Rustication (architecture)

thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the In classical architectureRustication is not ordinarily a feature of Gothic architecture nor of Modernist architecture. rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar. Rusticated masonry is usually squared-off but left with a more or less rough outer surface and wide joints that emphasize the edges of each block. Rustication is often used to give visual weight to the ground floor in contrast to smooth ashlar above.

Variations

In variations of rustication the stone is left with a rough external surface, or rough shapes are drilled or chiselled in the somewhat smoothed face in a technique called "vermiculation" (vermiculate rustication). If deeply cut-back edges are worked only to the horizontal joints, with the appearance of the vertical joints being minimised, the resulting effect is known as banded rustication. In prismatic rustication, the blocks are dressed at an angle top and bottom and at each end, giving the effect of a prism.

History

Although rustication is known from a few buildings of Roman Antiquity, the method first became popular during the Renaissance, when the stone work of lower floors, and sometimes entire facades, of buildings were finished in this manner. Donato Bramante's Palazzo Caprini ("House of Raphael") in Rome provided a standard model, where the obvious......
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