Cattedrale Vegetale By Giuliano Mauri

Giuliano Mauri was born in Lodi Vecchio in 1938. He owes his fame to his many poetic environmental works, which are referred to as “natural architectures”. He took part in the Venice Biennale in 1976, in the Triennale in Milan in 1992, and in the Biennale in Penne in 1994. Working with branches and logs, he builds fantastically real buildings. Based on the natural transience of the material used, the assumption is that nature will fill in the voids left by the decay of the wood, thus entering into a sort of dialogue with the artist.
His works include Mulini (Windmills), caressed by an imaginary wind, Scala del Paradiso (Stairway to Heaven), and the Bosco sull’isola (The Wood on the Island) at the source of the Tormo in the Lodi area. In Gorliz, Germany, and in Sgorzelec, Poland, he created his Osservatori estimativi (Observatories for Appraisal). His most famous and fascinating work is probably the Cattedrale Vegetale (Tree Cathedral) of 2001 for Arte Sella. In 2001 he also made the scenic design for Norma in the Sferisterio in Macerata. In 2006 he built his Voliera per umani (Aviary for Humans) in the ‘Valley of Sighs’ in the park at Monza.