Tracing the Roots : Delineating the Storied Texture of the Productive Landscapes of Colli Piacentini

Politecnico di Milano School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering – Msc. Sustainable architecture and landscape design

TRACING THE ROOTS DELINEATING THE STORIED TEXTURE OF THE PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPES OF COLLI PIACENTINI

Authors

Ali Reza Hakim - 913225 Federico Sassi - 915460

Supervisor

Prof. Ar. Sara Protasoni PhD, Head of the M.Sc. in Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design, Politecnico di Milano Co-supervisor

Prof. Ar. Elena Vigliocco PhD, Assistant Professor at Department of Architecture and Design, Politecnico di Torino

Thesis - Laurea Magistrale 2019/2020

Abstract Landscape is a complex palimpsest composed not only of physical elements, but also of culture, history, traditions, and people and the productive landscapes of Piacenza are no exception with the earliest records of grape cultivation dating back to 2nd century B.C. The recent innovations in wine industry however have given rise to conflicting socio-environmental issues necessitating giving of poetry to utility of these functional landscapes.

The thesis specifically concerns the precinct of Cantine Romagnoli in Villò, on left bank of river Nure which is a complex mosaic comprising of an incessantly transforming landscape in which all the stages of beginning, climax, and annihilation can be seen at once. The research identifies the narratives of wine cultivation and production, cultural significance, and physical transformations on site in context of relation they have with the diverse landscape typologies which are determined by the changing soil composition. These stories are then narrated through architectural devices designed as art pieces, fixed at a plane on different levels contributing to the site, a shared public realm.

The design aims to enhance the expressive potential of vineyards to positively influence the organoleptic decision by inducing a different conception of landscape, recovering its tangible and intangible value, adding to worth associated to Colli Piacentini wine. The objectives guiding the research to enhance the landscape and environment, concern the sustainability of interventions, safeguard of biodiversity, protection of soil and water, mitigation of climate change; objectives set out in the CAP of European Commission.

A plethora of narratives are evoked using tropes and abstraction of artefacts referring to classical literature, on-site discoveries, and production process. All interventions represent efforts to gather and preserve the remnants of the past within the context of evolving lived-in landscape. People living and working in the landscape, become part of a dynamic history and ongoing narratives. Setting the site in motion the design thus engages both the visitor’s movement through the site and the site’s movement through time. i

Acknowledgements This thesis has been an incredible experience, enriching both of us with in depth knowledge about the subject as well as other valuable skills like teamwork, responsibility, sincerity, resilience and most importantly, friendship. The challenge of working during the Pandemic, was made surmountable through constant love and support of many people. We take this opportunity to express our profound sense of gratitude to everyone whose assistance led to completion of this project, which is an outcome of the combined efforts of many during the most uncertain times.

First and foremost, we thank Politecnico di Milano, for providing an inspiring platform that made it possible to get to know and work with motivated and driven intellectuals; professors, mentors as well as students, and facilitating the research and development of the project.

This work wouldn’t have been possible without the guidance of our principal academic supervisor, Prof. Ar. Sara Protasoni (PhD, Head of the M.Sc. in Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design, Politecnico di Milano - Piacenza Campus) who in spite of her very busy schedule and commitments, always made herself available to guide us throughout the project duration. Her patience with us and belief in this project, that since the beginning turned out to be very unconventional and somehow incoherent to the proposed design brief, is praiseworthy. We feel indebted to her for encouraging us to go out of our comfort zones to explore ideas that otherwise would have seemed impossible to pursue. A personal vote of thanks for always being a reference point, a tireless motivator and for having believed in our potentialities more than we did.

We also express our deepest gratitude to our co-supervisor, Prof. Ar. Elena Vigliocco (PhD, Assistant Professor at Department of Architecture and Design, Politecnico di Torino) for agreeing to take up the role and being a very kind and humble mentor and a rational critic. Her lucid feedbacks have been fundamental for a mere idea to see the light of the day.

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A heartfelt acknowledgement to our families (Federico- nonno Franco, nonna Gabriella, mamma Elisabetta, papá Marcello, and Matteo; Ali- papá Nasir, mamma Shabnam, aunt Veena and iisa) and all loved ones, whose expectations and belief in us always kept us motivated and in high spirit. Thank you for your selfless support in every way possible in this important chapter of our lives and for enriching it with your affection, experience, and curiosity; we are blessed to have your love in our lives and never stop learning from you.

Un sentito ringraziamento alle nostre famiglie (Federico-nonno Franco, nonna Gabriella, mamma Elisabetta, papà Marcello e Matteo; Ali- papá Nasir, mamma Shabnam, zia Veena e iisa) e a tutti i nostri cari, che grazie alla loro fiducia e alle aspettative che hanno costantemente riposto in noi, ci hanno sempre motivati e permesso di lavorare con il buon umore. Grazie per il vostro sostegno disinteressato in ogni modo possibile durante questo importante capitolo delle nostre vite e grazie per averlo arricchito con il vostro affetto, esperienza e curiosità; siamo fortunati ad avere il vostro amore nelle nostre vite e non smetteremo mai di imparare da voi.

Finally, the most special vote of thanks to our amazing friends and colleagues for all their contributions, constant critical feedbacks and peer reviews right from the onset of this journey. Your love and support are really appreciated.

This work has been an unexpected journey, with the pandemic limiting the conventional ways of working, yet a highly enriching experience for us where we explored novel means to work as a team, getting the best out of each other. Stealing the quote by H.E. Luccock “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it”, we duly acknowledge the help and guidance, direct or indirect, of everyone, that led to the completion of our thesis during these testing and unpredictable times.

Ali and Federico

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Contents Executive Summary

01

01 Synopsis

09

02 Narrative Landscapes

19

Theory; Beginning Nature of Landscape Narratives Practices

03 Wine and Landscape

43

Evolution The Reciprocal Interactions Need to enhance the twofold Component of Productive Landscapes Man and Landscape Growing Vines Wine Production Process Fragility of Landscapes Protection of the Landscapes Cultural Significance of wine in Piacenza Economic Importance of Wine

04 Val Nure - Introduction to Site Introduction River Nure Physical Transformations iv

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The Site Site Analysis

05 Case Studies

103

Passage of Time Garden - Anji Archaeology Museum,Hozhou, China Holy Fire Lit Place for the Second China National Youth Games - Ruicheng, China Earth Sciences Garden - Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Museum Park - Louvre Lens Garden, France Renaturation of the River Aire - Geneva Switzerland UNESCO World Heritage Site Jelling - Jelling Denmark Villa Lante Park - Viterbo, Italy Venice Biennale 2012: Eduardo Souto de Moura, Italy Cantina Santa Margherita - Venice Italy Archaeological Museum and Park - Varus and the battlefield at Kalkriese, Germany Langhe- Roero district, Italy

06 Design Philosophies

127

Aristotle’s Metaphysics - Principles of Being Paul Valéry’s - Modern Aesthetic Object Gestalt Psychology

07 Concept Fundamentals - The Design

145

Research Question Goals and objectives Strategy Design Description Conclusion

08 Bibliography

235 v

01

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Image Source - Authors

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Landscape is a complex palimpsest that is composed not only of physical elements of natural or human origin, but also of culture, history, traditions, and people and the productive landscapes of Piacenza are no exception with the earliest records of grape cultivation dating back to around 2nd century B.C. The wine-growing ecosystems that exist today have been created by the centuries old actions of the winemakers, and the contemplation of these vineyard set in a beautiful landscape setting creates feelings that are unconsciously transferred to the perceived quality of wine. There is thus a profound relationship between wine and landscape existing as a twofold component and it becomes a strong suggestive power and of sure advantage for the wine world.

Piacenza has had a long and rich cultural heritage and the wine produced in Colli Piacentini has been at the core of its cultural identity. The story continues, towards a present that fully honors such an illustrious past. Piacenza has around 3,323 vinegrowing estates that produce about 420,000 hectoliters of wine, 56% of it being DOC ranking 16th nationally and 1st regionally among the 360 Italian DOC’s.

The innovations in wine industry over recent decades have set new standards for production giving rise to conflicting aesthetic as well as socio-technical and environmental issues leading to a decline in the production of Piacenza wines stimulating the fading of their significance rooted deep into the history. This decline is compounded by the high-quality wine production of non-European origins, that makes it increasingly urgent to narrate to the consumer all the tangible and intangible factors that make up the wine production.

There is thus a need to adapt modern wine-growing practice to promote cohabitation through landscape design that aims at giving poetry and possibility to very strong forces of utility of these functional landscapes. Attention needs to be paid not to compromise such a fragile palimpsest, offering a rich and contrasting collage, carefully crafted, premeditated, and testimonial to different layers of time and transformations, which penetrate each other to give life to many unique realities.

The knowledge and enhancement of the twofold component of the productive landscapes of Colli Piacentini then becomes a priority for the overall quality of its wines and efforts to carefully safeguard the productive areas are fully justified.

As narrative continues to be primary area of diverse theoretical inquiry and practice in designing landscapes, several critical questions emerge. How can designers create intelligible narratives and to what extent can they control its interpretation?

Since there are many possible and often competing stories and few shared texts, 3

how can one consider what traditions can be drawn upon, and what purposes are served? How open is the narrative to change, reinterpretation and participation?

Addressing these issues, the research establishes the core metaphoric link between ecology and society highlighting the collective, non-hierarchical, and reciprocal relation between the two. It eschews conventional, formalist design as arbitrary and capricious, emphasizing the importance of authorization of all the design interventions within an ecological and cultural discourse.

The design analyses the site in a regional dimension identifying the river Nure as the key protagonist actively carving the valley since eons into its existing form through erosion. The peculiar stratigraphy which is very evident along the banks is studied to better understand the functionality and organization system in human scale to the level of soil textures and patterns. The validity of such discourse is easily demonstrated through the recurring phenomenon evident in landscapes characterized by rivers that define the soil composition which in turn determines the various user activities and organization systems across the landscape. The productive landscapes boost the economy thus benefiting the society and lifestyle manifested primarily through urban expansion. This influences the natural environment which impacts the river itself.

Each element thus holds equal importance in a broader scenario and changing one, sets off a chain reaction affecting all.

These relations existing on site, concealed within the complex palimpsest of the constantly evolving landscape need to be delineated for guiding environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable design decisions. Identifying the urgency to create awareness about these vital relations, the research perceives the diverse narratives thorough reading of the site from all available live and literature sources.

From all this knowledge, the key narratives are then selected based on their sociocultural significance, local, regional, and national importance, and potential to impact the landscape and drive future transformations. These stories are then narrated through architectural devices designed as art pieces, fixed at a plane on different levels contributing to the site, a shared public realm that bridges the physical surroundings to an intangible temporal dimension. Each intervention being open to a plethora of interpretations thus engages a diverse audience based on everyone’s unique interest and is open to change and reinterpretation.

The project specifically concerns the precinct of Cantine Romagnoli in Villò di Vigolzone, on the left bank of river Nure. The project area is a complex mosaic comprising of an incessantly transforming landscape in which all the stages of 4

beginning, climax, and annihilation can be seen at once. The landscape, however, distorts and condenses time to create clear ideological constructs and associations between the various transformations that are constantly shaping new realities.

All the transformations, characterizing a landscape, can thus be perceived as a complex series of interrelated events that can be retold, organized into epochs, and summarized in narratives. The research identifies the narratives of wine cultivation and production, cultural significance of wine and physical transformations that the site has been witness to in context of the rich relation they have with the diverse physical landscape typologies which in turn is determined by the changing soil composition.

The design goal is to align these contingencies toward an overwhelmingly enriching experience and historical march by narrating these stories spanning across the actual geologic, ecological and human processes (story time) in the time it takes to walk across the site (time of narration).

Specifically, the design aims to enhance the expressive potential of the vineyard landscape to positively influence the organoleptic decision by stimulating thoughts and sensations through inducing a different conception of landscape, which fully recovers its tangible and intangible value leading to an added value associated to the Colli Piacentini wine.

The general scope of the research concerns the possible role that landscape design can play in agricultural contexts, developing the opportunities offered by the integration between agriculture and architecture with a view to protecting and enhancing the environment and the landscape. More precisely, the thesis aims at experimenting interpretative categories, methodologies and operational tools to recognize and enhance the specific identity values of the agricultural territories of the Colli Piacentini in relation both to wine production and to the urbanized and naturalistic systems that make up the complex territorial mosaic of the local Piacenza system, as identified by the “National Rural Network” promoted by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies.

The objectives that guide the research as essential elements for an effective project to enhance the landscape and the environment concern the sustainability of the interventions, the safeguard of biodiversity, the protection of soil and water, the mitigation of climate change through the reduction of emissions; objectives set out in the policy documents of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy - Politica agricola comune) on European level. This has been achieved through following: 5

• Creating awareness and changing the commonly held discourses through an ecological (re) reading and design in nature.

• Designing not objects but an experience over time, by implementing visual narratives that have the power to compress time and space.

• Realizing context specific architectural devices authorized within an ecological discourse for facilitating the delineation of the storied texture.

The research enquiring the reciprocal interactions that are promoting a growing interest in the combination of wine and landscape defines a valorization strategy to transform and enhance the productive landscape to ameliorate the quality of production as well as leisure along two “narrative” routes. The first, from the winery leads to the edge of the terrace through the vineyards and works in a narrative dimension emphasizing the relation that links the processes of cultivation and wine production to the landscape of Val Nure. The second one, from the cellars, approaches the river area and narrates the relationship between natural and cultural landscape that is at the basis of the wine-growing tradition of the region. Multiple sequences through the same Landscape are thus concocted, structuring different meanings depending on the direction the visitors choose to follow.

The design reading the existing ecological narrative, “lets the site reveal itself.”

Plant signatures become devices testifying how subtle changes are brought about and occur along the “changing soil composition”. This is followed by overlapping the chosen narratives of changing landscape typologies, physical transformations, cultural significance of wine and its production process, through a complex matrix, thus identifying strategic locations for design interventions. The diverse narrative sequences woven into the design interventions, move back and forth through different stages of succession, to develop themes and break down the complexity and build it back up again into an understanding of the whole. Rather than explaining in words, these design devices structure ways of reading signatures and signs in the landscape.

The design sets up the complex storied texture of the valley as a chronological sociocultural history set against an ever-changing physical landscape. It orchestrates a processional and synaesthetic experience where visitors can feel, touch, hear and smell, and in other ways, connect with a time that once was. It overlays upon the land an ordered version of various events and transformations resulting in a particular organization system. The linear structure of the proposed circulation becomes an ordering device for a sequential experience frequented by designed spaces from which to view the landscape. Disjointed but adjacent information makes for a pastiche of events that are connected following a rational logic than causal. As 6

one walks away from the river, one walks backward in time, crossing a sequence of increasingly older terraces. The site becomes a “regional garden” because the ecological relationships of the region it sits within become the content of the story.

The spatial devices, materiality, and most important the play of textures work together to articulate this process.

The natural topography with an elevation difference of around 60 meters enables way finding by offering the glimpses of the pavilions. The design thus telescopes space and time and gives a clear sense of the direction toward the story’s end.

Despite employing a metaphor that seems more deterministic and linear, the design is not a rigid plot owing to the diagonals and shifts as well as unseen elements that are revealed only in the progression. Each intervention open to a plethora of interpretations, employs sophisticated means of shaping the site to narrate the transformative and cultural memory. The different moments in time and changing soil composition resulting in particular production and other user activities are evoked by sophisticated use of tropes and abstraction of physical artefacts that refer to classical literature, crucial on-site discoveries and wine production process.

The events of the landscape narrative are enchained in a chronological sequence in carefully constructed alliances of causality. It is the volume in all its various spatial and material manifestations that carries out the trope of metamorphoses. It sets off from built concrete, becomes light and sound, and turns back into open spaces defined by rough finished natural materials towards the river. Ten pavilions empower the delineation of the narratives as distinct from an anonymous causality, all recounting how the nature as well as humans play a key role in all of this.

Volumes, forms, and materiality become metaphors of time and transformations, providing significant spatial experiences at first followed by revelation of the other level of meanings. Placement and association order ecological and causal relations.

The trope is primarily metonymic through which diverse ecological manifestations that are easily understood by the visitors give clues to the otherwise unperceivable changing geological compositions. Thus, the interpretations of ecological landscape are presented in fast motion, making the otherwise slow and unperceivable processes of nature visible. The other principal trope is that of synecdoche, where every element is attached to a larger whole. Further, being situated in an essentially productive landscape, the design emphasizes on processes and integration. Exposing the underlying structure of built forms or natural systems or making transparent what was once concealed relates to the idea of integrating nature and culture and making people more aware of their actions and their use of resources.

