The Baroque palace

Abstract

Architecture is an inseparable component of civilisation, accommodating a variety of social functions, which may be economic, religious, political and cultural. This dissertation is concerned with the relationship between spatial form and contemporary life, so as to demonstrate how various characteristics pertaining to specific locations, particularly lifestyle, dictated the function assigned to the palace and, consequently, its form, which was -designed to cater for the very specific 'world' within it. This dissertation further studies the close relationship between the palace and aristocratic society in two main cities, Rome and Paris. A final comparison is then made with Valletta.