2️⃣ But violence was brewing...
There was an ongoing power struggle between two factions: the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire.
Bologna became a city of noble families (of opposing factions) vying for status and power — often violently.
So families needed defensive structures, but without the space to build castles, they built upwards.
And towers became popular because the taller you built, the greater the status you earned. The wealthy of Bologna got into a contest of who could build highest.
It wasn't just Bologna. San Gimignano retains its impressive skyline, and surviving towers are dotted around Italy's other medieval cities.
But Bologna had the most impressive, most dense, cityscape of all. These images we have are from a model built by a researcher over a century ago, who claimed there were as many as 194 towers at its peak.
Via: culture critic
@unityarch
There was an ongoing power struggle between two factions: the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire.
Bologna became a city of noble families (of opposing factions) vying for status and power — often violently.
So families needed defensive structures, but without the space to build castles, they built upwards.
And towers became popular because the taller you built, the greater the status you earned. The wealthy of Bologna got into a contest of who could build highest.
It wasn't just Bologna. San Gimignano retains its impressive skyline, and surviving towers are dotted around Italy's other medieval cities.
But Bologna had the most impressive, most dense, cityscape of all. These images we have are from a model built by a researcher over a century ago, who claimed there were as many as 194 towers at its peak.
What happened to Bologna's skyline?
Via: culture critic
@unityarch
❤5
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3️⃣ We don't really know, but it's believed towers fell out of fashion with the aristocracy. By the time of the Renaissance, wealthy families were into building great palaces instead...
It's likely the city authorities had enough. They were often unstable, and symbolized a violent society of warring factions.
Sometimes they were demolished in punishment: a nobleman guilty of murder had his razed, and rubble lay there to mark his shame.
Earthquakes probably toppled some. We know they leaned perilously in Dante's time because he mentioned one in his Divine Comedy (1321):
"As when one sees the Garisenda tower from underneath its leaning side, and then a cloud passes over and it seems to lean the more."
You can still see Garisenda today, and the taller Asinelli looming over it — but you might not have long.
The Garisenda is under constant monitoring and reinforcement to save it from toppling. There may soon be nothing left of Bologna's lofty past...
Via: culture critic
@unityarch
It's likely the city authorities had enough. They were often unstable, and symbolized a violent society of warring factions.
Sometimes they were demolished in punishment: a nobleman guilty of murder had his razed, and rubble lay there to mark his shame.
Earthquakes probably toppled some. We know they leaned perilously in Dante's time because he mentioned one in his Divine Comedy (1321):
"As when one sees the Garisenda tower from underneath its leaning side, and then a cloud passes over and it seems to lean the more."
You can still see Garisenda today, and the taller Asinelli looming over it — but you might not have long.
The Garisenda is under constant monitoring and reinforcement to save it from toppling. There may soon be nothing left of Bologna's lofty past...
Via: culture critic
@unityarch
❤3
Which of these is an example of vernacular architecture?
Anonymous Quiz
23%
Nave
33%
chalet
21%
Narthex
22%
None of the above
❤1
A style influenced by geometric figures?
Anonymous Quiz
25%
Renaissance
28%
Gothic
14%
Romanesque
33%
Art deco
❤2