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A building doesn’t have to be a dry and dead thing. Italian artist Giuliano Mauri’s epic Cattedrale Vegetale (or Tree Cathedral) is the perfect example of architecture that, instead of competing with or complementing nature, is quite literally a part of it. The late artist’s two groves of trees are destined to grow into a pair of magnificent basilicas.
The framework columns seen in these photos will eventually rot away and decay, to be replaced by the hornbeam trees planted in the center of each frame. As these grow, their canopies will mesh together to form the vaulted ceiling of a Gothic cathedral.
Mauri, who passed in 2009, laid the groundwork for his first visionary cathedral in Valsugana, Italy in 2002. The framework of the cathedral at the foot of Mount Arera in the northern Italian region of Lombardy was completed in 2010.
More info: giulianomauri.com (h/t: mymodernmet, BBC)
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Image credits: Virtual Sacred Space
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Image credits: Ettore Galata Rizzardini
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Image credits: Riccardo Senia
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Image credits: Il Giardino Sfumato
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What do you think ?
AnneKnickerbocker 11 years ago
Incredible. I hope I live long enough to see the final results!
RobynDenton 11 years ago
I agree, a time-lapse sequence would be awesome.
Load More Replies...
Petja Jäppinen 5 years ago
I designed almost identical 2003, but the city of Espoo did not approve it.
Petja Jäppinen 5 years ago
I designed almost identical 2003, but the city of Espoo did not approve it.
RosemaryTurpin 10 years ago
I loved the way each photo was so different because of changing seasons and different views. What a lovely imaginative and futuristic idea!
RosemaryTurpin 10 years ago
I loved the way each of those photos was so different, what with the changing seasons and different views. What a lovely, imaginative idea!
Celine Barrete 10 years ago
Amazing ! I bet it will look even more gorgeous in a few years. Art should always look that natural.
Steve Nostradome 11 years ago
awesome....But ,just the beginning! see: http://www.templeilluminatus.com/profiles/blogs/recipe-for-saving-rain-forests-and-us
Steve Nostradome 11 years ago
Next step: http://www.templeilluminatus.com/profiles/blogs/recipe-for-saving-rain-forests-and-us
Steve Nostradome 11 years ago
HERE'S THE Next step: http://nostradome.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/hello-world/ htt
11 years ago
HERE'S THE Next step : http://nostradome.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/hello-world/ http://www.templeilluminatus.com/profiles/blogs/recipe-f
VictoriaLemay 11 years ago
Wow, that took a lot of work to make. Great idea if a person had the land.
Vijay Mehra 11 years ago
Absolutely Awesome. Simply Wonderful idea. I wish all prayer houses were made like this.
Fonda Lioness Ambrosia 11 years ago
Why do they don't have "save to your favorite" settings on bored panda?
ElizabethLynn 11 years ago
AMAZING!!! Can't wait to see it when it is completed. I am sure it will be beautiful!
SueGilbert 11 years ago
Very beautiful and a great idea, but to call this architecture may be stretching it. Can practical, weatherproof buildings be grown?
DingoElGringo 11 years ago
Looks pretty stupid to me. Sitting in church and have birds dropping their poop on your head isn't my idea of clever.
AnneKnickerbocker 11 years ago
Incredible. I hope I live long enough to see the final results!
RobynDenton 11 years ago
I agree, a time-lapse sequence would be awesome.
Load More Replies... Petja Jäppinen 5 years ago
I designed almost identical 2003, but the city of Espoo did not approve it.
Petja Jäppinen 5 years ago
I designed almost identical 2003, but the city of Espoo did not approve it.
RosemaryTurpin 10 years ago
I loved the way each photo was so different because of changing seasons and different views. What a lovely imaginative and futuristic idea!
RosemaryTurpin 10 years ago
I loved the way each of those photos was so different, what with the changing seasons and different views. What a lovely, imaginative idea!
Celine Barrete 10 years ago
Amazing ! I bet it will look even more gorgeous in a few years. Art should always look that natural.
Steve Nostradome 11 years ago
awesome....But ,just the beginning! see: http://www.templeilluminatus.com/profiles/blogs/recipe-for-saving-rain-forests-and-us
Steve Nostradome 11 years ago
Next step: http://www.templeilluminatus.com/profiles/blogs/recipe-for-saving-rain-forests-and-us
Steve Nostradome 11 years ago
HERE'S THE Next step: http://nostradome.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/hello-world/ htt
11 years ago
HERE'S THE Next step : http://nostradome.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/hello-world/ http://www.templeilluminatus.com/profiles/blogs/recipe-f
VictoriaLemay 11 years ago
Wow, that took a lot of work to make. Great idea if a person had the land.
Vijay Mehra 11 years ago
Absolutely Awesome. Simply Wonderful idea. I wish all prayer houses were made like this.
Fonda Lioness Ambrosia 11 years ago
Why do they don't have "save to your favorite" settings on bored panda?
ElizabethLynn 11 years ago
AMAZING!!! Can't wait to see it when it is completed. I am sure it will be beautiful!
SueGilbert 11 years ago
Very beautiful and a great idea, but to call this architecture may be stretching it. Can practical, weatherproof buildings be grown?
DingoElGringo 11 years ago
Looks pretty stupid to me. Sitting in church and have birds dropping their poop on your head isn't my idea of clever.
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