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The plot of the story creates a comparison between the subjugation of the ancient terraces by contemporary productive landscapes, achieved through labor and art, and that of the wild entropic river ecosystem of a more recent era. The design becomes an allegory asking the reader to interpret the actions of the present in context of the past. By looking up towards the horizon, from the river at the lower terrace, the visitors can look back in time.

All the design interventions essentially represent efforts to gather and preserve the remnants of the past within the context of the formative and evolving landscape.

They are interpreted as part of a whole landscape of change, without controlled distinctions over the diverse lived-in landscape. People living and working in this landscape, become a part of a dynamic history and ongoing narratives. Setting the site in motion the design thus engages both the visitor’s movement through the site and the site’s movement through time.

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01

01

SYNOPSIS

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Image Source - Authors

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INTRODUCTION Landscape is a very complex entity that is composed not only of physical elements of natural or human origin, but also of culture, history, traditions and people. Each landscape is thus, the final result of the interaction between the actions of man and nature and owes its uniqueness and non-transferability not only to a morphology but also to various intangible elements that merge into a very composite action.

Any territory can be defined as a “palimpsest on which all human activities have left their mark” and the productive landscapes of Piacenza are no exception having been under constant transformation by various natural and human factors. The wine-growing ecosystems that exist today have been created by the centuries old actions of the winemakers, and the contemplation of these vineyard set in a beautiful landscape setting creates feelings that are unconsciously transferred to the perceived quality of wine. A positive recollection, synonymous with the perception of a splendid landscape, leads to an organoleptic decision positively influenced by the thoughts and sensations experienced at a given moment. There is thus a profound relationship between wine and landscape existing as a twofold component and it becomes a strong suggestive power and of sure advantage for the wine world.

The location, morphology, climate and dynamic characteristics of the soil are the key natural elements that directly contribute to the qualitative expression of a wine.

The splendour and uniqueness of the landscape is at the origin of a large share of subjective component, that is inevitably present in the organoleptic evaluation of wine.

The value of the vine must not only be recognized by allowing for the sustenance of many generations, but also by helping to characterize and embellish the Italian national landscape with a higher incidence in places where agricultural activity has been more difficult. The diversity of wine-growing landscapes is linked not only to spatial variability, but also to temporal variability. For this reason, the landscape becomes an economic asset not relegated to a few periods of the year, but to a continuous transformation of forms and colors. The landscape should then also be understood as a concrete economic resource and if properly managed can contribute to the creation of income which compensates for the greater burdens that sometimes the care and protection of the landscape impose.

There is no doubt that a modern wine-growing practice must be based on management models that are compatible with quality and economically advantageous, but it must also respect the need to preserve the physiognomy of the landscape. Attention needs 11

to be paid not to compromise such an unstable and fragile palimpsest, offering a rich and contrasting collage, carefully crafted, premeditated, and testimonial to different layers of time and transformations, which penetrate each other to give life to many unique realities. This must also be understood in the broad sense of the relationship between landscape and quality of daily life, which must be able to make use of reference points and historical and cultural values that are not questionable.

An initial evaluation should therefore be carried out on historical-cultural continuity necessary to guarantee a landscape identity and retain biodiversity important for the overall balance of the territory.

JUSTIFICATION Wine, treasured by the Greeks and exported throughout the Roman empire, is entwined with the intangible cultural heritage of European civilizations. Throughout history the art of winemaking has been celebrated, and its development mirrors the development of commerce and civilizations.

Piacenza has had a long and rich cultural heritage and the wine produced in Colli Piacentini has been at the core of its cultural identity with the earliest records of grape cultivation dating back to around 2nd century B.C. With over two thousand years of well recorded history of a quality winemaking tradition, Piacenza has always aroused interest and passion. The story continues, towards a present that fully honors such an illustrious past. In 1987 the Office International “de la Vigne et du Vin” awarded Piacenza the coveted title of “International City of Vine and Wine”, that recognizes the high quality and nobility of the areas’ wines. Piacenza has around 3,323 vinegrowing estates that produce average of 60,000 tons of grapes, resulting in about 420,000 hectoliters of wine, 56% of it being DOC ranking 16th among the 360 Italian DOC’s and 1st on the regional level.

However, the expansion and innovation in this industry over recent decades have set new standards for wine production giving rise to conflicting aesthetic as well as socio-technical and environmental issues. This has led to a decline in the production of Piacenza wines stimulating the fading of their significance rooted deep into the history. There is thus a need to promote co-habitation through landscape design that aims at giving poetry and possibility to very strong forces of necessity and utility of these functional landscapes. This decline is compounded by the high-quality wine production of non-European origins, that makes it increasingly urgent to narrate 12

to the consumer all the tangible and intangible factors that make up the wine production. This value and communicative power will be additional elements to defend and promote the wines in a confrontation that is increasingly aggressive and can no longer be postponed. The recovery, revival and promotion of the historicity and cultural values of these productive landscapes, and a particular attention not to simplify, standardize and impoverish their scenicity, are objectives to be pursued with method and with certain future benefits. The consumer can thus, in the face of a beautiful landscape appreciate wine making as an elaborate form of art, manifesting the identity and authenticity of the place and recognize the effort that the winemaker places in the overall search for balance between business activity and protection of the natural heritage. The knowledge and enhancement of the twofold component of the productive landscapes of Colli Piacentini then becomes a priority for the overall quality of its wines and efforts to carefully safeguard the productive areas are fully justified.

It is necessary to promote not only the wine, but also the territory from which it is born, acknowledging the high value of the unique natural and socio-cultural elements that it has and that fortunately cannot be reproduced elsewhere. If there is a proper protection and enhancement of the tangible and intangible determinants of their viticultural heritage, Colli Piacentini will have a weapon of certain effectiveness against other viticulture not endowed with this potential.

Establishing this close link will be of great help for future programs for the enhancement of the viticultural heritage. While the 20th century has witnessed a rapid and, in some cases, brutal modification of the landscape due to urbanization, the simplification of agricultural production systems, the development of infrastructures and communication routes, a new attention is now emerging for everything that collects the signs of history and nature. Several initiatives contribute to spreading this new need for protection and desire for knowledge and among all, the European Landscape Convention, drawn up by the Council of Europe (Florence 20/10/2000), signed by 33 countries and ratified by 24, is a concrete witness. It is urgent to create a collective consciousness that takes note of these issues, through the awareness of the inhabitants, farmers, young people and the enhancement of private and public initiatives, which have the purpose of qualifying and delineating the merits of the narrative landscapes and countering the trend to its homologation.

Once again, therefore, the effort must be directed towards creating new opportunities and services, which can guarantee man’s permanence in his environment as the custodian of what has been created over the centuries. The change in the perception 13

will contribute to production and commercial structure of the area as well as provide an added dimension to the wine experience for a better expression of the variety for the visitors.

THEME As narrative continues to be primary area of diverse theoretical inquiry and practice in designing landscapes, several critical questions emerge.

How can designers create intelligible narratives and to what extent can they control its interpretation?

What are the potentials and limitations of the designer as author?

Since there are many possible and often competing stories and few shared texts, how can one consider what traditions can be drawn upon, and what purposes are served?

How can narratives create a shared public realm in a diverse, pluralistic contemporary culture?

How open is the narrative to change, reinterpretation and participation?

Addressing these issues, the research establishes the core metaphoric link between ecology and society highlighting the collective, non-hierarchical and reciprocal relation between the two. It eschews conventional, formalist design as arbitrary and capricious, emphasizing the importance of authorization of all the design interventions within an ecological and cultural discourse.

AIM The project area is a palimpsest comprising of an incessantly transforming landscape in which all the stages of beginning, climax, and annihilation can be seen at once.

The landscape, however, distorts and condenses time to create clear ideological constructs and associations between the various transformations that are constantly shaping new realities. All the transformations, characterizing a landscape, can thus be perceived as a complex series of interrelated events that can be retold, organized into epochs, and summarized in narratives. The research identifies the primary narratives of wine cultivation and production, cultural significance of wine and physical transformations that the site has been witness to in context of the rich 14

relation they have with the diverse physical landscape typologies which in turn is determined by the changing soil composition.

The design goal is to align these contingencies toward an overwhelmingly enriching experience and historical march by narrating these stories spanning across the actual geologic, ecological and human processes (story time) in the time it takes to walk across the site (time of narration).

Specifically, the design aims to enhance the expressive potential of the vineyard landscape to positively influence the organoleptic decision by stimulating thoughts and sensations through inducing a different conception of landscape, which fully recovers its tangible and intangible value leading to an added value associated to the Colli Piacentini wine.

Natural sequences and processes, such as changing soil composition, order to entropy, lowland to highland, are some of the many devices used to structure narratives. These processes become not only key players in the plot but also build the content of the story.

OBJECTIVES

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To create awareness and changing the commonly held discourses through an ecological (re) reading and design in nature.

• To design not objects but an experience over time, by implementing visual narratives that have the power to compress time and space.

• To realize context specific architectural devices authorized within an ecological discourse for facilitating the delineation of the storied texture.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS The general scope of the research concerns the possible role that landscape design can play in agricultural contexts, developing the opportunities offered by the integration between agriculture and architecture with a view to protecting and enhancing the environment and the landscape. More precisely, the thesis aims at experimenting interpretative categories, methodologies and operational tools to 15

recognize and enhance the specific identity values of the agricultural territories of the Colli Piacentini in relation both to wine production and to the urbanized and naturalistic systems that make up the complex territorial mosaic of the local Piacenza system, as identified by the “National Rural Network” promoted by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies.

The objectives that guide the research as essential elements for an effective project to enhance the landscape and the environment concern the sustainability of the interventions, the safeguard of biodiversity, the protection of soil and water (avoiding waste and practicing a sustainable use of fertilizers and pesticides), the mitigation of climate change through the reduction of emissions; objectives set out in the policy documents of the CAP of European Commission.

The research enquiring the reciprocal interactions that are promoting a growing interest in the combination of wine and landscape defines a valorization strategy to transform and enhance the productive landscape to ameliorate the quality of production as well as leisure along two “narrative” routes. The first, from the winery leads to the edge of the terrace through the vineyards and works in a narrative dimension emphasizing various elements dictating the organization system of the landscape and the relation that links the processes of cultivation and wine production to the landscape of Val Nure through the realization of some architectural devices.

The second one, from the cellars, approaches the river area and narrates the relationship between natural and cultural landscape that is at the basis of the winegrowing tradition of the Val Nure in the Colli Piacentini region.

PROPOSED SITE The project specifically concerns the precinct of Cantine Romagnoli established in 1897 in Villò di Vigolzone, at the beginning of Val Nure, near the Castle of Grazzano Visconti. The winery is located along the Val Nure road (Sp 654) on the left bank of river Nure and is characterized by a 19th century courtyard building of Gothic inspiration. The project area is a complex mosaic of interlocking landscape typologies each encompassing a unique set of biodiversity, perceptions as well as functions. The site, which at first presents itself in a cover of green land and silver water, is in reality, imposed by a complex grid of exploration or of subdivision. Each layer is a unique palimpsest that prevails as surface and offers glimpses into the past further deepening and fragmenting the grid. The inimitable and changing 16

geographical, geological and microclimatic conditions along the section of the valley support and affect the type and quality of grape vine cultivation and other agricultural practices.

The entropic river landscape is characterized by constantly changing riverbed conditions affecting the vegetation dominated by young white poplars. This is followed by the anarchic wooded area comprising of black locust trees running along the two irrigation canals. Behind the tree line are the bucolic agricultural fields stretching till the second terrace which lead to the landscape bearing the first lucid impression of mankind - the settlements comprising the cantina and the carriageway.

Behind the cellars begin the vineyards (Pinot Nero and Chardonnay grapes) laid out in clear geometric patterns (about 50 hectares), on a clayey red soil (Terra Rossa) which rises from an altitude of 190 to of 230 meters traversed by the Val Nure cycle path (still under construction).

This is followed by a veiled patch of land that is framed between two linear rows of black locust trees at the foot of the third terrace. On the other side is a steep south-east exposed ascent rising for about 40 meters planted with linear rows of grape vines (Malvasia, Barbera, Croatina and Ortrugo grapes) that continue onto the undulating soils of the plateau.

The highest points along the ridge offer very wide and suggestive panoramas of this whole restless maze towards the landscapes of the Emilian Apennines. Further on there are two artificial lakes for irrigation purposes, inserted in a densely wooded area and fed by the smaller hydrographic network: a small circular pool and a much larger mirror. The minor hydrographic network is extremely dense in the whole agricultural territory of Vigolzone and it is affected by a constraint zones for the protection of surface and underground water bodies provided for by the PTCP and the PTPR of the Emilia Romagna Region. The area thus gathers, compresses, and reconfigures the patterns found in the larger landscape into a comprehensible whole, making the site a synecdoche of the region.

METHODOLOGY The design analyses the site in a regional dimension identifying the river Nure as the key protagonist actively carving the valley since aeons into its existing form through erosion. The peculiar stratigraphy which is very evident along the banks is studied to better understand the functionality and organization system in human scale to the 17

level of soil textures and patterns.

Based on this, a general structure of the research is developed focused on understanding and exhibiting how the river works to shape the present landscape from the original pre-agricultural landscape as indicated by the discrete fragments of wilderness left around the area where vineyards terminate.

These relations existing on site, concealed within the complex palimpsest of the constantly evolving landscape are delineated for guiding environmentally, socially and economically sustainable design decisions. Identifying the urgency to create awareness about these vital relations, the research perceives the diverse narratives thorough reading of the site from all available live and literature sources. From all this knowledge, the key narratives are then selected based on their socio-cultural significance, local, regional and national importance and potential to impact the landscape and drive future transformations. These stories are then narrated through architectural devices designed as art pieces, fixed at a plane on different levels contributing to the site, a shared public realm. This is limited by the on-site constraints, existing use and stakeholder aspirations. Each intervention being open to a plethora of interpretations thus engages a diverse audience based on everyone’s unique interest and is open to change and reinterpretation.

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NARRATIVE LANDSCAPES

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Image Source - Authors

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Chapter 1 - Theory : Beginning NARRATIVE Narrative is a comprehensive term that refers to both the story, what is told, and the means of telling, implying both product and process, form and formation, structure and structuration. While every story is a narrative, not every narrative necessarily meets the conventional notions of a story. Narrative is a fundamental way of thinking that is very different from a logico-scientific way of knowing where the end cannot always be predicted or deduced.

Like a language, narrative is a means of communicating. It is the temporal qualities of existence that reach expression through narrative, and narrative is ultimately a language of time. Able to be carried by articulated language, spoken or written, fixed or moving images, gestures, and the ordered mixture of all these substances; narrative is present in myth, legend, fable, tale, epic, history, tragedy, drama, comedy, mime, painting, stained glass windows, cinema, comics, news item, conversation.

Moreover, under this almost infinite diversity of forms, narrative is present in every age, in every place, in every society; it begins with the very history of mankind and there nowhere is nor has been a people without narrative. Caring nothing for the division between good and bad literature, narrative is international, trans-historical, trans-cultural: it is simply there, like life itself.

NARRATIVES IN LANDSCAPE Narratives are also there in landscapes. They intersect with sites, accumulate as layers of history, organize sequences, and inhere in the materials and processes of the landscape. The term landscape narrative designates the interplay and mutual relationship that develops between landscape and narrative. It is not just that “places” serve to remind us of the stories that are associated with them; in certain respects, the places only exist because they have stories associated with them. But once they have acquired this story-based existence, the landscape itself acquires the power of “telling the story.”

Landscape not only locates or serves as background setting for stories, but is itself a

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changing, eventful figure and process that engenders stories. Traces in the landscape hold secrets and invite interpretation. Trees, rocks, ground, weather, or any elements can serve as emblems in a narrative. In this manner people map landscapes into the very texture and structure of stories.

In addition to providing the ground of memory or context, landscape narratives also transgress conventional boundaries of built form. Any site holds memory traces that can be extended through new building episodes. Narrative can thus provide a critical framework for an approach to architecture.

BRIDGING TEMPORALITY AND SPATIALITY There is a tendency to think of narrative primarily as a temporal art and landscape as something visual, spatial, an unchanging background and therefore nonnarrative. However, landscape narratives mediate this crossing of temporal and spatial experience. Through landscape the temporal dimension of narrative becomes visible, and space becomes charged and responsive to the movements of time, plot and history.

