The Villas of Palladio [Hardcover]

Giovanni Giaconi (Author), Kim Williams (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1568983964 | ISBN-13: 978-1568983967 | Publication Date: September 1, 2003 | Edition: 1

The Renaissance architect and builder Andrea Palladio is arguable the most influential architect in Western history, and certainly the most beloved. His sixteenth-century villas in the Italian Veneto revolutionized the course of architecture, and the principles on which he based his work are still felt today.
For the past several years, Italian watercolorist Giovanni Giaconi has devoted his talents to creating exquisite large-format pen-and-ink watercolor renderings of all thirty-two of Palladio's villas. Each drawing captures the timeless beauty of Palladian architecture and provides a detailed record of these masterpieces. Together with brief descriptions of each villa, samples of Giaconi's preparatory sketches, and where available, Palladio's own woodcuts, these works of art leave a deep impression of Palladio's oeuvre and give the reader an opportunity to compare the original designs with the actual buildings and their present state of conservation.
This beautiful book is a must-have and the perfect gift for architects, travelers, and lovers of Italy and Palladio's architecture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For armchair travelers, try Italian watercolorist Giovanni Giaconi's beautifully illustrated VILLAS OF PALLADIO, which includes descriptions of each villa. -- Traditional Home, September 2005

About the Author

Giovanni Giaconi is an artist and designer living in Vicenza.

Kim Williams is an architect living outside of Florence.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568983964
• ISBN-13: 978-1568983967
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,631,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best drawings of Palladio's Villas, March 16, 2005

By 

leonardo "da vinci" (Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Villas of Palladio (Hardcover)

Finally a beautiful book about Palladio's architecture that deals only
with drawings and not photographs. I find this book extremely
interesting and absolutely beautifully produced. The format, the paper
and the quality of the reproductions give the reader a beautiful
chance to enjoy and admire the linear proportions and symmetry of
Palladio's architecture. More interesting is the fact that the author,
Giovanni Giaconi, did not concentrate only on the most famous and
well known villas by Palladio such as the Rotonda, Villa Pisani, Villa
Emo or Villa Foscari, Villa Pojana and Villa Barbaro, to name a few, but
with and obsessive research he measured and draw all the 32 existing
Villas planned by Palladio, also when some of them never came to a
conclusion.
And what's more important is that the Villas are drawn as they now
look.
Some drawings are really interesting like the one of Villa Porto at
Molina, with these ten free standing columns, or even more I wonder
how long it took to draw the very long elevation of Villa Contarini at Piazzola
in the province of Padua.
There are many books with photographs of Palladio's architectures, but this
is the only one with updated measured watercolor drawings and it's really worth a close look at.
Two thumbs up for the talented artist Giovanni Giaconi and to the
interesting and refreshing observations of architect Kim Williams.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, June 24, 2010

By 

Alex Panzer (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Villas of Palladio (Hardcover)

I have waited many years for this book to come down in price and just recently it did and I ordered a used copy (in good condition) for myself. This is an excellent book that is a keeper for many years. Not only are the watercolor drawings are excellent but so is the accompanying text that goes along for every villa of Palladio. This book is a must for any serious architectural library or a collector.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have!, December 5, 2007

By 

biscottino (las vegas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Villas of Palladio (Hardcover)

This painstakingly precise and loving study of all of Andrea Palladio's 32 villas is a work of art in itself. In preserving the aspect of each one in watercolor, artist Giovanni Giaconi captures the villas in a very momentary way with the most transient of mediums... for me, this emphasizes even more the timelessness of one of the most imitated architects of all time. Whether you are a serious student or an admirer of neo-classical architecture, you will love turning the pages of this book over and over again... just like walking the streets of Vicenza, home of Palladio, you will notice something different every time!