So many of our iconic moments in travel are shaped by something we often overlook—trees. Whether it’s driving down a winding back road in France with the sun flitting in and out, hiking in the forests of Oregon, or wandering the jungle-like walkways of the Hipodromo in Mexico City—these leafy giants set the stage.
That’s why this week’s selection for Just Booked, our twice-a-month series on gorgeous travel-related coffee table books, is The Architecture of Trees by Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi, published by Princeton Architectural Press. The new edition, out this spring, is updated from the works originally published in 1982 and 2002. The book is a beautiful collection of black-and-white hand drawings of hundreds of trees and bushes, both with leaves, and without. The authors worked together in Modena, and their botanical drawings have become iconic not only for design but also as a 20th-century continuation of the art form of botanical drawing.
If any question the place botanical drawing has in art history (they might want to read up on Ernst Haeckel for a start), they would do well to spend some time perusing through the pine trees in this book with their seemingly infinite leaves, or the hauntingly beautiful sketches of a leaf-less weeping willow. Either way, we lost track of time flipping through this tome, dreaming of our favorite sylvan settings, set in black and white.
The Architecture of Trees by Cesare Leonardi and Franco Stagi, published by Princeton Architectural Press. (On Amazon for $76.27)
