South Bend, Indiana
The architectural context is seen as the broad tradition and history of the villa type with special interest in the work of Andrea Palladio and Thomas Jefferson. The architect’s goal was to reinstate the simple pleasures of the villa life in contemporary society while raising the standard of architectural and artistic form as a benefit to the public realm. The artist’s goal was to give meaning and form to the rituals and beliefs of the family with full awareness of the modern life. The proposed frescos and sculpture are progeny of seicento and settecento Italian artists such as Veronese, Vittoria and Tiepolo who sought to give form to the aspirations of their times while also reflecting on the art and moral philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome.
The building’s design grew out of the architect’s research and measured drawings of the architecture of Andrea Palladio in the Italian Veneto. In his innovative designs Palladio created a new type by combining the summer house or castello with vernacular farm buildings and by wedding them architecturally to the agricultural landscape. Villa Indiana is a conscious transformation of the Palladian villa type at a scale appropriate for a young family while maintaining the proportions of Palladio’s masterpieces.