Palladio Virtuel

In Palladio Virtuel, renowned American architect and educator Peter Eisenman offers a new analysis of the architecture of Renaissance master Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). Many historians have viewed Palladio’s villas as physical manifestations of the classical architectural principles he described in his treatise, The Four Books of Architecture. Written toward the end of his life,The Four Books include illustrations of his built work, which Palladio redrew as he wanted them to be.

In this groundbreaking new study, Eisenman, working from the point of view of an architect, analyzes these drawings to produce a radical interpretation of Palladio’s work. The basis for this interpretation is found in 20 Palladian villas, which began from a classical symmetrical volumetric body and gradually became villas with no body at all, just fragments in a landscape. This handsomely designed book includes more than 300 new analytic drawings and a model of each villa. A classic addition to the corpus of Palladian studies, Palladio Virtuel is a testament to Palladio’s lasting place in contemporary architectural thought.

Peter Eisenman is the Charles Gwathmey Professor in Practice, Yale School of Architecture, and principal of Eisenman Architects in New York.Matt Roman is an architect and teacher in New York.