A table for eight
Conversations on landscape
on the occasion of the 30th anniversary
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This important event of Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche on the occasion of its 30th anniversary stems from a substantial reference.
The title and rationale of the ‘dialogue’ proposed by the Foundation on Saturday 21 October from 10am to 6pm, in its auditorium located in Treviso is inspired by the “Table for eight” evoked back in 1966 in Amsterdam on the occasion of a conference of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). That event was memorable as it was pivotal, among many aspects, in defining the role of the landscape architect, which was then being introduced. That original meeting was attended by influential figures in the field of Landscape Architecture, such as Lewis Mumford, Geoffrey Jellicoe, Lawrence Halprin and Francisco Cabral.
Treviso’s “table for eight” aims at drawing inspiration from the most original contribution of that event now regarded as historical. That is, the piece written by Jellicoe (translated into Italian in Scandinavia in 1998, a book of the ‘Memorie’ series of the Benetton Foundation), the title of which is precisely A table for eight. The “table” described by Jellicoe was imagined as a device for eight different people to speak their minds, eight ‘crafts’ that engage in conversation seeking to understand the cultural and social role attributed to landscape architects at the time.
“In a profoundly changed society that it is hoped will keep looking at landscape as a possible cultural beacon and benchmark, we are seizing the opportunity to make use of this indication to build a table similar to the original 1966 one,” says Luigi Latini, president of Fondazione Benetton’s Scientific Committee. “This time, to discuss the objectives of our work and the boundaries of potential shared ground. It will be an opportunity for in-depth analysis, but above all, an opportunity to celebrate together thirty years of the Foundation’s work, pointing out its accrued specific features, outlook and objectives shared with other roles and institutions. We will therefore ask – like Jellicoe did in his imaginary table – eight notable people to talk about their work and research experience, motivated by the same wish for delving deep into the topic of landscape. The dialogue we are fostering unfolds as an exchange between contributions that today are believed to be essential to guide innovative research and analysis in this work field, which in the Foundation’s vocabulary is defined as striving for “studying and caring for places”.
The event will start with a talk – the first of the eight held today – by Domenico Luciani (architect, director of the Foundation from 1987 to 2009), with an analysis on the meaning of landscape “management”, retracing the spirit of the Foundation’s work.
He will be followed by Juan Manuel Palerm Salazar (architect, professor at the University of Las Palmas and chairman of Uniscape), who will broaden the picture to include topics related to the European Landscape Convention. Jordi Bellmunt (architect and landscaper, director of the Landscape Biennial of Barcelona), will tackle the topic of knowledge and the need for communication in this field, while the landscape designer Henri Bava (Agence Ter, Paris) will contribute with his practical experience. Maria Teresa Andresen (landscape designer and garden historian, Scientific Committee of the Benetton Foundation) will introduce the topic of Heritage in its intersections with the sphere of landscape, followed by Marco Navarra (architect, senior lecturer at the University of Catania), who will reflect on the contribution that a field such as architecture may offer to the contemporary debate on the topic.
The point of view of Massimo Venturi Ferriolo (philosopher, Scientific Committee of Fondazione Benetton) in the domain of philosophy adds to this dialogue, along with Gilles Tiberghien (professor at the Sorbonne University and École Nationale du Paysage of Versailles), a scholar who has long been reflecting on the relationship between landscape and art.
At the opening, the short video that the Foundation produced for its thirtieth anniversary, directed by Matteo Frittelli, will be screened before the greetings of president Luciano Benetton and director Marco Tamaro.