Maredolce-La Favara. A new landscape for Brancaccio, Palermo
international workshop
26-30 June 2017
Palermo, palazzo di Maredolce
Call for participation
Objectives and content
Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche – within the framework of the experimental activities on landscape and care for places developed by its scientific Committee – organizes an international landscape design workshop at Maredolce-La Favara, in cooperation with the Soprintendenza Beni Culturali ed Ambientali of Palermo. In 2015, the Foundation had devoted the 26th edition of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens to this very place, located at the heart of the Brancaccio district in Palermo.
The workshop offers an opportunity for reflecting on and raising awareness of the issue of the traditional peri-urban agricultural landscape of the Conca d’oro, whose peculiar features are preserved exactly at Maredolce, a medieval place from the Norman age, with its gardens and orchards, the palace and the remains of a buhayra, a large artificial lake that although dried up still features an island in its middle and shows many traces of the ancient water system. In fact, the lake used to reflect the building, which was erected in the classical age, redesigned during the Islamic period and was later the residence of the Norman Roger II. It is now undergoing a major restoration work, supervised by the Soprintendenza Beni Culturali ed Ambientali of Palermo.
The work will be approached as a multidisciplinary design exploration to reflect on the history, current layout, future uses and ways to take care of a symbolic place for the relationship between city and countryside. The main topic will be the landscaping redesign of the Maredolce-La Favara complex, with a special focus on the citrus landscape, the historical analysis and creative interpretation of the water system, as well as the layout of the outdoor spaces of the palace, recently restored and to be returned to the city and district of Brancaccio.
Activities
The workshop will occupy five full days from Monday 26th to Friday 30th June 2017. It will be based in Palermo, in the Maredolce-La Favara building and will include seminar type activities, lectures, sites visits, discussions, design, and work presentations. All participants will be issued with an attendance certificate.
Admission requirements and procedures
The workshop is designed to involve fifteen holders of master’s degree or similar qualifications who are interested in interdisciplinary group work. Ideally they should have some experience in the field of landscape research and project design, at university or in a post-university professional context. All participants should have a good command of spoken and written Italian, the main language of the workshop.
Participants will be selected on the basis of the curriculum and application submitted.
The call can be found on the Foundation’s website (www.fbsr.it) or obtained from the Foundation’s offices at via Cornarotta 7, Treviso (open from Monday to Friday, 9am-1pm and 2-6pm).
Applications should give full personal particulars, including telephone number(s), e-mail and postal addresses, and should be accompanied by a curriculum vitae and a short letter explaining the reasons for the applicant’s interest. This material should be sent by e-mail to paesaggio@fbsr.it with the reference heading “workshop 2017”; alternatively it may be sent or delivered by some other means. Applications must reach the Foundation’s offices no later than 12 am on Tuesday 16th May 2017.
The Foundation reserves the right, at its discretion, to increase the number of places available.
Selection of participants
The results of the selection process, which will be carried out by the Foundation, will be published on the website www.fbsr.it by 26th May 2017 and successful applicants will be notified later by email.
Participation conditions
No enrolment fee is payable for participation in the workshop.
The Foundation will make suitable premises and services available for the workshop; it will also be responsible for the ordering and free provision of all teaching and work materials, transfers for site visits and lunch on each day of the workshop. Participants will be responsible for evening meals and accommodation in Palermo.
Further information, including advice on the availability of accommodation in Treviso, is available from the Foundation’s offices.
Lecturers
Thilo Folkerts, 100Landschaftsarchitektur, Berlin
Luigi Latini, Iuav University, Venice (lecturers coordinator)
Tessa Matteini, University of Florence
Coordination of the workshop
Giuseppe Barbera, University of Palermo
Simonetta Zanon, Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche
Scientific Committee of Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche
Maria Teresa Andresen, University of Porto; Giuseppe Barbera, University of Palermo; Hervé Brunon, André Chastel Centre, cnrs, Paris; Anna Lambertini, University of Florence; Luigi Latini (Chairman), Iuav University of Venice; Monique Mosser, Advanced School of Architecture Versailles, cnrs, Paris; Joan Nogué, University of Girona, Catalonian Landscape Observatory; Lionello Puppi, Professor Emeritus, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice; José Tito Rojo, University of Granada; Massimo Venturi Ferriolo, Milan Polytechnic University, and the Foundation’s Director Marco Tamaro (as Secretary) and sector heads Patrizia Boschiero (publications); Francesca Ghersetti (documentation centre); Massimo Rossi (geographical studies); Simonetta Zanon (landscape projects).
Treviso-Palermo, 28th March 2017