History of Architecture II (Renaissance to Contemporary): From Florence's Dome to Bilbao
Five centuries of architecture, from Brunelleschi's daring dome to digital curves, through the ideas that made each style possible.
Try 3 questions
1. Brunelleschi's dome for Florence Cathedral was famously built without what, then considered indispensable for vaults?
- Mortar between its masonry courses
- Any brick, using only cut stone
- A full timber centering spanning the opening
Show the answer
Answer: A full timber centering spanning the opening
Spanning about 45 meters, the opening was too wide for affordable wooden centering, so Brunelleschi devised a self-supporting method.
2. Why did Brunelleschi lay some bricks of the Florence dome in a herringbone pattern?
- To make the dome lighter for painted decoration
- To lock fresh courses in place as they set
- To channel rainwater off the outer shell
Show the answer
Answer: To lock fresh courses in place as they set
Bricks set on end at intervals acted as wedges, holding the newly laid horizontal courses so they could not slide inward before the mortar hardened.
3. Alberti's façade for Sant'Andrea in Mantua fuses a classical temple front with which other Roman form?
- A triumphal arch
- An amphitheater wall
- An aqueduct arcade
Show the answer
Answer: A triumphal arch
Alberti overlaid a pediment on a giant arched opening modeled on Roman triumphal arches, a combination that influenced church façades for centuries.
The whole quiz comes before your apps
BrainTok asks a few questions like these before the apps you choose open, so your screen time turns into learning. For iPhone.
Join the beta