There is a great tradition of visual narratives that solves the problem of how to represent time in spatial form. Likewise, specific strategies are also used for interpreting the temporal configurations of landscapes. Singular events such as floods or urban renewal leave their mark in the landscape. Ensembles formed by one building episode or any site carefully restored to a historic period of significance also tell of one moment in time. The sequence of moving through a series of settings becomes analogous to a linear narrative. In this manner the processions through landscapes recount specific tales, allegories, or social narratives. It is harder to apprehend the landscape itself as a sequence of slow events except when process of growth, decay, succession, gentrification, and so on appear as stages, stratigraphies, or soil horizons. Filled with multiple layers of history and simultaneous events in a common context, landscapes seem are like continuous narratives.

Unlike verbal narratives, spatial narratives are silent but persistent. With few protocols for reading a landscape, the viewer enters at different points, is free to pause, take in the whole image, inspect its parts, or review. This changes the traditional

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relationship between author, text, and reader where the author exerts control over the telling. Instead, the spatial narrative is more about showing, surrendering control to the viewer who must put together sequences, fill in the gaps, and decipher the meaning. Rather than a limitation, these conditions offer distinct opportunities for different forms of narratives such as the gathering of past and present into a synoptic view, parallel or intersecting story lines, collages that create nonlinear associations, multiple layers of stories, and narratives open to participants.

MAKING LANDSCAPE NARRATIVES As landscape and narrative continue to be primary areas of diverse theoretical inquiry and practice across disciplines, a number of critical questions emerge. Concerns range from the instrumental (How can designers create intelligible narratives? What traditions can be drawn upon?) to the social role of narrative (How can narratives create a shared public realm in a diverse, pluralistic contemporary culture?) and questions of design ideology (What are the potentials and limitations of the designer as author? How does the generation of stories, fictions, or plots challenge and transform notions of function, determinism, and representation?).

A great diversity of readers, few shared texts and often multiple and competing stories, make the prospects for narratives very subjective and fickle. Also, since certain symbols and references are context specific, familiar only to certain groups, their use can either include or exclude people from reading the landscape.

Since there are many possible stories and versions, it is important to consider whose stories are told, and what purposes are served. In addition, what makes for an intelligible story? This requires understanding of cultural contexts, the shared conventions of reading landscapes. There is also a politics of interpretation to acknowledge. Finally, there is the issue of how much control the designer has over the telling and interpretation of a landscape narrative. What role do users/ readers play in interpreting and constructing their own stories? How open is the narrative to change, reinterpretation, participation? By engaging these questions, landscape narratives can go beyond naive storytelling and become a more significant means of making places.

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EXPLICIT STORYTELLING Perhaps the most direct way to see the interplay between landscape and narrative is in places designed explicitly to tell a story. Like the Gothic cathedral, the garden is a distinct storytelling site. The desire to tell stories is evident in vernacular landscapes as well. The American front yard is a common narrative picture, adapting the received traditions of the pastoral topos and its story of rural escapism and leisure to contemporary situations. The lawn and serpentine driveway recall in miniature a version of the pastoral estates of the English gentry. The yard has also shown the capacity to absorb a great mixture of other stories encoded by emblems of national myths, exotic paradise, local history, and ethnic origins.

IMPLICIT NARRATIVES Narrative need not however, be only conceived as an explicit storyline grafted onto a site as if it were once a blank slate. Narratives are already implicit to landscapes, inscribed by natural processes and cultural practices. As they develop from often competing interests, these landscape narratives often lack clear individual authorship.

Constantly in process of being made and unmade, they become open narratives without the closure and clear plot structure of conventional stories. Therefore, understanding narratives on this level requires more than reading a historic inventory or visual survey. It involves special attention, methods, and time to engage the storied texture of a place. The implicit nature of narratives may be difficult to identify even in cultures which seem to have resisted the fragmentation of modernity.

MEMORY LANDSCAPES As a locus for individual and collective experience, the landscape becomes a vast mnemonic device. Almost any element in the landscape provides access to this memory landscape. Placenames, for instance, become abbreviated histories recording sites of events and activities (Freeport Landing); they mark former landscape features (Wall Street), subjective experience (Desolation Point), encounters with the uniqueness of place (Dancing Rabbit Creek), and specific lives (Washington). While such elements may appear inconsequential on a map, to change or erase them would threaten the structure of shared experience and a belief.

ENGAGING PROCESS Landscape narratives need not be limited to telling what has already happened.

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They can be an implicit part of daily action, exchanges, interpretations and other ongoing processes. narrative is a process continuously moving between a series of interrelated actions. Likewise, narratives emerge from the interplay of natural processes and cultural processes. So often the inscription of stories into the landscape ignores the narratives of the medium itself. Landscape narratives need not be set pieces requiring prior knowledge and controlled readings for their success. Rather, landscapes offer the unique potential to engage narrative as an integral part of ongoing cultural and natural processes.

SUMMARY To conceive of landscape narratives means linking what is often treated as a material or visual scene with the less tangible, but no less real, network of narratives.

Working within the narrative realm provides access to experience, knowledge, the contingencies of time and other aspects of landscapes not available through other means. In turn, working with landscapes offers the potential for unique narrative forms: spatial stories, continuous narratives, or the anchoring of memories and history to sites.

This does not come, however, without challenges as to what constitutes the relationship between reality and fiction, truth and deception. While there is often deliberate intent to pass off the faux for some notion of the authentic, stories and fiction should not be equated with deception any more or less than photographs or maps are. As representations, they all necessarily mediate reality. Binaries of fact versus fiction, or the visual versus the intangible, have been scrutinized as cultural constructs that serve to privilege the scientific over other forms of knowing. The intent here is not to propose narrative as a replacement of or a supplement to rational or scientific modes but as something that crosses, overlaps, and is inevitably inscribed within various discourses.

The real world and a storied world are not mutually exclusive; they intertwine and are constitutive of each other. It is important, however, to attend to how this synthesis takes place. In the ordinary landscape there is no frame. The necessary fictions, histories, and myths that people create and use to make sense of their lives become real and “natural” when encoded into landscape. For the designer, then, it is a matter of not only learning how to tell stories in landscapes but developing a critical awareness of the processes and implications of narrative.

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Chapter 2 - The Nature of Landscape Narratives Rather than reductive, narratives of nature whether in myth or ecology are part of ongoing processes of encounter, interaction and construction of a constantly changing nature that exceeds human attempts to understand and represent it.

RE-FORMING CULTURE/NARRATIVE/LANDSCAPE : THE DEVELOPMENT OF NARRATIVE THEORY Developments in narrative theory have figured prominently not only in literary theory, but across a range of disciplines including anthropology, geography, history, architecture, art, cultural studies, and design. Out of this diverse, interdisciplinary often debatable, and evolving field of thought, can be identified some critical moves that begin to link landscape and narrative: re-describing narrative and landscape as cultural systems of signification, recognizing the importance of context, and expanding the notion of text and the role of readers in the production of meaning.

Contemporary theory enables one to conceive of distinct relationships between culture, narrative and landscape.

THEORIZING LANGUAGE, CULTURE, TEXT The common sense recognition that narratives cross realms of experience and appear in a great variety of forms, including landscape, requires that we re-conceive narrative as a cultural system of signification. Essentially, narratives construct meaning, or signify, much like the cultural system of language. By combining events in sequences to tell a story, narrative is homologous to the combining of words to construct intelligible sentences. Just as language can be communicated in other means besides verbal signs, narratives can be told in almost any means including landscape.

THE (TROPE)ICAL LANDSCAPE “Tropes” are the principal devices or basic schemes for constructing meaning in language, narrative, and landscape. They perform the necessary function of relating 26

one thing to another, the known with the unknown. Their ubiquity is largely due to their persuasiveness. To claim “I see” invokes a metaphor where vision equals understanding, belief, and knowledge. It is a trope used in ordinary conversation, religious faith, and scientific observation. The four major tropes are metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. While they are necessary to construct meaning in any discourse, it is also important to recognize what tropes are used and how they constitute the ways we understand and explain things, as well as their implications and limits.

1. METAPHOR : It operates on the linguistic principles of substitution and similarity. The persuasiveness of metaphor lies in this ability to relate the unfamiliar to the familiar. Metaphors can generate new relationships between elements, but they can also mask qualities of one element with those of another.

2. METONYMY : A metonymy constructs meaning by association. Through repeated use or memory, one thing can become associated with another so that it can be used as a sign of the other. Contiguity is the most basic, yet strongest, form of metonymic relationships. It forms the axis of combination and placement in narrative.

Metonymy is also a dominant trope in landscape architecture. The common objective of relating to context, to what is contiguous, or to the site specific associations is metonymic - as is the semblance of order determined by ecological process. Historic preservation also operates metonymically, preserving the sites associated with certain events, periods, people, and styles.

3. SYNECDOCHE : Synecdoche is the use of a part of something to represent the whole, or of the whole to stand for a part. Synecdoche is a particularly effective device in landscape narrative because it can conjure a whole complex story just by using a piece or fragment from the story. Also, synecdoche is a way of representing landscape systems, often too vast and complex to grasp. Erratic rocks speak of the power and extent of glaciers, plantings of native species recall whole ecosystems.

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4. IRONY : Instead of substitution, contiguity, or a part that stands for a whole, the position of irony is in the in-betweenness of things. It is an affirmation of both/and, as well as neither completely this nor that. Unlike the other tropes that work to convince, an ironic position has a sense of detachment that provokes critique, including denaturalizing representations themselves. Irony is used as a trope in Enlightenment critique primarily to demystify past dogmas, superstitions, and traditions. In a postmodern culture of relativism and unstable truths, irony is a favoured mode that not only unmasks but also masks, splices genres together, juxtaposes fiction and nonfiction, and mixes “high” and “low” culture. Irony can open an intermediary space where existing binaries and hierarchies are questioned and reworked to create more hybrid or plural expressions.

REALMS OF LANDSCAPE NARRATIVE Stories cross boundaries of different realms. They arise out of conversation or centuries of myth, creating imagined worlds. These fictive realms “take place” and are also “built into” the fabric of “real” places. This relationship is explored within three particular realms of landscape narratives; the Story Realm, the Contextual / Inter-textual Realm, and the Discourse Realm The story realm is the world of the story itself. The emphasis is on the author’s/ designer’s intentions to create meaning within the structures of story (event, plot, character, point of view, etc.). However, it is important to see how stories relate to contexts and other texts. The emphasis in the contextual / inter-textual realm is on the role of readers, community, or memory in the making of landscape narratives. The third realm of discourse requires attention to whose story is told and what ideologies or world views are implicit in the telling.

1. THE STORY REALM The term “story realm” designates the world created within a narrative - its content, the story, as well as the means used to shape that world, the narration (telling). In this space we look at how the narrative units of story, temporal order, place, character, agency, and point of view, all work as a system of signification to conjure and sustain a coherent and believable story. The purpose is to conceptualize narrative as an 28

analyzable system whose basic structural components are shared by narratives of all sorts from literary texts, to film, paintings, and landscape.

A. Framing the Story The signs that mark the opening or closing of the story realm can be verbal; gestural, as in ritual acts; or spatial, as in the edges, boundaries, and walls that mark the threshold to different storytelling venues - theatre, park, garden. These signs draw boundaries, creating a space for the story to be told. The boundaries act as explicit signs of narration, separating the narration from the ordinary conversation or context and opening up the possible world of the story. They orient readers as to what kind of storied world they are entering - the gates of allegory personal experience, history, the ordinary, the extraordinary, the scientific, the mythical, etc. These orientations help to establish different expectations conventions and what constitutes truth within the story.

B. Agency, Events, and Characters Within its frame a story begins with an event, a state of existence in time that is then altered, a transition from stasis to process, a metamorphosis. The minimal condition for a narrative is a sequence of at least two events, one to establish an existing situation and one to alter it. Events only happen as a result of some form of agency or characters. In addition to human agency, functions in a story can be performed by objects, abstractions, and natural or supernatural forces. Event, agency, and character are the structural elements of story. A story develops through the placement, combination, and substitution of these elements. To substitute one event for another, leave a gap, or in some way alter the sequence of a story changes the meaning of the story.

C. Time, Story, and Narration A narrative creates a kind of virtual space in time. Access to and knowledge of this realm is through some form of narration. Narration time and story time are integral but different. In stories time can be compressed and expanded, or halted and entered for inspection. The time represented in a narrative may be one week, a moment, or a millennium, but the actual time to tell, hear, read, or in some way experience each of these stories may be just five minutes.

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D. Sequence, Plot, and Spatial Form Events do not just happen in a story-they usually happen for reasons. And those reasons, the issues that the story opens up and that ultimately create closure, become bound up with how events and time are presented and organized in the story. The minimal structure of a story is a two-event sequence. When a story combines more than two events in a sequence, the space of the story expands in scale and complexity.

The beginning and end are still points of resemblance that function as a metaphor asking the reader to make comparisons. A sequence maps out a plot when it can be determined that one event caused another.

E. Complex Forms Stories create worlds that operate according to differences in determinism and contingency or chance. The events and structure of time in ecological nature involve simultaneity, embedding and joining of events to create a complex sense of time and place.

F. Authority and Belief A story implies or makes explicit reference to some form of authority. To a large degree the very purpose of telling the story is to establish belief in these authorities.

An ecological narrative establishes different terms of authorship and belief than the designed garden.

G. Closure and Control of Meaning The pleasure and power of stories lie in their ability to create coherent and believable worlds. This is achieved by the play of the units of story: frame, events, characters, plot, space, authority, etc. All these aspects work to produce and control meaning within a closed system of signification. The character traits and events and their causes in a story make sense within the structure of this system, assuming there is a reader who participates in and believes in the possible world created in the story.

2. THE CONTEXTUAL / INTER-TEXTUAL REALM Despite the illusion of closure, stories are necessarily interrelated with aspects outside their control. The terms-contextual and inter-textual designate a realm of narrative where meanings cross boundaries between the story and sites outside 30

them. Instead of bringing closure, the contextual/inter-textual realm opens a story to multiple readings, references, associations, and constellations of stories. The control of meaning shifts from the intentions of the author to the role of the readers within particular cultural contexts.

There are both intentional relationships between the story realm and its context, and unintentional ones that influence meaning. A story simultaneously carves out a specific realm of events as well as the context for those events. Thus, the context, is actually integral to the structuring of meaning inside the story, and conversely, the story reveals much about the context. The intelligence at work in contextualism is mimetic. Synecdoches also help to connect sites with their context by bringing pieces, fragments, or miniaturized representations of the context into the space of the story. The devices used in a story to bring closure - metaphor, metonymy etc. also have the potential to open other associations, references and codes beyond the intentions of the author. Metaphors have “entailments,” extra connotations that come inadvertently with their usage. in addition, multiple authorship of landscape narratives increases plurality and complexity of meaning.

Reading the Landscape as an Inter-textual Practice : Because landscapes are usually anonymously authored: although they can be symbolic, they are not obviously referential, and they are highly inter-textual creations of the reader, as much as they are the products of the society that originally constructed them. While the meaning is unstable and plural, it is not infinite, because texts also interact with social contexts that work to enable and constrain the range of interpretations. The inter-textual realm of dispersed and unstable meaning can then be grounded in specific social contexts where meaning is not only dispersed but also gathered. In fact, part of the strength of narratives lies in how extensively they become woven into the fabric of a community.

Reading relies on remembering, and memory is an inter-textual realm. The whole landscape can be woven into the texture of memory. Any element - a doorstep, a tree - may provide an opening into this realm. To alter landscapes often erases the locus of shared memory.

In the inter-textual realm we can track how narratives can be discovered and recovered in a variety of forms and practices outside the discrete frames of a story.

Locating the inter-textual realm within social practices enables one to see both the multiplicity of meaning as well as how narratives become a constitutive part of the very texture of landscapes and experience. In the realm of the inter-textual, readers 31

make stories their own, through experience, interpretation, memory, and landscape.

It is important for designers to understand these relationships. First, recognizing that the reader actively produces a given narrative avoids a naive approach to symbolism.

Second, designers can begin to engage the process of landscape narrative as connected to social practices. This means discovering the existing social frameworks of intelligibility and looking at the landscape as inter-woven with a set of narratives dispersed throughout a community.

3. THE DISCOURSE REALM A discourse is a “social framework of intelligibility” that influences all practices of signification, including narrative and landscape. Discourse focuses on the uses of stories, the purposes to which they are put, and the institutions and the worldviews they create and sustain. Since narratives help to establish systems of belief and authority, they reproduce relationships of power in a society. Often dominant groups tell their story in the landscape, controlling interpretations as well as preventing others from making history.

