In 1982 Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi published the volume, “L’Architettura degli Alberi (The Architecture of Trees)”, a reference manual for generations of students and landscape architects. This was the result of twenty years of research, travel, cataloguing, and lastly the meticulous redesign of trees on a scale of 1:100. The research included a study of the shadows of the tree crowns projected onto the ground, and the seasonal colours of each individual species, leading later to a series of park projects, some implemented while others remained on paper. In the early 1980s this dedication to trees combined with design experience led him to conceive of a modular matrix for planting, called “Struttura Reticolare Acentrata” or SRA (Uncentered Reticular Structure). The purpose of a SRA is to establish conditions of equilibrium for cohabitation between men and trees, without one imposing on the other. Participants will have the opportunity of fully understand the research of “The Architecture of Trees”, discover places and projects in which it was applied, consult archive’s materials, engage with lecturers and key figures and develop their own projectuality.
