The archive is housed in one of the greenhouse-studios designed by Pietro Porcinai, built into a terraced slope in the grounds of the Villa Rondinelli, in San Domenico-Fiesole, Florence, a particularly evocative site, emblematic of the relationship with nature that was the leitmotif of his work.

The Porcinai family is responsible for preserving this important heritage and has an ongoing commitment to improving the conditions for access and consultation.

Conscious of the importance of restoring and preserving the gardens designed by Porcinai and also of making his ideas, his vision of landscape architecture and his literary works better known, the family intends to implement an electronic document management system to protect the documents and facilitate consultation.

The archive conserves original drawings, studies and plans by Porcinai (1,318) as well as photographs, plastic models, essays and articles, letters and press cuttings. The library boasts a collection of books on different subjects (architecture, landscape architecture art, artists’ bibliographies, botany, history, science, philosophy etc.) and numerous journals on architecture and landscape architecture, both Italian and foreign.

In 1997 the archive was granted special protection status by the Tuscan Archives Commission on account of its cultural significance.

ACCESS

The archive is open to researchers, students, landscape architects and anyone else who may be interested. Consultation is by appointment, via application to be addressed to the Porcinai family and the Tuscan Archives Commission (Soprintendenza Archivistica per la Toscana).

Any reproduction or other use of the material conserved in the archive must be authorised by the owners, in compliance with the legislation governing copyright and the relevant conventions and international treaties.

Under no circumstances can the archive material be used for purposes other than those of study, research or personal use.