An understanding of the role of discourses within narratives enables one to identify the positions from which a story is told, examine the values that inhere in the telling, and constantly test how different positions interrelate, compete with, or complement one another in the shaping of the landscape and culture.

Naturalizing Discourse: Facts do not speak for themselves. It is how they are put together and used within discourses that they gain their authority and status as facts. And metaphor and narrative are necessary part of these discursive practices. Discourses of nature and history naturalize the practices that maintain the community.

Denaturalizing Discourse: Because landscapes materialize beliefs, yet become so taken-for-granted, denaturalizing is an important and critical act. There are several strategies for opening the discursive space of narrative. One need only to locate discourses in history and place to show that they emerge and change in relation to changes in societies. Another method is to examine how a narrative is used, who uses it and why, who benefits from its use, and what authority and institutions are reinforced or 32

subverted by its use. What appears convincing and natural in dominant discourses can be challenged by alternative readings. Irony in particular, is an effective trope for unmasking and denaturalizing.

SUMMARY It is important to name the multiple realms of landscape narratives, track their interrelationships, and understand how we engage them. The power of the story realm lies in the devices that create a coherent sense of closure, an ordering of event, time, and place created and controlled by the intent of the designer. The vector of meaning created by the alliance of designer and reader is centripetal, inward toward determined meanings. Yet, that inner world is necessarily related to and draws its meaning from worlds outside of the story. A narrative is brought to life and proliferates in the multiple and “real” contexts of its readers. A web of relationships working centrifugally outward from a narrative creates interpretive communities, and the landscape provides multiple openings for stories and memories. By definition, landscapes and narratives are inter-textual creations. Finally, the discourses inscribed in both the story and its contexts reveal the necessary fictions for creating and maintaining social worlds. Discourse requires critical understanding of the positions from which a story is told, as well as constant testing of the metaphors and tropes used to construct that reality against other descriptions of the world. This is an initial framework for understanding the implications and potentials of the stories we tell and the landscapes we make.

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Chapter 3 - Practices The practices of Naming, Sequencing, Revealing and Concealing, Gathering, and Opening are the most fundamental to narrative. Every practice is also a literal means of physically communicating narrative as well as a metaphor for narrative. Naming is the simplest way that stories are anchored to place. Names are abbreviated stories of discovery, biography, and identity. Sequencing the ordering of names, trees, paths, and other elements, events, and characters, structures meaning, for every part is understood in terms of what comes before and what follows. Concealing and revealing information, whether in a decipherable sequence or all at once, creates drama, suspense, or surprise that engages the reader with a story. Narratives are also a way of gathering or drawing together broader experience into a tangible and cohesive place. Finally, opening involves ways of creating places responsive to cultural and natural processes. All of these practices cross and intersect. some of the richest and most complex works engage many practices at once.

NAMING Names have the power to evoke narratives. Without altering a leaf, stone, street, or anything physical, naming completely changes the semantic register of places, fixing them within a system of values. The named site also becomes a storied place, inadvertently carrying the trace of its own inception, the story of how it got its name, legend, exploration, settlement history, anecdote or rumour. By attaching the site to stories through the strategy of naming, it becomes possible to give an expanded temporal dimension.

SEQUENCING Every place, from the intersection of a busy street to a clearing in the woods, represents the junction of countless stories. Even in a single spot, a sequence of events has unfolded and continues to unfold. And even the still person viewing the panoramic landscape witnesses all the implied past and future changes in flux in that passing moment.

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A story begins with an event, a state of existence in time that is bound to change.

The change may be sudden or cataclysmic or it may be a barely perceptible shift in routine. Any two events can make up a narrative sequence, one to establish an existing situation and one to alter it. This may be as simple as bringing the old into direct contrast with the new, or compressing otherwise gradual and unobservable changes of a landscape into a clear moment of contrast. The contrast of beginning and end creates speculations about what happened, for between the juxtaposition of two events lies a story. Although events may be independent, the suggestion of causality once those events are placed in a sequence is powerful. In the landscape, assumptions regarding causal relations are often made based on spatial proximity.

The suggestion and presumption of causality by proximity means that narratives are constantly and unconsciously evoked in the landscape.

Narrative sequences one word after another in a sentence one event after another in a story one element after another in a landscape Narratives can be suggested by the simplest juxtaposition and do not necessarily require either a conscious ordering or defined causal relation. Even the most ordinary event can take on an extraordinary meaning depending on its placement within a sequence.

Another fundamental concept related to the ordering of events is that story time and narration time are independent variables in the making of landscape narratives.

Narration time in the landscape is rarely controlled by the designer. Narrative sequences in the medium of the landscape differ from those in other mediums because the participant moves through the medium itself at his chosen speed while potentially engaging in various activities. Conversely, the medium is also constantly undergoing either a subtle or obvious change as a result of human Interaction and natural processes.

The three factors that may be subject to sequencing in architecture or landscape architecture are space, movement, and event. The sequencing of space includes formal and physical aspects of the space. The sequencing of movement, includes aspects of rhythm and speed. An event relates to what happens in space through various movements. A continual sequence of events - climatic, physical, and biological - alters the landscape itself. Together these factors of space, movement, and event consummate sequential and narrative experiences.

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CHRONOLOGICAL PLOTS THAT ORDER A DISORDERED WORLD In all landscapes where layers of events have taken place, a story is a way of untangling the layers into sequences that make sense. The everyday sequences of people’s lives, their rituals of travelling from home to work or their journeys through their yard or neighbourhood, are a way of making sense of the landscape.

The integration of figure/plot and ground/story represents a significant change in the way landscape is understood and interpreted. Through the constant revising, reinterpreting re-enacting, retelling, and reshaping of the narrative, the landscape is set in constant motion. The landscape as ground becomes figured through story.

PERIOD AND PROCESS Although we tend to see landscape as a static and permanent scene, a superabundance of small events and gradual changes characterize landscapes.

Invisible grinding, erosion, and decomposition, as well as the visible flow of water and seasonal changes, are potential figural unifiers that structure sequences. The natural processes also become metaphors that expand the meanings of the narratives. The landscape is always more than a static backdrop, and efforts to clip, trim, prune, restrain, divert, or otherwise control it only slow down otherwise inevitable changes or cause a new web of events to follow.

TWISTED TALES In some narratives the past does not lead to the present nor the present to the past.

Time is indefinite or cyclical. Events may be overlaid, simultaneous, and open to infinite interpretations. Twisted, crossed-over, and forked paths, as well as spirals, labyrinths, mazes, open fields, or vast forests, present plot potential for open sequences that involve exploration. These open landscapes don’t necessarily lead to a canter or an end.

REVEALING AND CONCEALING The practice of revealing and concealing can be approached by exploring three fundamental ideas connected to landscape narratives: first, the idea of secrets or hidden information, second, the idea of transparency; and finally, the idea of 36

masking and unmasking Information, identity, and meaning. Each create specific relations between the author and the reader. Secrets imply that something is known yet deliberately concealed for various purposes ranging from affecting emotion to holding power to creating suspense. A reader engages in the narrative to uncover and decipher the secrets. In the case of transparency, the author, by opening up the information to the reader, invites the reader to figure out the processes and structures at work. Masking and unmasking goes back and forth to open up the paradoxical space between what is hidden and what is seen. This tricky practice emphasizes the role of the designer to construct complex images, and the role of the reader to inquire about the mask and what lies beneath it. Physical forms and processes, metaphysical ideas, associations, hopes and fears, and political ideologies are all embedded in the landscape and wait to be deciphered.

SECRETS The practice of controlling what gets seen and what gets hidden continues to be fundamental part of the landscape architect’s picturesque approach to the analysis and design of a site.

Building Suspense: Creating secrets and sense of mystery builds suspense and creates opportunities for personal revelation as well as revelation of the spirit of place. There is a distinction between suspense and surprise. The effect of suspense, unlike that of surprise, could be experienced repeatedly and is therefore more enduring. Suspense is much more about experiencing the process of exploration or detection than it is about reaching the end.

The Genius Loci: The picturesque iteration of the idea of genius loci articulated by Alexander Pope in 1731 implies that the landscape holds hidden spirits or qualities waiting to be discovered. Much like the romantic narrative references to Gothic castle architecture of the Middle ages, Genius Loci refers longingly to spirits of the past animated by legend. This idea, rekindled during the picturesque movement, continues to be important to landscape architects and other interpreters of the landscape who believe that there is more to understanding a site than recording grades, viewsheds, drainage, and functional use. For them each place has a residing invisible spirit and an underlying natural order that must be revealed, searched for, listened to, felt, or understood by careful observation.

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TRANSPARENCY In contrast to romantic and picturesque ideology, which provokes the imagination with sense of mystery, modernism emphasizes laying bare underlying truths and order. Part of what is made transparent in the modernist landscape is the medium itself: the drainage patterns, plant ecology, erosion, geologic formation, and other natural processes as well as man-made infrastructures controlling water, energy and waste that are often kept out of sight.

By portraying the gritty, everyday circumstances of life, these projects seek to demystify romantic notions of nature and challenge the clean images that dominate the landscape of early modernism. Thus they begin to bridge relations between culture and nature.

Revealing Infrastructure: “Masking” of infrastructure systems is not only misleading or impractical, for it “multiplies the task of maintenance and renovation beyond comprehension”. The concealment of technological features implies a certain dishonesty, denial, and guilt. Scenic management practices that conceal visual problems may mislead the public by disguising the origins of the real problem and making society ignore the consequences of its consumption.

Transparency is key to sustainability: The movement towards a sustainable world must include the peeling away of intervening Images between landscape function and landscape experience. Opacity and fakery in the landscape ultimately only serve to perpetuate the unsustainable status quo.

Transparency and truth can give communities the power to make more responsible decisions. Thus the significant sources, paths and transition points of our collectively owned resources should be made legible in the landscape.

The Paradox of Transparency: Although making energy and waste systems more apparent can effect a greater awareness about culture’s interconnections with ecology, there is a certain irony to the fact that what becomes visible and familiar often becomes invisible over time.

What we see the most we may appreciate the least.

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MASKING AND UNMASKING Masking and unmasking open a middle position between a total relativism that negates truth and the desire to find truth and so create a provisional truth shaped by multiple perspectives. Masking is a way of accepting the unknowns, doubts, and necessary fictions of life, and unmasking is a way of seeking more complex answers to questions. In the landscape, the characteristics of nature may be masked but not completely concealed. Natures potential for uncontrolled growth is implicit in the artificial restraint of growth. Masking and Unmasking is not just a game of tricks but a necessary means of denaturalizing and decoding as well as recording and encoding meaning.

GATHERING Gathering is a significant means of making narratives and landscapes. Any narrative, no matter how simple, is more than just a scattered series of events, but a “grasping together” of events, characters, processes, and place into meaningful configurations. Likewise, the configurations of landscapes reflect the interconnection of natural and cultural processes.

The three manifestations of gathering are - the miniature, where larger ideas and places are compressed into smaller contained and identifiable spaces; the souvenir, where a piece or a part acts, much like a synecdoche, as a reminder or representation of a larger event or place; and the collection, where many pieces are assembled in an ordered way, revealing narratives of the collected and collector.

These three concepts often occur in the landscape together. Gathering is a way of regaining, remembering, preserving and re-creating what is desired or lost, as well as a way of creating a more coherent world.

Remembering the events of life is often triggered by associations with the sense of a place, its rhythms, seasons, light, sounds, activities. If what gives a landscape its character is removed, the collective memories that evolved with the landscape may be forgotten.

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OPENING The idea of open landscape narratives, places with multiple stories shaped by plurality of voices, is partially important in the context of growing trend to create closed narratives: theme parks, theme restaurants and malls, and gated communities.

These places can silence or displace diverse voices, erase layers of history and complexity of associations, and draw distinct boundaries between them and the living, changing, growing places they simulate.

Closed

Open

Represented experiences

Lived experiences

Determined

Indeterminate

Commodified

Participatory

Private

Public

Separately framed

Integrated

Selected time frames

Layering of multiple times

Scripted

Non-scripted

Intended and encoded meanings

Possible and decoded interpretations

Author controlled

Reader interpreted

Story space

Discourse and inter-textual space

The idea of open narratives derives from contemporary theories that stress the importance of the multiple, contextual, and changing nature of meaning as well as the role of the reader in producing meaning so that the vitality of the work is created by the active and multiple engagement of the reader.

Open and closed can be differentiated in terms of the level of choice, ambiguity, and potential for exploration. Opening is a strategy for denaturalizing established ideologies that appears natural, inherent, or closed to interpretation. Finding and 40

negotiating the multiple and interrelated stories of place is a way of challenging privileged points of view and questioning what is taken for granted. The landscape too, may be taken for granted, and opening is a means for challenging conventional notions about its value and use.

Thus opening landscapes begins with understanding the site as an intersection of layers of stories connected to other stories. It is not only the people who live in, work in, experience, and remember the landscape that create ever-changing and multiple meanings, but also the medium itself, which is constantly shifting due to natural events and processes. Although closed narratives may be unified, they also exclude aspects that make landscapes so vital-the messiness and risks of ordinary life, the diversity of social experience, the incompleteness of history, and the dynamics of nature.

EXCHANGING STORIES Opening the interpretation of landscapes to wider perspective changes how a site is understood. The stories of the lesser known are more often found through hearing oral histories, reading personal diaries, and spending time exploring a place and listening to people than in looking at published maps and history books.

LOOSENING CONTROL Instead of univocally retelling stories, designers can potentially open places to a dialogue between diverse narrators. When voice is given to the community, the traditional division between artist and viewer, or designer and community, blurs.

Loosening control over who represents and shapes the landscape is therefore a key means of opening narratives.

OPENING DISCOURSES As more voices participate in the interpretation of landscape, complexity, conflict, and the potential for dialogue increase. When the telling of stories is opened up to a wider range of perspectives, the meanings of place do not cohere into a unified view but branch off and overlap with each association. Where the stories of ordinary or less powerful people such as coal miners, migrant workers, servants, crop pickers, and battlefield nurses combine with the stories of company owners, landowners, military officers, and war heroes, the designer must decide whose story is told and how it is told. By asking these sometimes difficult questions and realizing that there 41

is no one version to tell, designers are more apt to make places that connect in meaningful ways to the community around them.

COUNTER NARRATIVES Countering popularly accepted narratives with a conflicting version opens a discourse about what happened and encourages a critical evaluation of any “given story”.

LEAVING SPACE FOR ONGOING DISCOURSE Un-programmed places, which act as settings for activities rather than scenes with regulated and programmed activities, attract people to participate in their own way.

BREAKING THINGS UP Breaks in the unity of structure can become openings for interpretation. Deconstruction challenges concepts of composed, unified, and ordered world and provokes more complex and contradictory conceptions of the world. Although the philosophical underpinnings of deconstruction can be nihilistic, given the intentions to make no sense and no coherent meaning, the ideas ironically illustrate constructive means for making places more open.

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03

WINE AND LANDSCAPE

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Image Source - Authors

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Chapter 1 - Evolution Wine, treasured by the Greeks and exported throughout the Roman empire, is entwined with the intangible cultural heritage. Its trade dots the landscape of the ancient world. Throughout history the art of the grape has been celebrated, and its development mirrors the development of commerce and civilizations. Over the centuries the industry has expanded, and innovation has set new standard for production. But even today the art of wine and its essence, lies in the process and its “journey from vine to wine”.

Wine can hold different meanings for each of us. For some, it is only a simple fermented grape juice beverage to be enjoyed with the meals. For others it is a commodity, something sought after and collected. Yet for many wine remains intimidating.

Figure 1 : Map showing the two belts between 30o and 50o latitude North and South where most grape vines are grown owing to the temperate climate and moderate rainfall that the grapes need to flourish.

Source - Authors

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The specie of grape which has proven best to produce wine is called Vitis vinifera which means literally the wine grape. Virtually all wine grapes used today stem from Vitis vinifera also called the noble grape. Most wine grapes are grown in two belts around the globe. between 30 and 50 degrees latitude North and South. These regions have the temperate climate and moderate rainfall that the grapes need to flourish. The cycle also includes a beneficial winter season because grapevines need a time to rest between crops.

It is not just innate factors like geography and selection of a proper site, but also required factors like the skill of the growers and winemakers which are equally important in determining the character of the finished wine

Chapter 2 - The Reciprocal Interactions The centuries-old actions of the winemakers have built the wine-growing landscapes existing today, and the contemplation of a vineyard set in a beautiful landscape context generates emotions that are unconsciously transmitted to the perceived quality of the wine. The evaluation of merit assigned to a wine inevitably has a share of subjectivity that emerges and is quantified when the mind recovers moods and feelings related to that wine. A positive memory, linked to the vision of a beautiful landscape, therefore corresponds to an organoleptic judgment conditioned favorably by the emotions and sensations acquired in a given moment.

