Villa Albera, Salvirola (Cremona), Lombardy. 1992-1994

Accompanying a historic Renaissance villa near Crema, the garden of Villa Albera is structured around two areas. The first, more “architectural” and closer to the house, is characterised by its learned and playful eclecticism, in which winding paths and sinuous topiary hedges lead the way to a terraced roundabout and an artificial hill. The second, created after the purchase of an agricultural plot to its north, features a long pond, which naturally directs the gaze  toward a grove of six cypress poplars arranged in a funnel shape.

These two elements, in their simple geometry, pay homage to the countryside of Cremona and its unique landscape— its poplar groves, canals and waterways that beginning from late autumn almost disappear into the fog.