cities such as Florence and i n o r d e r t o s u p p o r t Venice, the rise of the bourgeois was so decisive that the War of Religion. The monarch divided land into the richer merchants and bankers themselves became narrow building lots (lotissements) to increase their the ruling class. They built small palaces for the sales. From this time, Parisian housing developed immediate family rather than building a large house for narrow housing types. Delorme in Paris acknowledged extended family. For example, the Palazzo Ruchellai, t h i s c h a n g e a n d u t i l i z e d s p a c e s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e designed by Alberti, refl ects such social conditions and distance from the street. Serlio did not respond to the represents the decorum of private buildings. However, real site condition in the city in Domestic Architecture. the majority of private palaces created towers to make This was developed in his Book VII, On Situations. themselves lofty-looking, while the poor were forced Although Delorme did not provide complete urban to the outer periphery. While lofty towers were due to i d e a s , h e d e s i g n e d h o u s e s a c c o r d i n g t o r e a l s i t e pomposity, the poor sector was organized by King's situation and social change. policy of sectarization. Serlio's house for the poor was designed for this situation of relocating poor 3. Religious, Social, Cultural Aspirations of Serlio sectors to the periphery of a city. Unlike other treatises' and Delorme illustrations of decent and luxurious houses – Jacques 3.1 Serlio's Response to French Culture Androuet du Cerceau's Livre d'Architecture (1559), Serlio's residence in Fontainebleau under the King's representatively –, Serlio took account of dwellings of court infl uenced his design of housings. In the court, every social class. he was sponsored to write architectural treatises and In sum, what Serlio learned from diverse cities is not participated in palace buildings. merely the urban form of segregation, but rather the K i n g F r a n c o i s I consideration of evolving social classes ranging from brought the French the poor to the rich. Serlio acknowledged that time's R e n a i s s a n c e t o i t s highly differentiated number of socioeconomic strata p e a k , v o r a c i o u s l y and attempted to provide appropriate dwellings for importing the Italian 1 5 every social class. R e n a i s s a n c e . 2 . 2 D e l o r m e ' s A d a p t a t i o n t o R e a l i s t i c U r b a n D u r i n g h i s r e i g n , Situation r e l i g i o u s a u t h o r i t y Delorme provided no explicit theory on domestic a n d t h e K i n g ' s house designs. One example of Delorme's urban ideal, d o m i n a n c e b e c a m e however, is shown in his friend Francois Rabelais' a l l i e d . T h r o u g h f i c t i o n a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e a b b e y o f T h e l e m a i n t h e C o n c o r d a t o f G a rg a n t u a . R a b e l a i s e n v i s a g e s a n i d e a l c o u r t l y Bologna by Francois society housed in an ideal architectural setting. He I and Pope Leo X in is considered to be the first in France to combine 1 5 1 6 , t h e a l l i a n c e ideal architecture and Utopian society. Delorme also s o l i d i f i e d a u n i q u e 1 6 expressed this ideal in his illustration of the Good and s o c i a l s y s t e m . I t the Bad architect. The Good Architect is dressed as g a v e t h e F r e n c h Fig.3. On the Habitations within an academic in a fertile garden setting with antique Cities of All Ranks of Men, fol. 44v, kings greater control Domestic Architecture ruins and contemporary church and palace. This ideal o v e r t h e c h u r c h b y JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song 9 placing most high ecclesiastical appointments in the Fontainebleau, the high Renaissance spirit was being hands of the monarch. Even the nobility was appointed s a p p e d o u t o f t h e c o u r t . A l s o , D e l o r m e w a s n o t to higher clerical positions, which ensured financial satisfied with the culture of compliments and flattery remuneration. This situation was also advantageous in the court. Gossip was unrestrained in the court; to the monarch, since the nobility had to abide by people's sins, affairs, and pretenses were disseminated loyalty to the king. There was hardly a channel of easily. Delorme did not enjoy this atmosphere, and social mobility open to new men of talent and ability. after he was dismissed, he converted from Catholic to Soon, this church-state alliance confronted Protestant Protestant. revolt in the War of Religion (1562-1598). The ruling After the death of Francois I, Henry II continued group supported Catholics, while opponents were the policy of Francois I and carried absolutism to a on the side of Protestants. However, both parties had further point. The monarchy firmly identified itself the same policy of internment of the poor since they with the cause of Catholicism, though the size of the believed that the poor were mere parasites who created Protestant party grew bigger, resisting repression the