The objective image of the physicality of the landscape, enriched by the scenography of the moment (colours, brightness, volumes, etc.), leads to a visual perception that is elaborated, immediately memorized and easily recovered at the moment of tasting.

Sight is no longer just an organ of perception but becomes an element of judgment in close connection with taste and smell, but everything originates from the visual subject, in this case the vineyard and its surroundings.

There is thus a solid relationship between wine and landscape, and it becomes a strong suggestive power and of sure advantage for the wine world. If the expressive potential of a beautiful landscape is high and able to positively guide the taster, then this also turns into an added value given to the wine and its surplus will be equal to the emotions it manages to convey.

Chapter 3 - Need to enhance the twofold component of Productive Landscapes The location, morphology, climate and dynamic characteristics of the soil are the main natural elements that directly contribute to the qualitative expression of a wine.

The beauty and uniqueness of the landscape is at the origin of a large share of subjective component (brand, fame, territory, elegance of packaging, promotional messages, etc.), that is inevitably present in the organoleptic evaluation of wine. The 46

knowledge and enhancement of this twofold component of the productive habitat then becomes a priority for the overall quality of wines and efforts to carefully safeguard the productive areas are fully justified. The recovery of the historicity and cultural values of our landscapes, and a particular attention not to simplify, standardize and impoverish their scenicity, are objectives to be pursued with method and with certain future benefits.

The present times characterized with high quality wine production of non-European origin, makes it increasingly urgent to transfer to the consumer all the tangible and intangible factors that make up the wine production. This value and this communicative power will be additional elements to reward and defend the wines in a confrontation that is increasingly aggressive and can no longer be postponed. In addition, in the face of a beautiful landscape the consumer can also recognize the effort that the winemaker places in the overall search for balance between business activity and protection of the natural heritage.

Quality and the environment, uniqueness and the landscape, will then be the levers on which to act to differentiate and characterize even more our products. It is necessary to propose not only the wine, but also the territory from which it is born, aware of the high value of the natural elements that one has and that fortunately cannot be reproduced elsewhere. If there is a proper protection and enhancement of our viticultural heritage, one will have a weapon of certain effectiveness against other viticulture not endowed with this potential.

Other considerations related to the economic value of the landscape would take us a long way and on evaluations that are not easy to understand. For example, we are starting to discuss how much it costs to maintain the landscape, what the economic value actually produced by the landscape is, whether the artisanal value of a wine (produced in a small family business) is also directly linked to the landscape. These and other questions are part of a growing interest to which different disciplines are approaching, testifying to the importance and topicality of the subject.

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Chapter 4 - Man and Landscape Landscape is a very complex entity that is composed not only of concrete elements, but also of culture, history, tradition and people. All these elements merge into a very composite action and the result of the interactions between the actions of man and nature conceives landscapes. The landscape tells us about the life, feelings and history of its people, while the forms and lines are the work of man who has acted and made its environment productive. Thus, the cultivation techniques, the interventions of the fields, the relationships and contracts between property and labor with the relative cultivation units, as well as the obligatory nature of some agricultural crops, are the elements that over the centuries have modified the regional agricultural landscapes to the point of giving them their present characteristics.

Landscape archaeologists state that “the territory is a palimpsest on which all human activities have left their mark”. Over the course of different eras the landscapes have often changed their appearance and have not always presented attractive and scenic features. In fact, the rural environments have often been characterized by a stunted self-sufficiency with unattractive outlines. The work of man, however, is always the first element responsible for the landscape that becomes a mirror of his actions and, as Leopardi said: “a very large part of what we call natural, is not, rather it is artificial.

So that the sight of every country inhabited by any generation of civilized men is an artificial thing, and very different from what it would be in nature. Michelangelo also recalls in this regard that: “the artist, with his art, must give that grace and perfection that are outside the order of nature, which ordinarily does things that are not beautiful”, and in an even more explicit way we therefore recognize the role of man in building his places, in this case significantly positive. This leads one towards a better understanding of the uniqueness of landscapes and their nontransferability, linked not only to a morphology but also to a history and a cultural past rich in traditions. The full and modern enhancement of the wine production must also pass through the proposition of landscapes to which the vineyard, with its history, form and geometry, confers a scenic setting that is difficult to replace and almost never imitable. The wine-growing landscape, the climate, orography and soil impose cultivation techniques that are calibrated and programmed from time to time for specific environmental realities. The vine grower, with his commitment and dedication, is therefore the main actor in the vineyard landscape, to which he has given form and harmony as a result of the interaction between the natural elements and his actions.

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Chapter 5 - Growing Vines SOIL MORPHOLOGY

Figure 2 : Layered Stratigraphy evident along banks of River Nure Source - Authors

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Over the centuries, man has had to make every effort to use his land for his own purposes. There are therefore lowland environments where the cultivation of the vine has not encountered obstacles and has developed over large areas without the need to intervene heavily on the morphology of the places. Even in these cases, however, the arrangement of the fields still required the adoption of a design necessary to ensure the disposal of rainwater (surface arrangements together with drains and main ditches) and the transit of wagons. In this way, some of the interventions necessary for these purposes were studied and applied, which were then widely diffused; among these, the proda, bolognese, ferrarese and padovana arrangements were the most

widely used and all accumulated by accentuated balusters on the surface of the plots.

However, there are also the productive realities of the hills, in which the winemaker had to modify more the forms of the environment found to make it suitable for his purposes. Revolving systems, horse-riding systems, standing systems, systems with steps, terraces or edges, with connected shelves or with level pits, are all examples of a centuries-old commitment to “taming” the environment, while at the same time injuring it with a new, more orderly, harmonious and pleasant aspect. One must therefore recognize the merit of the vine not only having allowed the sustenance of many generations, but also to have contributed to characterize the national landscape with greater incidence in places where the agricultural activity was more difficult.

The vine, therefore, as a means, but also as a main element in the creation and embellishment of the national territories.

Traditionally grapes were grown on tracts of land that were left over when better soils were used to farm grain and vegetable produce. Today many of the worlds grape growers believe that poor soil produces the best fruit. Soils that are un-hospitable and very low in nutrients force the roots to go very deep which result in the quality of fruit produced. Although soil conditions vary widely across the globe, but there can also be dramatic differences in the same vineyard. The differences in soil, the climate and even the microclimate around the vine, influence the character of the wine produced.

TRADITIONS Italian viticulture originates from two different viticultural approaches: Greek and Etruscan; two different origins for different environments, with an evolutionary history characterized by distinct social realities for a current landscape with identifiable physiognomies. The first is characterized by a farming technique in which the vine is cultivated low, suitable for southern drought environments, where the main antagonist is the lack of water. Production is limited and of high quality to produce sweet and fortified wines. The Etruscan model is characterized by the presence of a live support (then the poplar), for the larger size of the vines and for their greater height. This is the prevailing technique in central and northern Italy, with Campania acting as a line of separation between the two types, which have remained uncontaminated to this day without integrating or hybridizing. Over time, the vine resting on the living support becomes more orderly and geometric, with rows of plants to which the vines are married, connected to each other to form festoons. The presence of rows of vines clinging to a living support (maple, mulberry, elm, ash, willow) is the element that 50

has greatly characterized our viticultural and agricultural landscape in general and that for centuries has marked the contours of the plots and dominated the rural scene. The necessary specialization in cultivation, which viticulture slowly began to achieve around the 1930s, the changed conditions of the domestic economy and relations with the owners, the introduction of mechanical means and the industrial development of the 1950s and 1960s have led to a gradual replacement of the landscape of the planting with a landscape in which the vineyard has a more precise physiognomy and where the living guardian is replaced by the dry pole. This transformation has been more rapid for the hilly environment, where the specialized vineyard occupies increasingly large spaces, giving more and more precise notes to a careful look. The evolution of viticulture in recent decades has often affected the way in which the vine and therefore its forms are bred, but the greatest development in the vegetative development of the Etruscan tradition remains fixed. Even the new systems of soil preparation, which favour tractorability, give the landscape a new aspect formed by more regular and symmetrical lines.

It is an evolution that brings new physiognomies, the result of a natural development of agricultural activity and its work. The vine in the environment of southern Italy preserves a permeation of historical tradition that is expressed in an ancient knowledge and a perfect fit into the cultural and natural characters. In recent years, even the centre-south has experienced a fair and long-awaited development of viticulture but has preserved the wisdom that comes from a stingy land furrowed by generations of winemakers. However, in Roman times, Egypt introduced a new way of raising vines that provided for the creation of a more or less inclined horizontal roof: the pergola, that spread over the centuries to follow in Veneto (pergola veronese), Trentino (pergola trentina), Val d’Aosta and Emilia Romagna (pergola romagnola).

In its various expressions, the pergola helps to characterize the viticulture of many areas and its forms well shape the hilly humps or the plans.

MATERIALS The landscape is also characterised by the shapes and colours of the materials used in winegrowing, which are usually easily available on site. The scenario can therefore be significantly typical and local based on the structures and architecture resulting from the use of simple and often very poor materials. The delimitation of the properties, the supports for the vines, the materials used to build the rural dwellings, for the consolidation of the terraces, of the edges and of the roads of 51

communication, are all examples of a mark that the landscape assumes and that will bind it to the material of which it is richer.

HIDDEN LANDSCAPES The wine-growing landscape is made up of scenery, views and colours, but the small details of the vineyard can revive distant, perpetual or hidden landscapes. This is the case of the examples, which recall the attentive spectator to the passage of the ages and seasons, to the intimate vitality of the vine, but above all they bring him back to a silent landscape that few know how to discover. The landscape must therefore be experienced and touched by hand, not appreciated only through the filter of communication that cannot fully grasp it.

If the landscape is synonymous with culture, history, nature, it is also true that its power of attraction is given by the physicality of the forms and the changing colors so changeable with the passing of the months. The diversity of wine-growing landscapes is linked not only to the variation of sites (spatial variability), but also to the passing of the seasons (temporal variability). For this reason, the landscape never disappoints its viewer and becomes an economic asset not relegated to a few periods of the year, but to a continuous transformation of forms and colors. Tourists, aesthetes, enthusiasts and passers-by will always find a landscape in movement and becoming with the annual cycle of the vine. The landscape should then also be understood as a concrete economic resource and if properly managed can contribute to the creation of income. Wine-growing activities are thus enriched by an additional contribution, which compensates for the greater burdens that sometimes the care and protection of the landscape impose.

VINE CULTIVATION ACROSS SEASONS Once a new vineyard site has been selected and cleared, the vines are planted after careful analysis of the many growing conditions like the ground conditions, atmosphere, weather, drainage etc. While the usable harvest takes at least three years, growers sometimes wait decades for the wine to yield its highest quality fruit giving way to the saying “ the older the vine, the better the wine”. Older vineyards care for the harvest differently than the more recent ones by shifting their energy 52

away from creating vegetation, to looking after the fruit from a slightly earlier time all the way till maturity. This is found to give better flavour, more complexity and more density to the wine.

Spring marks the beginning of a new year in the vineyard which is often celebrated across various cultures. However the work on the vineyards actually begins months before. First the vines are pruned to remove unnecessary canes resulting in fewer but larger bunches of ripe grapes apart from controlling the shape of the vine. Next the shoots are tied to the appropriate wires on the trellis structure that support the vine to produce optimal fruit. In late spring the growth cycle begins with flowering.

Most grape vines are self pollinating. As the season progresses, the health and development of the vines and fruit are constantly monitored. The objective is to improve the yield and overall quality of the fruit by maintaining good ventilation within the volume and maintaining the fruits exposure to the sun. Often the spraying of fungicides, herbicides and pesticides is necessary to control disease and pests.

Their use however is discontinued well before the harvest. The alternative used, virtually in all parts of the wine world is employing organic viticultural practices. This approach based on prevention involves plantation (like daikon, radish, bell beans, oats etc. ) between the vineyards that provide nectar attracting predatory insects to keep the pests under control. Some vineyards also incorporate use of pheromones to disrupt pest reproduction.

Throughout the entire growing season, a process called canopy management is employed to remove excess vegetation, directing all the vines energy to the fruit.

Also leaves around the grape bunches are removed to allow more sunshine on the fruit for better ripening. At various stages of growth immature grape clusters are also removed to direct more nutrients to the remaining bunches that eventually leads to even harvest with all clusters having about same ripeness.

As autumn approaches, the grapes begin to ripen changing from hard green berries to yellow green, pink and soft blue colours of ripe grapes. this transitional stage is when more sugar is produced and stored within the berries. Since early autumn, grapes are checked on daily basis for an appropriate balance between the sugars and acid. Unlike other fruits grapes don’t continue to ripen once they are picked from the vine, making its very critical to select an appropriate moment to harvest.

A heavy rainfall during the harvest phase especially in cold climate regions can advance rot and disease or waterlog the fruit which dilutes the sugars.

Once the sugars in the grape have reached their peak, the harvest begins. This is 53

Figure 3 : Cover crops - View of vineyards in spring with rows of flowers between the grape vines Source - https://www.pinterest.it/ pin/278378820695150377/

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a time of frenzied activity as communities come together to make the years wine culminating the months of hard work in the vineyards. Manual harvesting, a process as old as wine making itself, is still the best method for selecting and picking the grapes for many produces. However mechanical harvesters unmatched in their efficiency are employed in immense vineyards necessary for large scale production.

Chapter 6 - Wine Production Process The arrival of the fruit to the winery marks an important transition in the winemaking process as it marks the beginning of the transformation of the fruit through vinification into finished wine. First the stalks are removed by passing through a crusher destemmer that also lightly cracks the skin of the grapes. Unlike the reds, white wine grapes are directly transferred to a wine press. Exerting gradual pressure on the grapes, the press separates the liquid from the solid matter. The resulting liquid is called the must containing water, sugar, acids and flavour compounds.

At every step in the process random tests are performed to access sugar level and acidity that gauge the overall quality of the juice.

The must is pumped into tanks for fermentation made from a variety of materials ranging from stainless steel to traditional wood to lime concrete. The tanks are usually geared to the size of the wineries production ranging from the giant industrial containers to the small vats housed within boutique wineries. Cultured yeast is added which more efficiently converts the sugars into alcohol. Fermentation of white wine takes place at cooler temperatures than the red and the process can last up to three weeks. The cooler temperatures within the tanks aid in preserving the delicate fruit flavours that distinguish white wines. Sometimes the tanks are also used for extreme cooling in a process called cold stabilization. The temperature inside the tank drops well below zero degree to crystallize the naturally occurring tartaric acid onto the tank walls. If left in the bottle, these harmless crystals called wine diamonds could be perceived as a quality defect.

Interestingly, the juice from most grapes is white, making it possible to make white wines from red grapes. However the red colour of the red wine comes from the red skins that also has about 95% of the flavonoids. On being fermented for 2 to 3 days, the colour from the skins go into the wine making it red. The essential difference in the making of red wine is that the must ferments in its own skins to extract pigments,

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tannins and flavour compounds. As with whites, red wine making begins with the grapes passing through a crusher destemmer. the grapes are not pressed though.

Instead, both the skins and juiced are pumped into vessel together for fermentation.

Cultured yeasts may also be added to red wine to control the process and to produce specific flavour characteristics. The fermentation of red wine ranges from 2 to 14 days. But the biggest difference is the extraction of colour, flavour and tannins from the skins called maceration. The longer the skins are left to soak in their must, the more intense the wine will become. As red grapes ferment, their skins rise to the top forming a cap or crust which is traditionally frequently punched down extracting more from skins. Alternately, in a process called pumping over, wine is drawn from the bottom of the tank and pumped over the skins to achieve the same result. Once the colour and concentration of wine is satisfactory, the liquid, now called free-run wine is separated from the skins in the tank. The skins and grape pulp are removed by hand and transferred to press where they are squeezed under high pressure to extract remaining liquid. This concentrated wine called press wine may be blended back to achieve the desired balance.

With the alcoholic fermentation complete, the juice gets converted to wine. However to balance the acid content of the wine, it is put through a phase called malolactic fermentation especially important for red wines from cooler climates. It comprises of conversion of the malic acid to a weaker lactic acid that provides a softer effect in the mouth using bacteria as the catalyst.

