The renaissance movement originated from Florence, Italy. From Florence it began to flourish throughout Rome and Venice. One of the major influences on the design of this era was a shift from a religious to a secular emphasis. Since the Roman Catholic church had gained so much power there were many issues linked to corruption and misconduct, therefore, there were many reforms throughout the church from Martin Luther. This also provoked a movement towards humanism. Everyone in Italy, whether they were rich or poor, they were strongly interested in the arts. Because of this increased interest, residential design become much more common. There was also a transition in the importance of comfort, convenience, and beauty from safety, strength, and protection. There was an early emphasis on the interior architecture of the structures versus the actual furniture being used. Horizontal geometry and symmetry were key characters in many Italian Renaissance designs as well.
Apartment style buildings for people were referred to as Palazzo. It displayed uses of progression, alternation, and repetition in many components of the facades in the designs. There were three separate divisions of the palazzo with compound windows and a heavy project cornice. The central courtyard represented one similar to that of the Roman domus. There were no hallways and people lived within the second and third floors only. The walls were pierced with a series of niches. Another similarity to Rome was that living quarters were like the insulas. On the ground floor, one would typically find vestibules, repair shops, summer apartments, kitchens, bathrooms, and storage areas. An identifiable component was the grand staircase to the piano nobile, or the main living area within the second floor.
Many examples of palazzos are still standing today like Palazzo Davanzati and Palazzo Farnese. Probably the most captivating, though, would be Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. Located in Florence, Italy, Michelozzo di Bartolommeo built the structure around three guiding principles. The first of these principles was symmetry. There was a central entrance with a vestibule that lead to a courtyard. On either side was an identical array of rooms that lined each side. The second was that they public rooms would be immediately accessible from the central entrance with the more private ones located deeper into the building. The final guideline was that the Palazzo would be divided into smaller apartments and that a single person would one a continuous set of rooms to themselves.
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This link shows comparisons and contrasts between Renaissance architecture that was constructed in Italy and ones constructed in England.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RewmKCeGce0