ills of society. Catholics and Protestants shared the by the government. Under Henry II, patronage and idea that the poor were objects of almsgiving for the collecting continued, and this policy was to be carried salvation of the rich. This is an important issue, since to its fullest development by Louis XIV. However, in Serlio is the first architect who included the house for the last half of his reign (1541-1558) he was faced with the poor in architectural treatises. the complete destruction of all that had been achieved Before experiencing a French social schism, Serlio by Francois I. Further, the Wars of Religion (1562-1598) felt the need of housing for the poor in Venice, after threw the culture into anarchy. The struggle was he fled from the sack of Rome in 1527. Because of social and political as much as religious. The alliance wars and a series of famines and economic depressions between church and state continued. Anthony Blunt between 1500 and 1540, many poor people flocked writes that their manifestos are often similar: to cities in search of lodging, food and work. This It is particularly significant that both parties refer situation impelled Serlio to provide the designs for to the reign of Clovis as a sort of Golden Age which the poor and the repetition of the standard row house, they would like to revive. In fact, they look back which emulates a modern notion of standard housing. nostalgically to the limited monarchy of medieval Rosenfeld suggested a relationship between Serlio's France with the throne supported by a strong nobility designs for the poor and the Protestants' support for the and a powerful clergy. poor. However, it is not clear whether Serlio converted F r o m t h e P r o t e s t a n t s ' p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e u r b a n from Catholicism to Calvinistic Protestantism. Nor is atmosphere and public opinion played as momentum Serlio's participation certain in solving housing needs. in the struggle with ruling groups. In the beginning, However, it was an innovative idea to include houses the public hoped to regain their liberties taken away by for the poor in an architectural treatise. The house Francois I and Henry II. However, later bourgeois and for the poor was designed to give social decorum to artisans who were the majority of the public realized their houses. And their plans were intended to repeat that they would lose public power because of the through mirroring adjacent plans and sharing parti- feudal nobility. Ironically, the public needed the King's walls and chimneys. power in order to surpass the power of the feudal W h i l e t h e h o u s e f o r t h e p o o r r e p r e s e n t s t h e nobility: the patriotism of the public merged with royal architect's ethical attitude during the social conflict absolutism, and the bourgeois opened the gates of Paris b e t w e e n C a t h o l i c s a n d P r o t e s t a n t s , t h e v i l l a f o r to the King. The monarchy and the bourgeois came noblemen illustrates the inheritance of Renaissance to shape an allied social structure in Paris. The King's tradition and the life of the Renaissance Man. In the Catholic legacy and the public's Protestant life allied th 16 Century, Pierre de Bourdeille at the French court as a form of social hierarchy. Delorme, as a Protestant, reported the atmosphere of Fontainebleau, that "thirty responded to this social situation in house design. I will houses, or rather palaces vying with each other to return to this with an example. please their King, of Princes, Cardinals and great In sum, Serlio was versatile in providing schemes Lords." Vasari even called Fontainebleau a second for almost every situation for the poor and the rich, Rome. Under the powerful reign of Francois I, most whether country or urban. In Book VII, On Situations, dignitaries who served for the kingdom resided in S e r l i o a c c o m m o d a t e d i r r e g u l a r s h a p e s o f s i t e s villas and built many at Fontainebleau. For the life of and topographical changes for housing. Delorme, a nobleman in the countryside, Serlio embodied an in contrast, did not provide complete thoughts on equilibrium of private and public life by providing a d w e l l i n g s . B u t t h e H o u s e o f D e l o r m e s h o w s h i s continuous spectrum of outdoor and indoor life. I will different stance from Serlio clearly. If Serlio responded return to this with an example. to social situation with his diverse cultural experience 3.2 Delorme's Protestantism and Italian tradition, Delorme showed his faith in D e l o r m e b e c a m e t h e a r c h i t e c t f o r t h e k i n g i n Protestant and its adaptation to urban culture. In the 1548 after Serlio was expelled from the court. In following, with two different examples, I will reveal 10 JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song how the gap and common interest of social change The only surviving remains of the Grand Ferrare is t h i n f l u e n c e d d w e l l i n g s i n t h e 1 6 C e n t u r y F r a n c e a boldly expressed entrance of the site. It is formed as through housing