Italian Renaissance & Cappoquin

The Italian Renaissance and Cappoquin...

The Italian architect Andrea Palladio  was one of the foremost Renaissance architects. He believed that beauty in a building depended on the relationship of all parts of a building to each other.  In 1570 he published his "Four Books of Architecture"  based on the geometry of  ancient Roman buildings and his ideal proportions for  window doors, rooms and facades was based on the square, cube  or Golden  section - a geometric principle of ancient classical builders. In the early eighteenth century architects in Ireland began to use Palladio's ideals and this style was known as Neo Palladianism.
 
Periods of relative political stability and  an  improved economy  from  the 18th  onwards century contributed to an increase  in building  The fashions and changes in Dublin and London filtered down to Waterford . The majority of the buildings were not designed by architects. Buildings were constructed by carpenters and masons with the help of pattern books, books of house designs and architectural detail along with some personnel interpretations. In towns and in the country side, classical proportions were scaled down into modular measurements so that even modest town houses, vernacular houses and shopfronts had a classical appearance. 

Many shopfronts in Tallow and Cappoquin have carefully proportioned facades. Such elements of classical design include panelled pilasters, decorative consoles, and Doric and Ionic fluted columns. The symmetrical plan of the shopfronts is usually harmoniously balanced with the fenestration of the upper floors. Sometimes a house door and the window above it were set a little apart from the others, to visually and physically separate shop and residence as many shopkeepers lived above their premises. The harmony of style and the proportions between the different buildings gave an overall sense of unity to the streetscape.  Many of the shops been converted for residential use but the timber shopfronts have been retained.