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During the 15th and 16th centuries, in Florence and
later in Rome and other centers, the Renaissance
Palazzo was born. The palazzo was a
three or four storey building with a rusticated
ground floor, and regularized understated windows on two increasingly
refined upper levels, always finished by an elaborate cornice.
The architects believed that architecture was an art form, and
they strived for a studied harmony of design. There were no columns
or pilasters, but pediments,
often alternating curved and triangular, and regularized patterns.
The Renaissance also saw the development of a graceful and balanced
adaptation of the Greek
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styles. The 16th and 17th centuries saw Renaissance
architecture translated into French and English equivalents, and
it can also be seen in Germany, the Czech Republic and Holland.
In Ontario, the Renaissance was revived in commercial buildings,
banks, offices, and churches in many urban centers. Most of the
Renaissance Revival buildings are designed without columns, and
these are called astylar; they follow the palazzo design. Buildings
that use a more or less direct translation of Renaissance architecture
with columns and pilasters are more ornate, but still elegantly
Renaissance.
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