Pietro Porcinai and the Landscape of Modern Italy
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Thoughts of landscape design in Italy normally center on the great gardens of the Renaissance, gardens such as those at the Villa Lante in Bagnaia or the Ville d'Este in Tivoli. However, there was one landscape architect, active from the 1930s until his death in 1986, whose work ... read full description below.
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Full details for this title
| Interest Age |
19+ years |
| Reading Age |
19+ years |
| Library of Congress |
Landscape architecture - Italy, Gardens - Italy, Porcinai, Pietro, Landscape architects - Italy |
| NBS Text |
Architecture |
| ONIX Text |
College/higher education;Professional and scholarly |
|
| Dewey Code |
712.0945 |
| Catalogue Code |
Not specified |
Description of this Book
Thoughts of landscape design in Italy normally center on the great gardens of the Renaissance, gardens such as those at the Villa Lante in Bagnaia or the Ville d'Este in Tivoli. However, there was one landscape architect, active from the 1930s until his death in 1986, whose work counters any idea that no modern works of international significance were produced on Italian soil. That person was Pietro Porcinai. Born in Florence in 1910, Porcinai grew up on the classic grounds of the Villa Gamberaia in Settignano where his father served as head gardener. He went on to study agriculture at the Regia Scuola Agraria Media but his true interest lay in landscape design. Travel was critical to Porcinai's professional formation and his apprenticeships in Belgium and Germany exposed him to recent developments in landscape architecture and architecture as well as helping develop a network of design professionals and technical support throughout Europe. As Italy's principal practitioner and sole landscape architect working in the modern idiom, in 1948 Porcinai was a founding member of the International Federation of Landscape Architects. Two years later he instigated the founding of the first professional association for landscape architects in Italy. While he never taught on a regular basis he was instrumental in establishing several landscape programs and his office was an important training ground for young landscape architects. In addition to his design practice, Porcinai also wrote, publishing articles in Domus from the 1937 onwards. Porcinai founded his active practice in 1938. Early work centered in the area of Arezzo - 'modernized' traditional models, expanding in scale upon the classic prato (lawn), the viale (avenue), and the hedge in accord with the social brief and the dicta of the site. The true breakthrough came in the postwar era when the office flourished with the design of a bewildering range of design assignments. Gardens of remarkable control, dignity, and use of plants came to accompany both sixteenth-century villas, palazzi, and new structures. In these works, Porcinai convincingly demonstrated the affinity between venerable architecture and landscapes uncompromisingly modern. Linking them was a simplicity of line and shape, the use of harmonious materials, and a sophisticated use of plants for spatial enclosure, texture, and transitions between areas and forms. Although the gardens might be considered the most celebrated of the works, he also produced a series of public parks, consulted on autostrada planning, designed factory landscapes, memorials, and even a Pinocchio theme park - works that collaborated with architects such as Renzo Piano, Carlo Scarpa and Oscar Niemeyer. And when the monumental sculptures at Abu Simbel in Egypt were to be inundated by the construction of the Aswan Dam, Porcinai led the team charged with its removal and reconstruction. All in all, a remarkable man and a remarkable landscape practice.
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Author's Bio
Marc Treib, University of California, Berkeley, USA and Luigi Latini, IUAV Venice, Italy
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