examples. a mixture of rustication and Doric column, similar to heavily-decorated portals in Libro Extraordinario. This 4. Architectural Examples entrance signifi es the division between rustic country 4.1 Serlio's Humanism in the Grand Ferrare landscape and the decent inner courtyard. Rusticated Grand Ferrare was built between 1544 and 1546 for parts represent the rustic nature of the context and the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. There are smooth Doric style and pediment represent restraint two plans in both versions of Domestic Architecture. a n d t h e d e c e n t m a n m a d e w o r l d . T h e c o p r e s e n c e The organization of space, and the difference between of nature and world is also expressed in the façade th the front and the back greatly infl uenced the 17 and design. The front was designed with grandiose French th 18 Century urban dwellings in Paris. The main body windows and dormers that assist the public use of the of the Grand Ferrare is the enfilade , (Fig.4.) which courtyard and the dignity of dwellers. In contrast, the is the continuation of one room's deep space. It is back combined sumptuous features of French styles winged by two wings and three open areas. On the left, and Italian styles. The front mediates wilderness there is a tennis court, a gallery and a chapel near the and the public dignity, and the back embodies the street. The right wing has a pantry and a wine cellar. licentiousness of private life. This contrast of the front The passageway through the middle of the right wing and the back continues the Italian tradition of public is for carriages and carts into the stable courtyard decorum and private licentiousness. This method behind. This passage divides all the services in the infl uenced the design of urban dwellings in Paris. right-hand quarter of the site, with the kitchen the In the Grand Ferrare, Serlio addresses a balance of farthest removed from the nature and the world, public and private life, decorum Cardinal's apartments at and licentiousness, emulating the ideal of Renaissance the far end of the offi ces. humanism. Through this balance of contrasts, the R o s e n f e l d w r o t e t h a t private life accommodates the extension of public life. t h e e n f i l a d e w a s i n u s e i n F r a n c e l o n g b e f o r e Serlio's arrival by taking example of the Hotel de Cluny (1456-1485). While the façade of the Hotel de Cluny expresses French Gothic with asymmetrical c o m p o s i t i o n s , S e r l i o c o m b i n e d I t a l i a n a n d Fig.6. Garden Facade of Grand Ferrare F r e n c h e l e m e n t s i n a F i g . 4 . G r a n d F e r r a r e , s y m m e t r i c f a c a d e . I n a Domestic Architecture, Avery v a r i a t i o n o f t h e G r a n d 4.2 The House of Delorme (1567) Version, folio no 11, Munich th F e r r a r e p l a n , S e r l i o In the mid 16 Century France, Protestant writers on Version, 14v-15r designed double enfi lades. economic, social, legal, and political matters criticized ( F i g . 5 . ) B e t w e e n t w o t h e f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h a n t i q u e a n d m o d e r n f o r e i g n e n f i l a d e s , a n i n t e r s t i a l art as a cultural vanity and aspired to create French space with stairs, toilettes, independent culture. By their standard, Serlio's works and a loggia is provided. were the imitation of Italian culture since he illustrated T h e m o d e r n t y p e o f many Renaissance style elements. Instead, Delorme corridor is yet to come. provided anti-classic decorum for middle class people T h e s t a i r f u n c t i o n s a s a and Protestants. His conversion from Catholic to service route for servants Protestant influenced his architectural works and or as a connection between treatises. The House of Delorme could be characterized t h e g r o u n d f l o o r r o o m as independent French style that Protestant nobility and and the upper fl oor room. nationalistic writers advocated. T h e d o u b l e e n f i l a d e s The illustrations of the House of Delorme make a create asymmetry between contrast to his prestigious country house commissions, the court façade and the although he didn't include his patron's villas in the F i g . 5 . A V a r i a t i o n o f garden façade, which had treatise. The way the façade was illustrated resembles G r a n d F e r r a r e , D o m e s t i c been kept in symmetry in Serlio's illustration of comic scene stage setting. In Architecture, Avery Version, f o l i o 1 2 , M u n i c h Ve r s i o n , the original plan. the comic scene, Serlio depicted a scene of domestic 15v-16r streets filled with houses and shops equipped with JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song 11 open balconies, cornices with moldings, and chimneys. which are much more elaborate. Similarly, in Delorme's illustrations, elements like The use of pillars reminds us of Alberti's lesson on mutule and dormers illustrate the house as middle the use of pillar to support arches. Because the square class. section of arches didn't match with round columns, The plan of the house, with the mass set