Archaeology, Merriment, and Murder: The First Cortile of the Palazzo Vecchio and its Transformations in the Late Florentine Republic
The relationship between trecento and quattrocento architecture is usually seen as a simplistic paragone of stylistic antithesis generally derogatory to the former period. A reconstruction of the original cortile wing of the Palazzo Vecchio, which was remodeled in the Renaissance, permits the deconstruction of this view, at least with respect to key aspects of one major building. New archaeological evidence, together with historical data and the analysis of two picaresque literary texts, yields a detailed picture of the complex early project. The builders' remarkably precise and imaginative planning procedure is rediscovered, along with the exceptionally high functionalism of the original fabric. Life in the palace, real and symbolic, is reviewed, and the changing form of the cortile in the Renaissance is found to have been motivated principally not by aesthetics, but by Medicean politics.
Architectural Collaboration in the Early Renaissance: Reforming the Florentine Badia
In the late 1420s, Abbot Gomezio di Giovanni initiated a major building campaign to reform the Benedictine monastery of the Florentine Badia. Designed to provide its community with an orderly space in which to pursue the Benedictine Observance, the compound rises around the so-called Orange Cloister, long considered to be an early work of Bernardo Rossellino. A reevaluation of the archival record demonstrates that Rossellino was one of many who contributed to the project, which was a collaborative effort codirected by master mason Antonio di Domenico della Parte and master stonecutter Giovanni d9Antonio da Maiano. In addition to issues of authorship, this article investigates why the building looks the way it does, how it was built, and how it served the abbot9s reform program. Answers to these questions allow us to develop our appreciation of Benedictine life and architectural practice in Early Renaissance Florence.
New Alumosilicate Fillers Based on Sedimentary Rocks for Asphalt Concrete
Asphalt concrete is the most common material for highway and motorway construction. The quality of asphalt is determined, to a large extent, by properties of asphalt binder. Fillers, which are mineral powders from carbonate rocks and aggregates fines, such as limestone and dolomite, are often used in the composition of bitumen mastics affecting the performance of asphalt. This article explores the feasibility of using the fines of aluminosilicate sedimentary rocks as fillers. These materials are composed of clay minerals, which change their properties upon the contact with water. Normally, the use of such fillers is restricted because of poor water resistance and swelling of asphalt concrete. In order to improve the performance of these fillers, the thermal modification at moderate temperatures of 500–600 C has been proposed. Such treatment provides sufficient structural stability of obtained materials and results in the reduction of water absorption of asphalt, improved water resistance (up to 2.5 times) and also, in reduced swelling (up to 9 times). It has been demonstrated that improvement in the filler performance can be achieved by a heat treatment. Such treatment induces changes in the mineral composition and converts the structure of clay minerals into the frame structure of zeolite, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Due to thermal treatment, there is a change in the acid-base properties of the surface of the filler, which is reflected in the profiles of the main adsorption centers. As a result, due to chemisorption, the modified aluminosilicate fillers are able to interact with bitumen. The application of new filler materials in asphalt concrete enables to enhance the performance.