Topophilia
The Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens: places, writing and encounters
edited by Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini and Monique Mosser
cover price 30 euros
Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche-Antiga
Treviso 2026
200 pages, 164 illustrations
ISBN 978-88-8435-621-5
the volume is also published in Italian, ISBN 978-88-8435-620-8
(Memorie, 22)
Topophilia. The Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens: places, writing and encounters offers a concise account of the over thirty-year history of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, a Prize that has the unique feature of being dedicated to a ‘place’ and is supported by resolute research work involving in-depth study, travel and in-field exploration that sometimes leads to quite unexpected encounters.
Although steered by a set of regulations and a clear-cut methodological approach, the Prize emerges here as an appraisal in progress, which, as revealed in the early pages of the book, gives prominence to words such as peregrination, topophilia and discovery.
The geographical range of the places awarded the Prize between 1990 and 2024, in and well beyond Europe, is apparent from the selection of texts drawn from the citations written by the jury for each place designated, describing its principal characteristics and explaining why it was chosen, together with illustrations that evoke its distinctive features.
The book unfolds as a sort of travel diary that from the beginning takes the form of a collective discussion, an exchange of insights provided by necessarily diverse disciplines, deliberately brought together to stimulate dynamic research in the field of landscape studies and constantly to challenge the sense of the word ‘garden,’ which the name of the Prize conserves and nurtures as an evolving concept.
The volume Topophilia. The Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens: places, writing and encounters, edited by Patrizia Boschiero, Lugi Latini and Monique Mosser, includes contributions by: Carmen Añón, Giuseppe Barbera, Patrizia Boschiero, Hervé Brunon, Thilo Folkerts, Christophe Girot, Anna Lambertini, Luigi Latini, Domenico Luciani, Monique Mosser, Joan Nogué, Juan Manuel Palerm, Massimo Rossi, José Tito Rojo and Simonetta Zanon.
Contents
Preface
by Patrizia Boschiero, Luigi Latini and Monique Mosser
I. The Carlo Scarpa Prize
Christophe Girot, Landscape Peregrinations
Monique Mosser, Brief reflections concerning topophilia, from quests to discoveries
Luigi Latini, Many places, a single garden. The patient quest of the Carlo Scarpa Prize
Patrizia Boschiero, From the ‘name’ to the ‘mechanism’ of the Prize
The Scientific Committee, the Jury, and the coordination of the Prize
The Prize Regulations
II. The places awarded the Carlo Scarpa Prize, 1990-2024
Sítio Santo Antônio da Bica, Barra de Guaratiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1990; Rosario Assunto, Italian philosopher, special Prize, 1991; Sissinghurst, Kent, England, 1992; Désert de Retz, Île-de-France, France, 1993; Avenue of Heroes, Tirgu Jiu, Oltenia, Romania, 1994; The Forest of Memory, Enskede, Stockholm, Sweden, 1995; The Fresneda in El Escorial, Spain, 1996; Dessau-Wörlitzer Gartenreich, Germany, 1997; Cerca do Mosteiro de Tibães, near the city of Braga, Minho, Portugal, 1998; Cusa Quarries, Sicily, Italy, 1999; The Agdal in Marrakesh, Morocco, 2000; Castelvecchio in Verona, Veneto, Italy, 2001; The Gardens of Prague Castle, Czech Republic, 2002; The paths by Pikionis opposite the Athens Acropolis, Greece, 2003; Kongenshus Mindepark, Jutland, Denmark, 2004; Deir Abu Maqar, Wadi en-Natrun, Egypt, 2005; Val Bavona, Canton of Ticino, Switzerland, 2006; Jasenovac Memorial Site, Slavonia, Croatia, 2007; Museumplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2008; The Otaniemi Chapel, Espoo, Helsinki, Finland, 2009; Dura Europos, the middle stretch of the Euphrates, Syria, 2010; Taneka Beri, village in Atakora, Benin, 2011; Bosco di Sant’Antonio, Abruzzo, Italy, 2012; Skrúður, Núpur, Dýrafjörður, Iceland, 2013; Osmače and Brežani, Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2014; Maredolce-La Favara, Palermo, Italy, 2015; The wild apple forests of the Tien Shan, Kazakhstan, 2016; Lanzarote, Jardín de Cactus, Canary Islands, Spain, 2017; The Céide Fields, County Mayo, Ireland, 2018; The tea gardens of Dazhangshan, Wuyuan, Jiangxi, China, 2019; Güllüdere and Kızılçukur: the Rose Valley and the Red Valley in Cappadocia, Turkey, 2020-2021; Natur Park Schöneberger Südgelände and Berlin’s Urban Nature, Germany, 2022; The Espacio Escultórico in the Pedregal de San Ángel, Mexico City, Mexico, 2023-2024
Places and people, 1990-2026
III. Personal testimonies
Carmen Añón, Discussions and comparisons
Joan Nogué, A Prize to a place
Thilo Folkerts, Setting out. The Prize as a journey
Anna Lambertini, Passaggi-paesaggi/Passages-landscapes
José Tito Rojo, Plants and the Prize
Hervé Brunon, The Prize and the idea of biodiversity
Giuseppe Barbera, Fruits
Juan Manuel Palerm, The architecture, from the place to the landscape
Simonetta Zanon, Gardens and gardeners
Massimo Rossi, Maps
IV. The invention of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens
Domenico Luciani, Places: faces and portraits
Bibliography; The documentary films of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens; The authors; References for illustrations; People and institutions involved in the 1990-2024 awards