back from Alberti insisted to use pillars instead of round columns. the street is not a new type. But its austere appearance And it was also evident in the ruin of an ancient delivers Delorme's criteria of decorum for the middle Roman aqueduct. Against Alberti's lesson, in the 16th class. Delorme elaborates, as follows: century, however, the use of round columns to support Some might be thinking, after having read what I an arch became common. Delorme, however, resorted have written on the façades of buildings, to show the to the economic reason and the technical insight in arrangements of windows, that I want to oblige them, order to provide a structurally sound ornament to the or even compel them, to put columns and pillars on middle class house. the facades of houses, which I have not claimed at A r e c e n t s t u d y o f all: for all those who wish to spend modestly have Delorme from a religious no need of such refinements and enrichments on the p o i n t o f v i e w i n d i c a t e s facade of a house, just as their resources are unable to that the plan of the house, meet such great expenditures: but it is quite true that e s p e c i a l l y t h e l o c a t i o n the composition and order of windows, which will o f t h e e n t r a n c e , r e f l e c t s be set in the facades of houses, ought to conform to th e f ear f r o m th at times ' such proportions and measurements, so that which one persecution of Protestants. sees on one side might be seen on the other without The main entrance of the columns or pillars. h o u s e i s l o c a t e d u n d e r I n s t e a d o f u s i n g the peristyle, hidden from I t a l i a n o r d e r s o r the street view. To enter, a n t i q u e e l e m e n t s , o n e i s f o r c e d t o f o l l o w Delorme designed the a n a n g l e d r o u t e p a s s i n g f a c a d e f o c u s i n g o n u n d e r t h e a r c a d e o n t h e window composition left-hand side; one would Fig.9. Plan of the House of a n d p r o p o r t i o n s . then find a hidden flight Delorme E l s e w h e r e , D e l o r m e of stairs leading to a p r o p o s e d h i s o w n concealed entryway. proportion as 'divine This hidden entrance proportion', which he p r a c t i c a l l y e n a c t s set as his eternal goal t h e P r o t e s t a n t s ' Fig.7. Courtyard Perspective of the in architecture. In the perception of being House of Delorme, Architecture h o u s e , t h e v e r t i c a l pushed into a corner. o r d e r i n g o f F r e n c h B e i n g d e s i g n e d w i n d o w s a t t h e f r o n t d u r i n g t h e w a v e o f a n d t h e b a c k w a s persecution against continued. The mutule P r o t e s t a n t s , t h i s between roof and walls, house functioned as a Fig.10. Garden Facade of the House in the form of scrolls, secured private place of Delorme m a k e s t h e h o u s e f r o m p e r s e c u t i o n . attractive and covers For the same reason, a small chapel is located at the the joint of roof joists center of the back of the house in a round shape. a n d w a l l s . Vi s u a l l y, Facing the garden, private spaces such as chapel Fig.8. Comic Scene in Serlio's the mutule makes the for secret meetings and bedroom with terraces are Book II roof appear fl oating on provided in a secure place. Due to the round shape, the walls. This mechanism of covering structural joints and use of pediment, and the terrace, the back looks more decorating is the same as the case of squat stone drums domestic than the front. of the French Order. He also suggests moderate pillar In sum, the house of Delorme was designed to be design for middle class houses, as follows: specifi c to the urban site condition and cultural change I offer you also in this illustration square pillars Protestants wanted to establish. Open spaces in the connected by arches to create a peristyle below and front and the back were designed to provide security a gallery above, all without columns, nor pedestals, and privacy. Also, Delorme's intention of employing capitals and cornices: this is to show how the learned French independent elements and French-specific and expert architect can devise an elegant building, materials are evident. While Serlio's plans reflect without great expense, that will look as good as others Humanism's approach of the balance of public and 12 JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song private life, Delorme's plan shows that time's insecure domestic architecture is to establish an architecture Protestant life in the city. which "draws people toward others", as follows: There is surely another kind of architecture that 5. Conclusion: Socially Appropriate Dwellings w o u l d s e e k t o g i v e f u l l p l a y t o t h e t h i n g s w h i c h Practicing in the same era, Serlio and Delorme have been so carefully masked by its anti-type; an endeavored to provide appropriate dwelling types with architecture arising out of the deep fascination that different perspectives. In France, particularly, conflicts draws people toward others; an architecture that of 1) Italian architectural tradition and emerging recognizes passion, carnality and