michele de lucchi + AMDL CIRCLE design harry potter book covers to blend fantasy and contemporary architecture

since first being published, fans and readers of harry potter across the globe have been enthralled by the rich visual representations of the saga’s magical world, from the architecture of hogwarts castle to the haunting island fortress, azkaban. for the covers of the new italian edition of harry potter 2021 by salani editore, michele de lucchi / AMDL CIRCLE decided to take a step back and interpret the fictional locations as archetypes of living, and represent them with visionary architecture. the buildings depicted draw on the design imagery of the studio, particularly on the projects that have symbolic connections with the series’ locations. by uniting these elements, new landscapes are born.

image by santi caleca

for this epic project, AMDL CIRCLE moved away from the classic iconography of harry potter to pay homage to its literary imagination with the creation of unprecedented scenarios. ‘if everything is already perfect and defined, how can we create something new?,’ the studio shares. ‘we return to zero and represent places as archetypes. we achieved this through the symbolic value that can be attributed to our architecture. everyone is free to imagine the faces and buildings they want also through their own personal experience.’

the resulting covers intertwine the fantasy saga with contemporary architecture, offering a transformative proposal of the classic harry potter imagery to stimulate imaginations worldwide. see each of the seven cover depictions, with sketches and architectural models, as well as descriptions from the studio about the inspirations behind each artwork below.

michele de lucchi, abbazia, 2016,  pencil on paper

harry potter and the philosopher’s stone — ‘to represent hogwarts school, we referred to a conceptual project on ‘abbeys’, solid and sturdy constructions, strongly anchored to the ground but reaching upwards due to the momentum of spires that push the gaze towards the sky and, metaphorically, the future. the inspiration for these sculptures comes from the gothic abbeys of tuscany and central italy.’

image by marco menghi

harry potter and the chamber of secrets — ‘we imagined ‘the burrow’ as architecture of the ‘stacks’ series, objects composed of many pieces of wood that seem to balance as if by magic. in harry potter, ‘the burrow’ evokes the idea of home and family, so that the stacks are endowed with value for what they evoke: gathering, preserving, caring for, and organizing. they evoke an ancient way of building and can resemble a small house or a large cathedral with roofs that cover and shelter from rain or snow.’

image by santi caleca

michele de lucchi, catasta, 2017,  pencil on paper  

image by marco menghi

harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban — ‘azkaban prison is never described in the books, we only know that it is located on a freezing islet in the north sea. we thought of it as an imposing monolith, a mythological construction reminiscent of the hotel medea in batumi: a high tower of superimposed and staggered volumes, which seem generate each other in an infinite epic that surpasses centuries.’

image by santi caleca

michele de lucchi, study for hotel medea in batumi,  pencil on paper

image by marco menghi

harry potter and the goblet of fire — ‘the setting is the quidditch arena, the most widespread and practiced sport in the wizarding world of harry potter, played astride flying broomsticks. we imagine it as a traveling stadium with the stands taking the shape of the temporary installation ‘expo icon’. the concept refers to the possibility of handling architectural objects intended for events, which can be disassembled and reassembled in different contexts.’

image by santi caleca

michele de lucchi, study for the itinerant installation ‘expo icona’, 2012 , pencil on paper

image by marco menghi

harry potter and the order of the phoenix — ‘the representation of hagrid’s hut refers to the ‘haystack’ series. haystacks are constructions that blend into the surrounding nature and testify to manual work. they have a pure essential form, built by superimposing, material on top of material, which appears on the landscape with beauty and discretion.’

image by santi caleca

michele de lucchi, pagliaio, 2014 , pencil on paper

image by marco menghi

harry potter and the half-blood prince — ‘the astronomy tower is hogwarts’ highest point, where one can observe stars during lessons. we designed it as the air tower built for the arch&art project, within the gardens of the milan triennale. a tower of air has a magical quality with the wind that is created and rises by induction. the effect is simple and suggests that one can enjoy the wonders of nature without imposing presumptuous and inefficient acts of force. verticality pushes us to look up at the sky, in search of meaning in man’s existence and transience.’

image by santi caleca

michele de lucchi, study for D3e lucchi-cucchi tower, arch&art, 2016,  pencil on paper

image by marco menghi

harry potter and the deathly hallows — ‘for the final clash at hogwarts, we imagined the covered bridge as taking the sinusoidal profile of the bridge of peace in tbilisi. this structure consists of a pedestrian walkway and a filigreed roof that seems suspended in midair. by definition, a bridge is symbolic architecture, a place of cohesion between two points, two social circumstances, two different and distant territorial conformations. in times of destruction and war, unfortunately, many bridges are destroyed as happens in the battle of hogwarts.’

image by santi caleca