"So we continue our attempts; although imperfect, they will demonstrate that there is still so much do in the art of construction and that architecture will not take on a new form if she doesn't honestly submit to the new process of our age. (...) We have demonstrated in what manner the vault thrusts could be removed through a system of steel tie rods, (...), eliminate the arch thrust thanks to the combination of the iron and lithic systems. (...) This is nothing more than the application of iron in the ancient way of building." Viollet-le-Duc, Entretiens, 1863. These basic principles gave birth to the "Lithic Tree", a tribute to the fossilization process and lithic transformation, a careful observation of natural phenomena and human modeling and adaptation, an experimental project aimed at the reation of a pattern element suitable for the creation of vaulted spaces covered and/or diaphanous. "Lithic Tree" refers to a tree-like structure with a cantilevered lithic crown, made up of separated stone elements held together with a special steel reinforcement, favouring an optimal working compression dinamic between the voussoirs. The common thread that has guided the design of "Lithic Tree" is based on the fundamental dialectic about the opposites terms lightness vs heaviness that has represented since many years the distinctive feature of our entire research about steretomic architecture. Heaviness related to the natural composition of materials and lightness of the forms to which the project aims. The project approach can be considered as a synthesis between the sculptural soul of the Doric flutted column and the spatial impulse of the Gothic vault, mediated through technological innovation the translates meaning and significance on a different language level compared with the historical condition.