sociality. The matrix French independent style, 2) religious change from of connected rooms might well be an integral feature Catholics to Protestants, influenced the shaping of of such buildings. dwelling culture. In Serlio's and Delorme's cases, their M o r e t h a n E v a n s ' a l t e r n a t i v e o f ' t h e m a t r i x o f religious belief, cultural experience from countryside connected rooms', Serlio and Delorme pursued a spatial Fontainebleau and urban Paris, court life and outside and life practical continuity, providing appropriate court life influenced their house designs. Serlio relied forms of interruption from the outside – nature and city upon the mix of Italian and French elements, and the – to the inside of houses. In order to embody this, they mimetic representation of traditionally associated resorted not only to architectural tradition, but also to meanings. For example, rustication meant the bestial architectural invention, balancing appearance and use, e n v i r o n m e n t o f n a t u r e , w h i l e t h e D o r i c c o l u m n decorum and comfort. symbolized restraint. Delorme avoided the use of Italian elements and mimetic representation. Instead, Notes S e b a s t i n o S e r l i o ( 1 4 7 5 – 1 5 5 4 ) i s a n I t a l i a n a r c h i t e c t a n d he relied upon his technical insight and allegorical theoretician, born in Bologna. He was in Rome from 1514 until representation that gives meaning to candid structure the sack in 1527 and worked under Baldassare Peruzzi. Few and its honest ornamentation. For example, Delorme's traces exist of his buildings in Venice, where he lived from 1527 structure and ornamentation could be read as that to 1540. Invited to France by Francis I, he appears to have served in an advisory capacity for the construction of the palace at time's Protestant belief that candid Christian belief is Fontainebleau. worth more than formal church service. Serlio, Sebastiano.(1560) Libro Extraordinario. Lione: Appresso G. The writings and buildings of Serlio and Delorme Rovillio. p.3. s h o w t h a t t i m e ' s c o n t e n t i o u s i s s u e s o f d o m e s t i c Ibid., p.18. architecture. Their houses show the appropriateness of These linee occulte are used as a practical guide in the formation of various geometric planes. In designing facades of buildings, dwelling culture relevant to specific situation. However th th linee occulte were conceived as continuous invisible but regulating in the 17 and 18 Centuries, houses were secularized lines. Similarly, this concept of hidden geometric lines can be imitating Serlio's styles, while his ethical attitudes were found in Alberti's lineamenta, building lineaments, forming drained out. construction lines that defines and encloses the surface of a Serlio's pursuit of socially appropriate architecture building. There are two versions of Domestic Architecture. One is the in c u l m i n a t e s i n t h e i d e a o f t h e c o n c a t e n a t i o n o f a Munich State Library, called the Munich version and the other is c i t y t h r o u g h a p p r o p r i a t e h o u s e s o f e v e r y s o c i a l in the Avery Library in Columbia University in New York, called c l a s s . O n t h i s p o i n t , S e r l i o ' s B o o k V I , D o m e s t i c the Avery Version. Architecture should not be understood as a pattern Payne, Alina. (1999) The Architectural Treatise in the Italian book for choosing styles, but as complete proposals for Renaissance. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. p.41. Alberti, Leon Battista. (1988) On the art of building in ten appropriate houses in a city. books. translated by Joseph Rykwert with Neil Leach and Robert In Delorme's case, although his house cannot be Tavernor. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, p.293. compared to the scope of Serlio's complete works, his 8 Philibert Delorme (1510–1570) is a French architect. Having house expresses a deeply committed ethical concern traveled in Italy from 1533 to 1536, he introduced into France of that time's Protestant life in a city. The House of a form of classicism that endured until the mid-18th cent. As court architect to Francis I and Henry II, he designed the tomb of Delorme does not bear a historic obligation that Serlio Francis I at Saint-Denis, a chapel at Villers-Cotterets, Châeau Neuf applied in using decoration and ornaments. If it has at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and part of the palace of Fontainebleau. one, it would be a realistic urban life during the War of For Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, he planned (c.1550) Religion. the superb châeau at Anet. Delorme, Philibert. (1561) Nouvelles inventions pour bien bastir What we can learn from Serlio and Delorme is et a petits fraiz. Paris : De l'imprimerie de Federic Morel ... p.18. neither an aspiration of ideal cities, nor a headlong th th Ibid., p.315. secular interest in private life, which the 17 and 18 It is not sure whether a modern concept of town planning was th Centuries architecture indulged. Robin Evans found applied to the 16 century French