On the side of fire
Rites, approaches and cultivation practices in landscapes
edited by Luigi Latini and Simonetta Zanon
Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche-Antiga
Treviso 2024
192 pages, 120 illustrations
cover price: 30 euro, ISBN 978-88-8435-472-3
the volume is also published in Italian, ISBN 978-88-8435-471-6
(Memorie, 21)
On the side of fire. Rites, approaches, and cultivation practices in landscapes is based on the presentations made at the International Landscape Study Days symposium, organised in Treviso by the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche in February 2023. The volume includes contributions by: Marco Belpoliti, Serge Briffaud and Quentin Rivière, Ignazio Emanuele Buttitta, Leonardo Caffo, Salvatore Caffo, Carlos Casas, Kate Cullity e Marni Elder, Giuseppe Mariano Delogu, Donatella de Rita, Xabier Erkizia, Véronique Mure, Juan Manuel Palerm, Enrico Pau, Rosa Tamborrino and Pelin Bolca, Robin Winogrond.
As wildfires of an extent and intensity unimaginable until just a few years ago occur on a daily basis and all over the world, seeming to announce an imminent apocalypse, as volcanic eruptions, as spectacular as they are destructive, threaten to engulf inhabited centres and devastate the activities of entire regions and the lives of many people – to propose a different approach to fire, as this volume does, might seem oddly provocative. It certainly represents a challenge, because fire is a constant presence in the environment in which we live and it cannot be excluded, or worse still, demonised: one need only think of all the aspects of life on Earth that depend on fire, of the profound bond that ties us to this element from which derives much if not all of what we know and of our civilisation; think too, of course, of the role fire has always played in governing and caring for landscapes.
However, against a backdrop in which human behaviour is once again questionable, this book is an invitation to engage with the element of fire as it relates to the Earth and all its inhabitants, taking account of its ecology, reviving traditional forms of expertise and practice in an inventive, creative way, and doing so with the use of energy sources other than combustible fuels.
Our aim is to nurture a new (or perhaps old) approach founded on a principle of coexistence, not on forms of opposition, with a view to developing landscape planning and stewardship perspectives that are relevant and applicable to the present.
Contents
International Landscape Study Days 2023
Preface, by Luigi Latini and Simonetta Zanon
To rescue fire, Introduction by Marco Belpoliti
Different perspectives on fire
Giuseppe Mariano Delogu, Around fire
Ignazio Emanuele Buttitta, The flames of the saints. Rites and symbolisms of fire in Europe
Serge Briffaud and Quentin Rivière, Burn to protect. The case of the savannahs on the Island of Réunion
Donatella de Rita, Volcanoes in history and in art
Salvatore Caffo, Etna, World Heritage Site
Rosa Tamborrino and Pelin Bolca, Cities, fires and new urban identity. The resilience of Chicago and a comparison with İzmir
Field diaries
Enrico Pau, The fire and its four seasons (a diary of the Montiferru wildfire)
Xabier Erkizia, On my burnt-out diary
Carlos Casas, Fieldworks: Fire
Landscape and garden projects
Juan Manuel Palerm, Eruptions and new landscapes. Planning exercises on the lava from the Tajogaite volcano on La Palma
Kate Cullity e Marni Elder, Fire Stories
Robin Winogrond, Like moths drawn to light. The Fire Ring as social magnet
Véronique Mure, Cultivating the Mediterranean landscape. A project to reduce the vulnerability of land to fire
Melior de cinere surgo, Afterword by Leonardo Caffo
Simonetta Zanon, On the side of fire. Suggestions for further reading
Abstracts
Authors
References for illustrations
Index of names and places
The editors
Luigi Latini is a landscape architect and teaches Landscape Architecture at the Iuav University, Venice. He has been associated with the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, Treviso, since 1998 and he is currently chairman of the Scientific Committee and director of the Foundation.
Simonetta Zanon works for the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche in Treviso, where she is in charge of landscape projects and research.