Color analysis from The Architecture of Trees / Princeton Architectural Press At the end, detailed drawings of tree elements - branches and leaves - are included with relevant notes about how the trees change over their lifespan, their fruit, their smells, and planting notes. Those shade studies are included in the beginning of the book, followed by a color analysis, and the drawings of the trees themselves, which are organized by botanical families, genera, and species. Leonardi and Stagi chose trees based on their “size, shape, shadow, and their changing colors over the course of the year.” A 40-meter (131-foot)-tall sundial tower was designed to “illuminate the center of the park at night with a multiple rotating projector that completed one full turn every hour, creating shadows that morphed continuously.” The tree studies were also brought to the design of Parco Amendola in Modena, which opened in 1982. Over time, Leonardi found that climate, exposure, and soil conditions impacted the growth rate and character of specimens, so he accommodated for those differences, too.Ĭavani and Orsini note that The Architecture of Trees wasn’t just a result of tree appreciation, but used to support a series of landscape projects in Italy, including Parco della Resistenza in Modena, swimming pool complexes created in Vignola and Mirandola, and a study for the expansion of the Modena cemetery. In the areas surrounding Florence and Modena, he “studied specimens, photographed them, and took note of their names and dimensions and, then, with an eye to using them in his plans, he drew the trees in India ink on transparent film, using photographs for guidance and working on a scale of 1:100.” Tree specimen from The Architecture of Trees / Princeton Architectural Press Tree specimen from The Architecture of Trees / Princeton Architectural Pressĭrawing, Cavani and Orsini argue, enabled Leonardi to isolate the tree from its surroundings, focus on its architectural elements, and clearly depict the features that make a species unique. “Their sizes and shapes impressed him, and he felt ‘more drawn to them than to architectural forms.'” While creating a landscape design for a new city park in Modena, he realized that “it would be impossible to design a park without a deep understanding of its elements, meaning trees.” The Architecture of Trees / Princeton Architectural Pressīut he found that just reading about trees wouldn’t cut it he needed to more deeply understand them. In Florence, Leonardi interacted with trees he didn’t recognize. The shape of each tree’s shadows and the hues of their seasonal color are also vividly conveyed.Īccording to an introduction to the new edition by Andrea Cavani and Guilio Orsini, curators of the Cesare Leonardi archive, Leonardi studied at the University of Florence, which encouraged a “liberal interpretation of the discipline of architecture, an interpretation that abandoned schematic rationalism and instead was open to visual art, design, landscape, graphic design, communications, philosophy, and sociology.” Each tree is depicted with and without foilage, showing summer and winter forms. A handy paper ruler is included to help readers better understand the full breadth of these beauties. The book features 212 trees species depicted through 550 intricate quill-pen illustrations, each drawn to 1:100 scale. This “scientific tome” and “original ‘labor of love and obsession'” has been re-issued by Princeton Architectural Press in all its arboreal glory. The Architecture of Trees was first published by Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi, two versatile Italian furniture, landscape, and architectural designers, in 1982. ![]() The Architecture of Trees / Princeton Architectural Press
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