From April 7 to 13, 2025, Modena will host the Alberi Festival – the Festival of Trees. The festival brings together interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives to explore the potential of trees as both a model and a tool for the future of urban design.
As a UNESCO City of Media Arts, Karlsruhe participates in the festival, bringing in innovative perspectives. The exhibition Modena incontra Karlsruhe – la città ventaglio [Modena Meets Karlsruhe – the Fan City] fosters a creative dialogue between the two UNESCO Creative Cities. The Karlsruhe contribution focuses on the tradition of green urban development, as well as the technological aesthetics and poetic dimensions of contemporary research on trees.
Various formats including a video specially produced for the Alberi Festival, as well as photographs and installations based on innovative research projects, will be on display. Combined with works by Italian architects Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi, it creates a dynamic interplay of different visions for a harmonious coexistence of city and trees. Participants include Katharina Oertel, Murad Athsan, Miguel Paredes Maldonado, Arturo Romero Carnicero, and Javier Argota Sánchez-Vaquerizo.
The Alberi Festival is inspired by the work of Italian architects Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi, who between 1960 and 1980 created an extensive collection of tree drawings. Their graphic research, which culminated in the publication L’Architettura degli Alberi (1982), continues to provide valuable insights for designing parks and urban green spaces. In Modena, Italy’s city with the largest tree population, this legacy comes to life, offering a space for new perspectives and encounters between humans and nature.