Ars Adriatica, No. 11, 2021.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/aa.3572
Palatial Housing in Late 18th Century Rijeka: Spatial and Typological Features
Petar Puhmajer
orcid.org/0000-0003-4630-8863
; Croatian Conservation Institute
Abstract
The paper provides insight into the upscale residential architecture of Rijeka at the end of the 18th and the very beginning of the 19th century. Most of the buildings have perished, or have been rebuilt in the later period, and only a few survive until today. In addition to several well-known examples, new houses have here been identified for the first time, including their owners and the time of construction. The occurrence of palaces in Rijeka was related to the expansion of the city and the demolition of the medieval city walls, which enabled the construction of new blocks and higher standard housing. The “New Town” became the central city district and its thoroughfare, Korzo, was lined with palaces belonging to wealthy merchants, shipowners and government officials. The spatial organization of these palaces can be studied mostly on the basis of archival documentation from the period when it was still extant or at least identifiable. It shows typical floor plans formed by grouping or sequencing of the rooms. The origins can be traced to early modern Trieste, where the omnipresent plan model with 3x2 rooms on each floor is recognized as a “typical merchant’s house.” Façades also show considerable uniformity, but also differences in details such as portals and balconies, as well as giant roof gables that gave palaces their visual identity and grand appearance.
Keywords
architecture; 18th century; Rijeka; baroque architecture; residential architecture; palaces; houses; spatial organization; façades; typology
Hrčak ID:
269730
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2021.
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