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Nexus Network Journal pp 213–226Cite as

Andrea Palladio (1508–1580)

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Part of the book series: Nexus Network Journal ((NNJ,volume 10,2))

Abstract

A brief description of Palladio’s life and works. The focus is on the evolution of his design methodology, including the growing importance of proportion to his approach. Selected mathematical details are cited in the endnotes, and the list of references includes many publications focused on the relationships between architecture and mathematics in Palladio’s designs.

All over the western world, hundreds of thousands of houses, churches and public buildings with symmetrical fronts and applied half-columns topped by a pediment descend from the designs of Andrea Palladio. He is the most imitated architect in history, and his influence on the development of English and American architecture probably has been greater that that of all other Renaissance architects combined. [Ackerman 1966: 19]

Stephen R. Wassell received a B.S. in architecture in 1984, a Ph.D. in mathematics (mathematical physics) in 1990, and an M.C.S. in computer science in 1999, all from the University of Virginia. He is a Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Sweet Briar College, where he joined the faculty in 1990. Steve’s primary research focus is on the relationships between architecture and mathematics. He has co-authored two books, one with Kim Williams entitled On Ratio and Proportion (a translation and commentary of Silvio Belli, Della proportione et proportionalità), and one with Branko Mitrović entitled Andrea Palladio: Villa Cornaro in Piombino Dese (see review in this issue). Steve’s overall aim is to explore and extol the mathematics of beauty and the beauty of mathematics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA, 24595, USA

    Stephen R. Wassell

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Stephen R. Wassell Kim Williams

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© 2008 Kim Williams Books, Turin

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Wassell, S.R. (2008). Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). In: Wassell, S.R., Williams, K. (eds) Nexus Network Journal. Nexus Network Journal, vol 10,2. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8766-2_2

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