Finally the aging process begins where the wines’ final flavours begin to transform and develop. Aging periods can vary from six months to several years and may include treatment and new wooden barrels to impart flavours usually from French or American Oak. The choice to use new oak barrels to add extra dimensions of flavour to the wine is a personal one on the part of the wine maker and if they decide to do so, the country of origin and even the forest the wood comes from makes a significant difference in the wine. The barrels are toasted inside to caramelize the wood adding a toasted or even smoky flavour to the wine. Based on their experience and understanding of how oak is going to impact a different wine varietal, winemakers use this as a part of the palette to select from. The aging process is entirely dependent on the style of the wine being made. But even in the most inert of processes, the winemaker is still at work refining his product through clarification.

As wine ages in the barrel, sediments consisting of dead yeast cells, tannins and grape fragments are produced and the wine becomes cloudy. These are removed through a process called clarification in which a fining agent like egg white is deposited in the 56

barrels to capture the suspended particles. the heavier solids then fall to the bottom of the barrel and the clearer wine is carefully removed and transferred to a clean vessel in a process called racking. the most efficient method of removing unwanted particles is filtration and the wine may undergo several stages of refinement. Each time the wine is pumped through porous materials, trapping particles in the filter membranes.

Every wine has its own character, a unique personality based on the varietal type, the vineyard location and the vintage year. But these subtle variations can challenge a winemaker who is expected to deliver consistent wine styles from one year to the next. in a process called blending, the winemaker combines wines from different vineyards or grape varieties to achieve a consistent and complimentary blend.

Finally the wine is bottled, sealed, labelled and packaged for shipment across the globe. However the finest wines are often returned to the cellar after bottling and locked away for further aging. This maturation process allows the wines’ flavours to transform and develop further and with some reds, the harsh tannins to soften. The greatest wines may be cellared for decades before they reach their peak.

From simple beginnings, wine evokes a wide range of emotions for the collector, the enthusiast and the novice. With each bottle of wine being opened, a unique expression of the “terroir” and the craft of the winemaker can be experienced. There is an appreciation for the winemakers craft that takes simple fruit and transforms it into a complex and fragrant beverage. Every bottle has a story to tell and it is the memory of that journey from vine to wine that is celebrated in each glass that is raised.

Chapter 7 - Fragility of the Landscapes There is no doubt that a modern wine-growing practice must be based on management models that are compatible with quality and economically advantageous winegrowing but must also respect the need to preserve the physiognomy of the landscape. Systems must therefore be put in place to guarantee the efficiency of the planting and the economic compatibility of its implementation and management, but at the same time the conservation of the soil heritage and the landscape context must be safeguarded. An excessive alteration of the original morphology of the surfaces is accompanied by frequent environmental disruptions (erosion, landslides, 57

loss of biodiversity, reduction of agronomic fertility, etc.), which can always be traced back to the degradation of the soil. Aware that the territory, of which the landscape is a component, must evolve with man and his activities, the irreversibility of some of man’s actions must always be present, whose incisiveness can permanently hurt and modify the beauty of the landscape. The landscape being made up of culture, history, nature and human activity, attention must be paid not to compromise such an unstable and fragile set of tiles, which penetrate each other to give life to many unique realities. The commitment to protect and safeguard the landscapes must not be lent only to a few exceptional realities to be embalmed and wine-worn from every point of view, but one must find the right way to canvas all the landscapes of our territories, ensuring a guided evolution and consistent with a modern feel and act. This must also be understood in the broad sense of the relationship between landscape and quality of daily life, which must be able to make use of reference points and historical and cultural values that are not questionable.

In a concrete way, it will then be possible to comment that the specialized vineyard must be included in this set of natural and human elements, integrating itself in a balanced way with the various aspects of the landscape and with the modern needs of the viticultural activity, without becoming a dominant element that imposes itself and creates dissonances. An initial evaluation should therefore be carried out on the size of the plants that must respect the local historical tradition. Especially in the north of our country, where the residential nucleus was based on a subsistence economy with small areas arranged for family self-sufficiency, the planting of vineyards of exaggerated dimensions does not marry a historical-cultural continuity necessary to guarantee a landscape identity. The large areas are also synonymous with excessive homogeneity and monotony of the eye, with a trivialisation of the boundaries and disappointment of the expectations of the viewer. An evolved viticulture such as the Italian one, can afford to pay attention to these aspects essential to create movement and scenery. Consumers will be able to appreciate and reward these efforts with a feeling of trust and loyalty that they will show with a greater presence and propensity to consume. Another consequence produced by plants that do not respect the relationship with the landscape, is the reduction of plant biodiversity so important for the overall balance of the territory. The more the landscape is deprived of its typical elements (arboreal species, shrubs and consequently animals), the more the flattening and “artificiality” will prevail over a more attractive, rhythmic and original view. A more complex and diversified arboreal and animal composition, the preservation of the lines and forms built in the past will increase the power of attraction of the landscape with positive repercussions on the evaluation of the entire territory and the emotional states that it transmits. A sensitivity that bases its 58

creation on culture and tradition, combining new production needs with respect for the naturalness of the places, can hope for a result rich in an extra value to be spent in relationships with users of the territory. The viticultural activity must be brought to pay attention also to the small details that in various ways disturb and harm the landscape heritage.

Chapter 8 - Protection of the Landscapes Wine has an indissoluble connection with the territory and encloses the emotions transmitted by the shapes, colors and hospitality of the landscape. Verifying this close link will be of great help for future programmes for the enhancement of our winegrowing heritage, which must therefore also include the analysis of interventions that generate degradation, in order to mitigate or avoid them. The aims are to stimulate, promote and induce a different conception of landscape, which fully recovers its value and its potential in proposing the environments and the national wine sector.

While in the 20th century, through urbanization, the simplification of agricultural production systems, the development of infrastructures and communication routes, we witnessed a rapid and, in some cases, brutal modification of the landscape, a new attention is now emerging for everything that collects the signs of history and nature. Several initiatives contribute to spreading this new need for protection and desire for knowledge and among all the European Landscape Convention, drawn up by the Council of Europe (Florence 20/10/2000), signed by 33 countries and ratified by 24 (in Italy the convention has been operational since September 1, 2006) is a concrete witness. In this context, a new definition of landscape has been elaborated that attests: “Landscape designates a certain part of the territory, as it is perceived by the populations, whose character derives from the action of natural and/or human factors and their interrelationships”; moreover: “This convention applies to the whole territory of the Parties and concerns natural, rural, urban and peri-urban spaces. It includes terrestrial landscapes, inland and marine waters. It covers both landscapes that can be considered exceptional, and landscapes of everyday life, as well as degraduated landscapes”; finally, the purpose of this Convention is “to promote the preservation, management and planning of landscapes and to organize European cooperation in this field”. It is therefore clear that we can no longer shirk respect for this great work of man’s actions, which have intervened on a natural basis that can be shaped but can no longer be reconstructed. It is urgent to create a collective

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awareness that takes note of these issues, through the awareness of the inhabitants, farmers, young people and the enhancement of private and public initiatives, which have the purpose of qualifying and understanding the merits of the landscape-wise and countering the trend to its homologation.

Another aspect that assumes increasing importance is the conservation of the landscape implemented by contrasting the abandonment of rural settlements and promoting instead the sustainability of marginal agricultural activities. Especially in hilly areas, where winegrowing becomes more expensive in its management and scarcer in terms of quantitative results, very often we see a disaffection in its management as a result of a reduction in profit margins. If man does not live in his landscape and his activity does not allow the preservation of his historical and landscape roots, there will be a loss of cultural and environmental identity. The settlement has helped to create and preserve the landscape, the lack of human presence, instead leaves nature free to act to take possession of its space. Once again, therefore, the effort must be directed towards creating new opportunities and services (Roads of wine and flavours, educational paths, etc.), which can guarantee man’s permanence in his environment and with it the custody of what has been created over the centuries.

Chapter 9 - Cultural Significance of Wine in Piacenza Wine, treasured by the Greeks and exported throughout the Roman empire, is entwined with the intangible cultural heritage of many civilizations. Its trade dots the landscape of the ancient world. Throughout history the art of the grape has been celebrated, and its development mirrors the development of commerce and civilizations. Over the centuries the industry has expanded and innovation has set new standard for production. But even today the art of wine and its essence, lies in the process and its “journey from vine to wine”.

Piacenza has a long history and tradition of viticulture. Some archaeological findings indicate the presence of Vitis Vinifera in Piacenza hills in remote ages between 10th and 7th century B.C. It is a land where the Paleoligurian, Etruscan and Roman populations planted vines. A land from which the Latin legionaries, the Gauls and

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the Celts made their wine. With two thousand years of well recorded history for a quality winemaking tradition, Piacenza has always aroused interest and passion

Figure 4 : Dionysus and Satyriscus.

The God of wine is crowned with a wreath of ivy and holds a vine in one hand and a drinking cup in the other. - ca. 490-480 B.C Source - https://www.theoi.com/ Gallery/K12.6.html

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GREEK-ETRUSCAN CULTURE The origin of the history of Piacenza wines is based on the knowledge of the Greeks.

It was with the Iron Age, in the first millennium BC, that the inhabitants of the earthquake piles near the Po emigrated to the Piacenza hills, founding the important cultural and spa center of Veleja and planting the first vines. Between the 4th and 2nd centuries B.C. the Gallic populations came down to the Po Valley (Gallia Cisalpina)

and brought their winemaking knowledge there, including a new object and a new way to store wine and transport it: the wooden barrel, much more strong and robust than the well- known terracotta. The Etruscan Saserna, the most famous farmer in Piacenza, in the 2nd century B.C. said that at his table they drank Kilkevetra, the wood wine of the Piacenza Apennines.

LATIN CULTURE Piacenza wines must have already been more than famous in Roman times. There are rich documents and precious finds like the numerous shards of wine vessels that emerged in Val Trebbia and Val Nure along with the Latin classics to support that.

One such classics reports that even Cicerone spoke of the wines of the territory when in the Senate of Rome he addressed his opponent and colleague from Piacenza Pisone (father of Calpurnia , wife of Julius Caesar) accusing him of drinking too large glasses of Piacenza wine.

Licino Sestulo, preached in the forum that “vinum merum placentium laetificat”, meaning that the schietto (frank) wine of Piacenza helps to calm the spirit. Also The rich forging of the first large gutturnium glass certainly dates back to this historical period, in the heyday of the Roman Empire .

VELEIA ROMANA Plinio, in naming the most famous eighty Italian wines in Roman times, mentions the quality of a Placentia wine that was tasted at banquets in Veleia. Also, the ancient village of Vigoleno, today a village of well-preserved houses with a castle and medieval walls, derives its name from the Latin Vico Lieo which means “village of Bacco”, as a metaphor to the pagan god of wine being at home there.

Also in Veleia Romana, in 1760, a stupendous bronze statue was found depicting a drunken Hercules (Ercole Ebbro) on a small marble pedestal: dated 1st century AD. It presents an inscription by the writer Lucius Domitius Secundinus dedicated to the Sodalicium which had as its emblem the ‘Ercole Bibace and who gathered the lovers of good and sincere local wine. It could therefore be said that the first and oldest association for the protection, dissemination and promotion of the quality of Piacenza wines was founded in Veleia about two thousand years ago.

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THE GUTTURNIUM The most important oenological find in the Piacenza, is undoubtedly the famous vase or mug called gutturnium, the silver mug with richly worked handle, which resurfaced, or was rather casually fished, among the silty sands of the Po - in Croce S. Spirito in 1878 by a fisherman. The gutturnium can be called the first tastevin of the world.The gutturnium was filled with wine and at the end of the dinner the guests took turns drinking the sip of friendship. The rite, in a later period was also defined as the “glass of the stirrup”( “bicchiere della staffa”), or the last drink before leaving on horseback with feet already tucked into the saddle bracket.

The holy Irish abbot Colombano had a great influence on the viticulture of the hills and mountains of Piacenza. In Bobbio, in the upper Trebbia Valley, he founded before the 7th century the monastic order which for seven centuries governed and instructed the mountain populations in the cultivation of fields, but above all of the vine. The indices of nobility of Piacenza wines are thus found almost everywhere in history.

WINE OF THE POPES The Piacenza wine was cherished and desired by the Popes as well as the nobility alike. The pontifical steward Sante Lancerio writes in one of his memoirs from 14th century that Pope Paul III drank Piacenza wines “and even sent for some”, if he were in Ferrara and Bologna. Between one masterpiece and another, the great Michelangelo was also refreshed with the wines of the Colli Piacentini, who received them in barrels by Giovanni Durante from Piacenza. In the “De Naturali Vinarum Historia” (1596), Andrea Bacci an Italian philosopher, doctor and writer, lauds the quality of the wines of the Piacenza area, defining them as “vina valida, synceriora ac multae laudis” underlining their strong and unique taste.

WINE OF THE KINGS King Charles III of Spain after tasting the Piacenza wine exclaimed that “They are excellent wines! I never drank better ones in my life ”. Furthermore, ancient documents and chronicles of the time show that in the second half of the 1600s 63

Piacenza wines were also exported to France.

The wines of Piacenza were not lacking even at the imperial table of Napoleon, who sent them to his Parisian court from Piacenza together with a large quantity of cheeses and cured meats.

But also Charles III of Bourbon, the last duke of his family in the ancient Parma states, supplied himself with wine in Piacenza, becoming a great entrepreneur among the illustrious guests to whom he offered it.

THE “FIRST” NOVEL WINE AND OTHER STORIES A red wine from Piacenza in 1869 was in a small selection of the best Italian wine production and was among those exhibited in Switzerland and France in 1872.

FROM 1900 TO TODAY The story continues, towards a present that fully honours such an illustrious past.

In 1911, a prestigious red wine from Piacenza obtained recognition and a special prize at the Turin International Exposition, selected from the best eighteen national products present. The Ministry of Agriculture, in drawing up the first list of typical and fine wines in 1914, included in this important list a fragrant and fruity red, full-bodied, noble, Gutturnio. In 1987 the Office International “de la Vigne et du Vin” awarded Piacenza the coveted title of “International City of Vine and Wine”, a prestigious qualification that recognizes the high quality and nobility of the areas’ wines.

The territory of the Colli Piacentini is a strong attraction for tourists for the beauty of nature, for the presence of works of art, castles, churches often of Romanesque origin, museums and historic villas.These special riches, combined with local gastronomic and oenological knowledge led to the establishment of the “Road of Wines and Flavors of the Piacentini Hills” in 2000

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Figure 5 : Cultural significance of Wine in Piacenza – The International City of Vine and Wine Source - Authors

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Chapter 10 - Economic Importance of Wine NATIONAL SCALE Italy is home to some of the world’s oldest wines and finest wine producing regions.

The most recent productive year was 2018, when production increased from 52.9 million hectoliters to 56.6 million hectoliters. Before that, the most significant production was in the year 2000 with 54.1 million hectoliters of annual wine production. With a minor difference, Italian viticulture operated on 692 thousand hectares in 2000, while today the productive hectares are 629 thousand, that is about 9% less.

The positive difference is primarily noticed in the category of white wines (30.6 million hectoliters), DOC wines (22.9 million hectoliters) and table wines (17.8 million hectoliters). From a geographical point of view, the most promising data are obtained from the two most active areas, Veneto and Puglia, which reported a production rate 50% higher than their 10-year average.

According to production subdivision by quality group, the DOC products accounted for 42% of total production (among the highest levels ever recorded), whereas IGT production decreased to 25% of production. In fact, the 13.5 million IGT hectoliters were 2% below the historical average. With 17.8 million hectoliters, table wines comprised 33% of production.

During last years, owing to the boom in sparkling wines, the rising exposure of Italian production of white wines has also been confirmed. On the other hand, the production of red wines is 10% above the average.With a value of 6,2 billion euros generated on foreign markets, the whole sector shows a high tendency for exports.

This has led to the recorded peaks of excellence in the segments of DOP/IGP wines and sparkling wines, with a 58% and 63% predisposition to export.

Italy’s wine production volumes have been very plentiful in the last years, with a global production of 50.4 million hectoliters, higher than the previous years’ level.

Italy is thus confirmed itself as the world’s leading producer of wine for the fourth consecutive year, with a contribution of approximately 17% to world production.

In particular, DOP wine production increased while IGP reported a more confined 67

increase. In DOP and IGP wines, Italy holds the world record for certified wines with 523 certified products: (DOP and IGP). In Europe 1 certified wine out of 3 is produced in Italy.

