Table of Contents

Contents OVERVIEW Palladio, theory and practice Exploring the villas from the air Traces Indicators and predecessors Interpretations and research questions THE RE-CREATION OF THE VENETIAN TERRAFERMA State intervention Drainage and reclamation Low land and high water High land and low water The re-creation of the Venetian terraferma TEN SELECETED VILLAS Villa Godi: Recomposing the landsacape Villa Saraceno: Breathing in the landscape Villa Pisani in Bagnolo: The jump across the river Villa Poiana: Broad composition Villa Badoer: Separation and embrace Villa Foscari: "In splendid isolation" Villa Cornaro: Long sightlines Villa Barbaro: Water machine at the foot of the mountains Villa Emo: A focal point in an agricultural landscape Villa Rotonda: All-round symmetry and different on all sides THE AGRICULTURAL VILLA AS MODEL FARM The laws of architecture A paradoxical problem The residence The coperto, or farm buildings The farmyard Variations on the model The essence of the model Plan development in three directions Spatial synthesis THE VILLA IN A PRODUCTION LANDSCAPE Framing The agricultural domain and parcellation Buildings and artefacts Beacons in the landscape The secret of Palladian staging BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

About the Author

Gerrit Smienk: Niederlandischer Landschaftsarchitekt und Autor, der an der TU Delft, der Academy of Archietcture in Amsterdam und dem Berlage Institut lehrte. Zahlreiche Publikationen, u.a. "Italian Villas and Gardens" mit P. van der Ree und C. Steenbergen beim Prestel Verlag, 1992.