cities. Because of the lack of t h t h this indulgence of private life in the 17 and 18 research materials – maps and building records -, the research th on the early 16 century town configuration cannot be complete. Century enfilade configuration. He criticized the class As an alternative approach, the treatises of architects, remaining division that enfilade created – the division of served buildings, and the description of writers were taken in this paper. nobility and servants – and interpreted that modern See Thompson, Renaissance Paris: Architecture and Growth corridor also originated from the service route of 1475-1600. servants. Instead, he suggests that his aim of study of JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song 13 12 However, in his Book VIII, "Military City," Serlio used Polybius's 9) Thomson, D. (1984) Renaissance Paris: Architecture and Growth sixth book which provided an invaluable resource concerning the 1475-1600. London: Zwemmer. ideal layout of the Roman city. These ideal city schemes arranged 10) Thones, C. (ed.) (1989) Sebastiano Serlio. Milan: Electa. buildings and streets in a rigorous geometric plan based on antique precedent. Serlio comments on the 'ideal' feature in his works, "I did this not because I thought that there would be anyone in this century, which is so full to the brim with avarice, who would undertake such a project, but to exercise the little intellect that I possess, which can find no peace unless occupied in my beloved architecture." (Serlio, Book VIII, fol, 1v). Ackerman, James. (1994) Introduction in Sebastiano Serlio on Domestic Architecture. ed. by Myra Nan Rosenfeld. Cambridege: MIT Press, p.9. The subtitle of Book VII is "in which there is a treatise on the many situations which can occur for the architect in diverse places, both with irregular shapes of sites and with the restoration or remodeling of houses, and the procedure we should follow in making use of other buildings and similar things, as you can read on the following page." (1575) Leonardo da Vinci was his court painter; Raphael and Titian portrayed him. He paid attention to letters, patronizing poets and scholars. He collected the library which would later become the Bibliotheque Nationale and founded the College de France in Edelstein, Marilyn Manera. (1974) The Social Origins of the Episcopacy in the Reign of Francois I. French Historical Studies. 8. B r a u d e l , F e r d i n a n d . ( 1 9 7 2 ) T h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n a n d t h e Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. New York: Harper & Row. pp.326-328. I cited from Rosenfeld, p.43. Ibid., p.104. Blunt, Anthony. (1999) Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700. 5th ed. New Haven, Connecticut : Yale University Press. p.133. Enfilade is the French alignment of all the doorways in a series or suite of rooms that creates a vista when the doors were open, as in a palace. Doorways were usually placed near the window- walls. This system avoided corridor. Privacy was provided by the hangings around a bed. Evans, Robin. (1978) Figures, Doors and Passages. Architectural Design. 48. pp.267-278. It is certain that Delorme came across Serlio's works because Delorme was a successor of Serlio's position of the architect for the King. Also his illustrations show affinity to Serlio's style. Mutule is a projecting rectangular block or bracket situated above the triglyph and beneath the corona of a Doric cornice. Randall, Catharine. (1997) Philibert de l'Orme, Protestantism and Architecture: Peculiarities of Style. Princeton: Princeton Theological Seminary. Evans, Robin. (1978) Figures, Doors and Passages. Architectural Design. , 48. p.278. References 1) Blunt, A. (1999) Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700. 5th ed. New Haven, Conneticut : Yale University Press. 2) Coats, C.R. (1997) Philibert de L'Orme, Protestantism and architecture : peculiarities of style. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton Theological Seminary. 3) Delorme, P. (1561) Nouuelles inuentions pour bien bastir et a petits fraiz A Paris : De l'imprimerie de Federic Morel ... 4) Evans, R. (1978) Figures, Doors and Passages. Architectural Design. , 48. 267-278. 5) Onians, J. (1968) Style and Decorum in Sixteenth-Century Italian Architecture. Ph.D. diss. Warburg Institute, London University. 6) P a y n e , A . ( 1 9 9 9 ) T h e A r c h i t e c t u r a l Tr e a t i s e i n t h e I t a l i a n Renaissance. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. 7) Péouse de Montclos, J.-M. (2000) Philibert de l'Orme : architecte du roi, 1514-1570. Paris : Mengè. 8) Rosenfeld, M.N.(ed.) (1978) Sebastiano Serlio on domestic architecture : different dwellings from the meanest hovel to the most ornate palace. New York : Architectural History Foundation. 14 JAABE vol.5 no.1 May 2006 Hayub Song

Journal

Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering – Taylor & Francis

Published: May 1, 2006

Keywords: Sebastiano Serlio; Philibert Delorme; decorum; distributio; comfort

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