The top four wine producing regions (Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Puglia and Sicily) add up to 60% of national production.Due to regional or seasonal factors, there have been shifts among these four regions over the years for the total production, but the pattern is reasonably homogeneous in the long term.In terms of extension, Emilia Romagna represents one of the largest wine-growing regions, with about 60,000 hectares of vineyards. The regional area is approximately 50% flat, 25% hilly and 25% mountainous reaching 2000 meters above sea level in the TuscanEmilian Apennines. Therefore, the distribution of the vineyards is about 75% in the plains, 20% in the hilly areas and 5% in the mountains (between 400 and 600 meters above sea level). The 60,000 hectares of vineyards in Emilia-Romagna, produce over 6 million hectoliters of wine. Emilia Romagna has the highest yield per hectare in Italy, mainly because of the extensive cultivation of flat areas. However, a different approach has been followed in the hilly areas, more focused on quality than quantity. The climatic characteristics of the territory, give rise to different wine regions, proceeding from west to east and thus approaching the milder areas of the Riviera Romagnola.

There are two distinct geographical and cultural areas in the region: Emilia, in the western part of the region, and Romagna, in the eastern part of the region. The two areas are distinguished by the grapes that are grown and therefore the wines that are made from them. In last years Emilia-Romagna has been the highest Italian wine-consuming region. According to data published in the recent ISTAT report, 62.5% of citizens in the region consumed more wine than any other Italian region during the last years. In particular, it seems that the biggest consumers in EmiliaRomagna are those between 55 and 65 years of age. Emilia Romagna is thus not only first in term of wine consumption, but also in terms of its production.

REGIONAL SCALE Following the national tendency, in Emilia Romagna, wine production is also shifting to white wine, which reached 4.1 million hectoliters and 56% of the total in 2018, certainly at an all-time high.On the other hand, red wine at 3.2m/hl is in line with the historical average, although it is also rising +21% in 2017. Therefore, white 68

wine hit 56% of total production compared to the 50-51% average observed in previous years. Also, production of table wines has been important, establishing Emilia Romagna as the northern region with the most table wines.

Compared to 40% of IGT wines (2.9 m/hl) and 22% of DOC wines (1.6 m/hl), table wines grow to 38% of production (2.8 m/hl). This change is also the result of a greater penetration of white wines into the lower categories (only 11% DOC) compared to red wines(35% DOC).Currently Emilia-Romagna produces around 30 IGP wines with a production value of Euro 394 million. Modena is the first province with Euro101,4 million, followed by Piacenza, that is represented by a production value of Euro 67,1 million of IGP wines.

PROVINCIAL SCALE Viticulture started to play a key role in the landscape and economy of Piacenza province from the mid-16th century onwards and continued to grow in importance until it stabilized in around the first decades of the 20th century (the century in which we see the progressive withdrawal of vine, which leaving the plain is now cultivated promiscuously in the medium and low hills).

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the cultivation and winemaking methods were always primitive because the harvest was carried out with grapes not yet mature. There were also several vinification errors due to the lack of selection of the harvested grapes and due to the conservation of the must in barrels that were too old. A few years later, around 1880/90, a remarkable advance was noted, when the priority was not only given to the grapes’ quality but also to the time of harvest, wise selection, use of appropriate vessels, scrupulous control of fermentation, drawing off in due time and use of outstanding corks.

Colli Piacentini is the area where the Gutturnium was discovered, a silver mug that gave its name to the most famous wine of this area, Gutturnio, produced with Barbera and Croatina grapes. Also interesting is the Vin Santo of Vigoleno, produced in limited quantities from aromatic and non-aromatic white grapes.

In the Piacenza area, the most common vines are the black berried ones, the Barbera and the Croatina which characterize the Gutturnio DOC and partly the Bonarda. As white grape varieties, one finds the aromatic Malvasia di Candia and the white 69

Moscato, in addition to the native Ortrugo grape. Foreign grape varieties are also common, such as Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio, Riesling Italico and Müller-Thurgau.

In Piacenza area, there are about 3,323 vine-growing estates that produce average of 60,000 tons of grapes, resulting in about 420,000 hectoliters of wine. Most vinegrowing estates produce their own wines directly, although only part of the grapes is made into wine. Nearly 1,400 estates have wine-making plants and equipment for the production and the bottling of wine. The average yearly production of DOC wines in the last three years is about 226,000 hectoliters, about 56% of the total production in the province.

DOC Colli Piacentini ranks 16th out of the 360 DOC (2% of the total Italian production) and 1st on a regional level (17% of the total region of Emilia-Romagna is produced here).The wines which better identify the area of Piacenza and have the main share of the market are Gutturnio and Malvasia di Candia Aromatica with a production of about 5.4million and 2.0million bottles.

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Figure 6 : Economic Importance of Wine – National and Regional scale Source - Authors

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04

VAL NURE INTRODUCTION TO SITE

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Image Source - Authors

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Chapter 1 - Introduction Val Nure is one of the central valleys of the province of Piacenza and offers marvelous landscapes to admire. The valley takes its name from the river Nure, which runs along it and is interspersed with beautiful villages. It is a valley rich in history: the first inhabitants of the valley were the Ligurians and Celts; the Ligurians also began to exploit its mineral resources. The Romans founded new settlements with bridges and communication routes, having invaded the region. The Val Nure road was animated from the 13th century by caravans of Ligurian and Piacentine merchants carrying their goods to several places and this countryside became a trading point and market for Ligurian and Po Valley’s products, especially oil and cereals. It is also possible to deduce the importance of these trades from the names attributed to the route: Via dell’Olio was for the Piacenza inhabitants and Via del Pane for the Genova inhabitants.

Figure 7 : Productive Landscapes – The 4 Valleys of the province of Piacenza Source - Authors

Legends Val Nure

The Valley has been the site of conflicts in modern times that had the French soldiers and the Austro-Russians soldier as protagonists. Nure valley was also the scene of partisan wars. The valley winds through enchanted villages and populated centers that attest the ancient traditions of the valley; from the village of Grazzano Visconti, founded in the late nineteenth century in medieval style to restore the prestigious tradition of local craftsmanship and transfer it from generation to generation, to the centers of Ponte dell’Olio and Bettola, that represented the hub of commercial activities between Piacenza and Genova since the Middle ages. Going up towards Alta Valnure, landscape is characterized by wild and evocative places, where nature still maintains a leading role today, creating environment rich in vegetation and interspersed with several lakes including Lago Nero, Lago Moo and Lago Bino, in addition to many streams that flows into Nure River.

Wine Producing Areas Colli Piacentini PDO Gutturnio PDO Gutturnio DOP type Riserva and Classico Riserva River Po River Nure Other Rivers

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Cultural background of Val Nure led to its establishment as one of the most important regions in the Piacenza province renowned for its tangible and intangible heritage.

Trade markets, that have been developed during centuries, were able to enrich and reinforce local culture and cuisine as well as other allied activities such as agriculture and the consequent innovation in that field. Most relevant innovation, from a social and economic point of view, was the introduction of vine cultivation that emerge along the whole valley during the end of 1800’s. This tradition sinks its roots in roman times when a monastic order governed and instructed inhabitants from Piacenza’s

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Figure 8 : Collage highlighting the splendor of natural and built landscape of Val Nure across different seasons Source - Authors

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hillside in cultivation of the vine. Till date, this practice is still characterizing the Valleys economy and landscape, and is one of the main incomes for the whole province, dominating the typical bucolic landscape of Val Nure. Villò and Cantine Romagnoli, located in the first stretch of Val Nure hills, cover some of the most wineproductive areas producing the most excellent wines of Piacenza, most of them being “DOP” certified as Colli Piacentini DOP, Gutturnio DOP and Gutturnio DOP Riserva and Classico type.

Chapter 2 - River Nure Nure River is a small tributary of Po river. Originating from Monte Nero in Ligurian Appenines at an elevation of 1700 meters above sea level, Nure is the second longest river in Piacenza Province. Along its 75 kilometers course, it takes water from its 9 tributaries, and finally flows into Po river 10 kilometers east of Piacenza.

Compared to the white-water stream that tumbles down the Monte Nero in northern Apennines, the meandering course of River Nure as it reaches the plains to join the Po river seems tamed. However, it is the river with its water continuously flowing for geological time frame that has carved the splendid Val Nure renowned for its picturesque uncontaminated nature and medieval villages. The changing geographical, geological and climatic conditions as well as drainage patterns across the valley have dictated the system of current organization of the landscape into settlements, agricultural fields and vineyards with remaining fragments of wilderness testifying this transformation.

Chapter 3 - Physical Transformations The whole valley is constantly affected by physical transformations. These alterations can have two main characters, they can be natural processes or human inflicted. They differ from each other by their nature and by their action time. Natural processes influencing and changing drastically the environment over geological time, are primarily caused due to erosion by natural forces like water, wind, friction and solar exposure. Human interventions indeed, are also able to change the landscape and the ecosystem, however, over a shorter time period making them more perceivable.

NATURAL PROCESSES OVER GEOLOGICAL TIME The envisaged landscape evolution of the project area can be explained by base level lowering following the formation of the peneplain, causing the incision of river, which to date has generated a local relief of around 65m. During periods dominated by lateral erosion the river eroded flat surfaces into the bedrock covered by fertile

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fluvial sediments rich in iron deposits (terra rossa). The general soil type is a medium mixture of colluvial origin composed by deposits accumulated due to erosion from atmospheric agents. While on the hills, the deposits are thin, superficial with partially or fully compacted clay composition, the flat areas have deep and fertile deposits with presence of gravel and sand. In agriculture and in conception of landscape this dimension of soil which is changing along the section is strongest element characterizing the narrative dimension of the proposal.

Although the transect across time is a common observation, a more precise temporal sequence can be worked out. The complex palimpsest can be simplified into three terraces: the active or wandering terrace, the arrested or transitional terrace and the passive or established terrace. The duration of events in these stages proceeds from more rapid, unstable changes of uniform material in the early stages to slower changes as the plant societies approach stable, diverse “climax” conditions.

Figure 9 : Physical Transformations – Schemes showing base level lowering following the formation of the peneplain, causing the incision of river, which to date has generated a local relief of around 65m in Val Nure. period Source - Authors

Legends Bedrock Sediments 79

EXTREME EVENTS OVER SHORTER TIME The climatology of the study area can be considered as belonging to the Alpine type, with important differences regarding precipitation, which has a strong Mediterranean influence. The Northern Apennines are one of the rainiest areas in Italy, along with the Maggiore Lake area and the Alpine Carnia Plateau. They are characterized by a high percentage of annual precipitation deriving from intense rainfalls, rather than by frequent, low intensity rainy days, as is the case in the Alps which is most evident in the transition and cold seasons. The more intense rainfall has marked the annual cycle, presenting the highest frequency and intensity from September to November. The tendency to have a significant contribution to total amounts of

heavy precipitation events is increasing in recent years. In Emilia Romagna region, an amplification of the annual precipitation cycle has been detected, with a marked precipitation decrease, especially in winter and spring, and a precipitation increase in autumn, mainly attributable to more intense events.

NATURAL TRANSFORMATIONS ACROSS SEASONS AND YEARS With the changing of seasons, the course of the river water changes due to varying amount of precipitation and glacial melting. Thus, every season with its peculiar climatic characteristics combined with the physical conditions of the riverbed like rocks and vegetation, influences the drainage pattern of the water. This causes the riverbed to present a different image throughout the year and across years. Some years are characterized by large streams of gushing freshwater while the others with dry spells when vegetation like poplars and cattails dominate the riverbed.

Figure 10 : Satellite imagery of the Nure River before and after the flood in September 2015.

Source - Segadelli, Stefano (2019) Predicting Extreme-Precipitation Effects on the Geomorphology of Small Mountain Catchments: 2020,12,79, MDPI, Water

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Figure 11 : Satellite imagery of the Nure River showing its changing course and riverbed conditions across seasons and years Source - Authors

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HUMAN INFLICTED TRANSFORMATIONS Apart from the various natural transformations, other events have also contributed in shaping the current reality on site. These are the human inflicted transformations, that have happened over a comparatively much shorter time and are therefore well documented and perceivable.

Since the Middle Ages the area was frequented by pilgrims and merchants, crossing Via Francigena and the Oil Path, creating a mixture of different cultures and ethnicities but also laid the foundations of the new built environment along these routes that were used as inn’s for travelers and eventually evolved into trade hubs, finally becoming the main villages of the whole valley in contemporary times.

The first agricultural activities and its allied settlements appeared in Villò during 1800’s when the Romagnoli family was established in the existing cascina (farmhouse) starting agricultural activities and cattle breeding. At the end of 1800’s, another important infrastructure was inaugurated to link the city of Piacenza with the village of Bettola. A Tramway was realized and located on the existing road that crossed the whole valley, with most of the convoys being composed by a mix of passengers and freight. The transport of goods was of primary importance, majorly comprising of stones collected along the Nure stream or cement marl extracted from a quarry (Cava di Albarola)close to Villò, directed to various cement factories in Piacenza.

However, the tramway was deemed insufficient due to Val Nure being an important mining area with several mines of limestone and cement marl located across the municipalities of Vigolzone, Ponte dell’Olio and Bettola. In the beginning of 20th century, the tramway was thus, replaced by an electric railway located beside the road leaving the carriageway free for vehicular transit. The Second World War struck the line, which was restored in 1947. Since the late 1950s, the spread of passenger and freight transported by road led the substitution of railways with buses until 1967, when the line was closed.

During the end of the 20th century, the Romagnoli family started innovating and changing their activities in Villò. The old family residence in the form of a palace, that comprised the cascina, in order to be adapted to the new needs, was replaced by three distinct buildings used for workers housing. Few years later Romagnoli family started specializing in vine cultivation along with the existing agricultural activities, until viticulture completely replaced any other farm activities.

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The most significant transformation in recent times was a response to the massive flood in 2015 that causing severe erosion changed the river morphology washing away entire vegetation formations. Massive stone embankments were set up at strategic locations to divert the flow of water away from the critical points in case of any such future events. However, the floods also impacted the social and economic fabric of the valley sweeping away infrastructures like roads and buildings, and displacing people.

In 2018, a short stretch of the old railway nearby Cantine Romagnoli was remarked, for the realization of a pedestrian and bicycle path. Today Cantina Romagnoli plays a key role in the Val nure’s uniqueness. It is the presence of this family name that encodes the ethnic identity of the original settlement.

The Cantina Romagnoli is the primary landmark of the valley’s life. It entails one of the most important narratives that has sustained the traditions of this place genealogy. It is a narrative of continuity closely linked to the economic and cultural life of the valley.

Page 85-86 Figure 12 : Timeline of Physical Transformations on site due to Human Interventions Source - Authors

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Figure 12 : Physical Transformations on site due to Human Interventions Source - Authors

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Chapter 4 - The Site The project area located along the left bank of river Nure in Villò, encompasses a rich diversity of landscape typologies ranging from wild freshwater ecosystem, to highly tamed agricultural fields and vineyards of Cantine Romagnoli established in 1897 as one moves away from the river.

This area is a complex mosaic of interlocking landscape typologies each encompassing a unique set of biodiversity, perceptions as well as functions. The site, which at first presents itself in a cover of green land and silver water, is in reality imposed by a complex grid of exploration or of subdivision. Each layer is a unique palimpsest that prevails as surface and offers glimpses into the past further deepening and fragmenting the grid. The universal and superficial understanding of the landscape thus becomes local and circumstantial.

Page 87-88 Figure 13 : Scheme showing the project area encompassing diversity of landscape typologies ranging from entropic freshwater ecosystem, to highly tamed agricultural fields and vineyards of Cantine Romagnoli as one moves away from the river towards the lake.

Source - Authors

However, in essence, this is a landscape created by water: the river, the glaciers, the canals, the water pipes that sustain various human activities. The entropic river landscape is characterized by constantly changing riverbed conditions affecting the vegetation dominated by young white poplars. This is followed by the anarchic wooded area comprising of black locust trees running along the two irrigation canals. Behind the tree line are the bucolic agricultural fields stretching till the second terrace which lead to the landscape bearing the first lucid impression of mankind - the settlements comprising the cantina and the carriageway. Behind the cantina the landscape is characterized by vineyards laid out in clear geometric patterns that seem to extend till the horizon. This is followed by a veiled patch of land that is framed between two linear rows of black locust trees at the foot of the third terrace.

On the other side is a steep ascent rising for about 40 meters planted with linear rows of grape vines that further reinforce the perspective. At the top of the ridge is the pinnacle offering splendid panoramas of this whole restless maze. Further on is a lake, shining like a jewel, reflecting the sky and the massive oaks that define and conceal this unique ecosystem. The area thus gathers, compresses, and reconfigures the patterns found in the larger landscape into a comprehensible whole, making the designed stretch a synecdoche of the region.

The domination of this landscape by vineyards, apart from suitable physical conditions of soil, climate and drainage, is a result of local economic and cultural value systems.

