Cesare Leonardi

Cesare Leonardi enrolled at the Faculty of Architecture in Florence in 1956, where he followed the courses of Adalberto Libera, Ludovico Quaroni and Leonardo Savioli, under whom he graduated in 1970. In 1963, he opened a studio in Modena with Franca Stagi. Together, until 1983, they would deal with industrial design, architecture and the planning of green areas, and their projects were presented in national and international magazines and publications.In 1983, Leonardi set out on an independent professional path revolving around experimentation in the field of design and urbanism. He began to develop his Solids: modular and flexible furnishing systems, and the Acentric Reticular Structure, a method to be implemented for the planning of green areas and the territory, applied in the construction of the Parco di Bosco Albergati (1988).His activity as a photography accompanies his work throughout as a tool with which to document, investigate and plan. After 2002, having completed his professional career, he devoted his time mainly to photography, sculpture and painting.His publications include: L’Architettura degli Alberi, (C. Leonardi, F. Stagi), 1982; Il Duomo di Modena. Atlante fotografico, 1985; La Struttura Reticolare Acentrata, 1988; Solidi/ Solids 1983-1993, 1995. In 2010, the Archivio Architetto Cesare Leonardi was founded with the aim of protecting and promoting the work of Cesare Leonardi.
In 2011, the archive collection was declared a ‘particularly important cultural asset’ by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism. Since 2015, the project of reordering and cataloguing all his materials has been underway.