The inimitable and changing geographical, geological and microclimatic conditions

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along the section of the valley support and affect the type and quality of grape vine cultivation. The main grape varieties cultivated are Croatina, Barbera, Black pinot and Merlot Cabernet sauvignon for red grapes and Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Ortrugo, and Chardonnay for white grapes. All these factors combined with the local skills and traditional knowhow of the winemakers define the unique palette of the local Romagnoli wine.

Chapter 5 - Analysis SOIL CHARACTERISTICS The Northern Apennines exhibit two different types of landscape: high mountain ranges with their deep glacial valleys and high relief and a region with low relief peneplain with the slope angles decreasing with elevation. In the open plains the stony walls of the mountain valley, give way to soft soil, allowing the river much freedom to shift its bank setting its own ever-changing course.

In general, limestones, marls and argillites are very common like in the Flysch sequences in the Bettola, and Farini formations. They are often associated with the socalled “Basal Complexes”, geological units characterized by a large variety though mainly shaly lithologies. Alluvial terraced deposits are present also in the mountain sector of river valleys, and alluvial cones are very common at the confluence between streams and the main watercourse.

From the geomorphological standpoint, the general features of the area are determined by landslides, mainly related to the lithological characteristics of the outcropping shaly or pelitic rocks and sometimes may reach the bottom of the valleys, causing the narrowing of riverbeds. Along the upper course of the river, valleys show in general a classic V-shaped profile, sometimes characterized by very steep slopes with slope breaks, often symmetric on both sides.

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Figure 14 : Ground Characteristics – Map showing the changing Soil composition across the river valley Source - Authors

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Legends Alluvial Deposit Gravel Sand & Silt covered by Clay Gravel & Sand covered by Clay Gravel Sand & Silt Terraced alluvial deposit Gravel & Sand partially cemented Silt & Clay, Gravel & Sand Gravel Sand & Silt partially Cemented

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Figure 15 : Natural Systems – Map showing the organization of natural elements across the river valley Source - Authors

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Legends Wooded Formations Malvasia, Barbera, croatina and Ortrugo grapes Pinot,nero and Chardonnay grapes Agricultural Fileds Lakes and Reservoirs Entropic river ecosystem

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Figure 16 : Palimpsest of Human traces - Map showing the organization of artificial elements across the river valley Source - Authors

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Legends Cantina Built-up Areas Primary Carriageway-SP654 Other Vehicular roads Pedestrian Trails Stone Embankments Irrigation Canals

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Legends Figure 17 : Site Analysis - Map showing Visual and Physical Limits and Visual Markers Enabling Way-Finding Source - Authors

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Slope

Vegetation

Primary Carriageway

River Nure

Secondary Roads

Cantina

Irrigation Canals

Visual Markers

Legends River Ecosystem Agricultural Ecosystem Forest Ecosystem

Figure 18 : Site Analysis - Map showing changing Sensorial Perceptions across changing ecosystems Source - Authors

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TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE DETERMINATS OF THE PRECINCT The natural site elements and features like elevation changes and tree lines along with the cantina limit the visual connectivity along the length of the site. Conversely, human interventions including, irrigation canals and roads along with the river limit the physical accessibility across the site. The abandoned structures on the ridge being visible from across the entire length of the site serve as major landmarks facilitating way-finding. The river on the other hand can only be spotted from the ridge.

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Figure 19 : Site Analysis Visual and Physical Limits and connections to Visual Markers Enabling Way-Finding along the site section Source - Authors

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Figure 20 : Site Analysis Changing Sensorial Perceptions (Light intensity, Surface textures), Vegetation Patterns and Functional Organization Systems (user activities) along the site Source - Authors

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The surface texture constantly changes across spaces and seasons along the site determining the overall experience and sounds one hears while walking. The changing density of vegetation also creates dynamic sensory experiences due to varying light intensity creating perceptions of thresholds to subsequent spaces. The changing soil composition combined with proximity to water is the primary determinant of the major landscape typologies and organization systems which determines an array of both perennial as well as seasonal human activities, concentrated at certain points.

The density and typology of natural as well as cultivated flora along the length of the site apart from the changing soil composition, also varies according to ground water content. Based on the vegetation patterns, are determined the allied systems of biodiversity. The trees in and along the riverbed are very young compared to the fully grown ones on the upper terraces due to constant erosion and changing water levels across seasons. Floods sometimes also uproot the entire vegetation islands, undoing all new life development.

Legends Perennial waterways Seasonal waterways User activities

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CASE STUDIES

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Image Source - Authors

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01 - Passage of Time Garden: Anji Archaeology Museum, Hozhou, China Passage of Time Garden is located within Anji Archaeology Museum. The design strives to balance the relationship between natural and man-made. Passage of Time garden intents to display the communication between the complexity of nature and simpleness of geometry, completing the cycle from object image to artificial, spritual to natural and back. The site spans from the museum all the way to the surrounding mountain landscape. Yet the ambience of the garden takes on an opposite approach with the museum area being more natural and the natural area more man-made.

The design language of the exhibition area uses natural forms that are complex and present a very clear object imagery. Then gradually transitions to the outer garden where abstract, man-made elements can be seen.

Inner Garden The inner garden uses stones as foundation, evergreens as pillars, and stone bridges for bridgeways along with different paving patterns and surface textures, creating many different sensory experiences. Together with dry creek, tall pines, and viewing stones, the inner garden creates a calm and peaceful image resembling tall mountains and running rivers when viewed from the entrance.

Passageway Continuing from the entrace, visitors enter the next scene where the buildings are no longer the backdrop. The stones transition from smooth-surfaced river stones to mountain stones with crack lines. The design language transitions from natural to geometric/man-made, creating an independent and unique space. Visitors experience the constrictive, oppressive, yet enlightening sensation created from the building, trees, and stones.

Outer Garden Exiting the passageway, the view expands horizontally as the buildings no longer frame the perspective, giving the visitors the feeling of reaching the mountain top.

When viewed from afar, the sculpture and the island it sits on top become a part of the natural scenery, looming in the bamboo forest, signifying man-made landscapes regress towards nature. The change in horizontal and vertical perspectives is also an important aspect to considering in the space of the landscape.

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Figure 21 : Passage of Time Garden: Anji Archaeology Museum, Hozhou, China Source - https://www.designboom. com/architecture/passage-of-timegarden-anji-archaeology-museumchina-07-20-2020/

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02 - Holy Fire Lit Place for the Second China National Youth Games: URBANUS, Ruicheng, China Xihoudu historical site is located close to the corner of the curving Yellow River. It is one of the most important archaeological sites of ancient human activities, where the remains of fire first used by human back to 1.8 million years ago, was founded in early 1960s. It was enlisted in the third group of the national key cultural relic sites. By integrating the holy fire plaza with its surroundings, the design creates a mystical, spiritual and philosophical place, which reinterprets the traditional Chinese philosophy - man is an integral part of the nature.

A new holy fire park is planned without disturbing the archaeological stratum.

“Discovery of fire”, “Rite of fire” and “Conquest of fire” constitute a trilogy for the narrative of the fire in the human civilization.

Visit begins from the original Cultural Artifacts Exhibition Gallery at the hill foot. The entrance of the mountaintop experience exhibition hall is located in the middle of the hill. The deep cave leads the visitors away from the modern setting into a primitive space-time.

The discovery of fire is a groundbreaking milestone in the human civilization. This historical moment is illustrated with a beam of light cutting through the cave which delivers the heaven “fire” to the human beings.

The stands on the “Rite of fire” square recycle the material of the former holy fire plaza, and their configuration refers to the surrounding topographic features. These stands form a perfect viewing platform for the surrounding sceneries of Mountain Hua and the Yellow River.

This project also managed to recover the west of the site from the junk yard left by the former construction. This is executed by digging trenches to minimize the job load for restoring the natural landscape. This creates a mazy path symbolizing a tough journey of human beings for the “Conquest of Fire”. In the future, this place will become an open museum. The ends of the trenches naturally form five cantilever platforms, overlooking the spectacular Loess Plateau, rugged archaeological site and beautiful Sichuan Pepper field.

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Figure 22 : Holy Fire Lit Place for the Second China National Youth Games: URBANUS, Ruicheng, China Source https://www.archdaily. com/946576/holy-fire-lit-place-forthe-second-china-national-youthgames-2019-urbanus

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03 - Earth Sciences Garden: Monash University, Melbourne, Australia The garden is created to showcase key features of the geology and geomorphology of Victoria and to establish an outdoor teaching laboratory for the study of Earth Sciences. The garden integrates rigorous geological science with landscape architecture and art making in a unique, semi-natural scene that is laden with information.

Landscape Design The collection of rocks is arranged around tracings of the shapes and forms of Victoria’s geological and geographical features. The bend of the Yarra is traced in, and the outline of Lake Tali Karng. Feature rocks, stone pavements, gravels, mulches and plantings all echo the environments of specific regions of Victoria. Forms and shapes collide, creating difference and roughness at boundaries and edges.

Rock Collection The 20 different types of rock, each representative of different formations and geological age, are specifically arranged so that students may map and understand the fundamental geological and geomorphological processes that have and continue to operate in Victoria. The angle, orientation, and specific placement of approximately 500 rock specimens tell a technical story about local geology, while the larger arrangements create a very diverse series of landscape spaces traced from regional geomorphology.

Plantings Plantings reflect the unique flora of each region on display and demonstrate the vital biological links between the characteristics of each regional rock type, and the many ecological niches created by diverse geological processes over time. Species were chosen to be emblematic of the various bioregions selected to be represented on the site.

Art Placed amongst wild-sourced scoria rocks and other volcanic, enigmatic, two-tone ‘bombs’ are located. Crafted by hand and fired for many days in a kiln, these are the rocks of the future, the detritus of the Anthropocene. Ejected from some future volcano, concrete and bricks and glass are melted together, and reconstituted to form a rocky residue; all that might be left of the city in geological time.

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Figure 23 : Earth Sciences Garden: Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Source http://landezine.com/ index.php/2017/11/earth-sciencesgarden-monash-university-by-rushwright-associates/

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04 - Museum Park: Louvre Lens Garden, France The design highlights types of encounter between the two universes that seem at first sight to be disparate and yet draw from the same resource that is commonly known as culture: art on the one hand, and an industrial and landscape culture on the other.

The project is enacted through withdrawal, subtraction, in order perhaps to protect meaning, cultivate its inexhaustible story, so that it reveals itself in its multiple layers, available to the visitors who wish to probe it. The strategy restores the disturbed link between skin (recording surface) and depth (resource of yesterday and tomorrow). It opens the door to future ages by introducing the art as mediator of all the ages and as bridges to new mentalities.

The park outlines the challenges of a programmatic content (triggers of active memory), the space strategy of a cultural facility (park-museum) and potential landscape events (extended Louvre park). A level represents each of these strata; each of these explains the temporal dimension to which it belongs. The Louvre gardens materialize at their intersection like so many extracts of a living memory.

This technical and scientific translation of the resources is not however covered by an accretion of information that palpable divides the land.

The park is a landscaped setting which extends the programs of the museum outside the wall. It is the place for cultural programming, animation and popular gathering in connection with the activities of the museum. It is a place of memory for history of the site and its relationship to Loos-en-Gohelle dumps and an articulated educational device to the site with temporality.

The design represents lais network for 3 main strata : mine layer (industrial stage), environment layer (geological time) and cultural layer (exhibit rhythm) The landscape engages the mindset and is able to playfully explain the hidden stories this landscape inhabits. The visitors can observe what landscape has to say about itself and the traces of human activity on the site. The design reveales the layers of the site’s memory with all its features and debris, and translates them into a language common to the building and its programme.

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Figure 24 : Museum Park: Louvre Lens Garden, France Source - http://landezine.com/index. php/2016/09/museum-park-louvrelens-by-mosbach-paysagistes/

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05 - Renaturation of the River Aire: Geneva Switzerland River Aire Renaturation is an artistic and poetic project that comprises a series of appropriate interventions. It’s first success is that the river is not pretending to be there since always without any human intervention. The second crown achievement is the grid of sand that tells us exactly that and with the help of the water puts many natural processes in motion. The third is the former straight stream that is still in use as a park area.

Designing a rivergarden The Aire river flows through valleys historically devoted to farming. From late 19th century it was progressively canalized. The design proposes to combine the canal with a vast divagation space for the river. In the process the canal becomes the pointer for the transformations, a reference line giving the possibility to understand the before and after. A becoming which superimposes both situations.

The project proposes an alternate path, where the urgent ecological shifts are incorporated into a larger cultural change. Facing the whole watershed, the original morphology of the mountains and the traces of human modifications, this long river garden organises the situations, views, confrontations, presences, aiming at introducing into this fragile and precious territory questions, worries, hopes. The necessary calm and interiority, without which there is no real garden, yields organized sequences of differenciated places and paths allowing a reasonable distribution of people and movements. The footprint of the canal is a permanent trace which introduces a complex temporality, both past and future, memory and desire.

For the drawing of the river itself – conscious of the useless effort to design a fixed river bed and aware that a river usually loves to design itself freely – the design instead proposes a launching pattern whose form addresses the play between the river flow and the prepared terrain. This diamond- shape pattern opens a complex series of undetermined channels for the flows. The dimensions of these lozenges islands were configured to be able to accept the general sizes of the former meanders. The result suggests the devices of most land artists, effecting clearly artificial interventions into a natural situation, thereafter left to the mercy of natural forces. One year after the opening of the new river space, the results are beyond our expectations: the river flows, displacing diverse materials, gravels, sand and the geometrical matrix of lozenges is significantly modified. We must accept this paradox: the more defined the grid given to the river, the more the river will be free to design.

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Figure 25 : Renaturation of the River Aire: Geneva Switzerland Source - http://landezine.com/index. php/2016/06/renaturation-of-theriver-aire-geneva/

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06 - UNESCO World Heritage Site Jelling: Jelling, Denmark In middle of Jelling, two mounds covered in grass, rise majestically towards the sky. Between the mounds stand two giant rune stones and a whitewashed medieval church. The monuments tell off a time, where Jelling was a monumental area of centralized royal power: Here Harald Bluetooth united the kingdom in one Christian nation.Through a simple landscape modelling, this project for the Monument Site is based on an intention to identify and convey these new findings and the existing world heritage. The master plan interweaves the past and the present to a significant and memorable place. With a close connection to the city’s existing plaza and shopping streets, the objective is to strengthen local businesses and create a diverse city life.

The past in the present The Monument Site in Jelling can be regarded as a text or a palimpsest, which contain layers upon layers of importance. Through time buildings have been removed, reused or reconstructed; the ancient Jelling have continuously been rewritten and replaced with new parts. The design communicates and processes the historical layer and thereby continue writing the ever-changing story of Jelling.

The Palisade Archaeological excavations indicate that in the time of Harald Bluetooth, a palisade fence was constructed with a floor plan of 360×360 meters which is used to define the new Monument Site. Its scale and geometry are emphasized – where it’s possible – with surfaces and pillars in a light, almost white concrete.

The Stone Ship and The Longhouses The 350×80 meters large stone ship, which initially consisted of a pointed oval stone ship, with Nordhøjen in center, is marked in terrain by large concrete surfaces.

In some places, where fragments of the original stone ship have been found, the concrete surfaces are being tilted with a slight inclination. Correspondingly, the position of the three longhouses is portrayed through horizontal concrete elements in the terrain with the plan drawings in 1:1 The Monument Site in the City In order to create a close connection between the open landscape to the north east, west and south, the areas between the existing buildings are coated with same light, almost white concrete. The general use of concrete, grass and heather vegetation connects the entire area and defines a landscape city center filled with history and memory. Here the visitor can feel the physical magnitude of the past’s fortification.

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Figure 26 : UNESCO World Heritage Site Jelling: Jelling, Denmark Source - https://whc.unesco.org/en/ list/697/

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07 - Villa Lante Park: Viterbo, Italy Ovid’s Metamorphoses sets up the dual structure of the garden as a chronological history set against a timeless golden age. The paths of the golden age of the park lead to the upper end of the walled garden, where the Grotto of the Deluge tells of the flood that destroyed the golden age.

The story of civilization shaping a more perfect nature through the application of art and labor begins at this upper terrace. It is a progressive narrative proceeding terrace by terrace, each one marking a distinct stage in the process and building upon the previous stage. The spatial form, plantings, sculpture, and most important the play of water work together to articulate this process. The garden telescopes space and time, and gives a clear sense of the direction toward the story’s end.

However, the visitor never walks directly along this line; there are diagonals and shifts as well as unseen elements that are revealed only in the progression.

The different moments in time are evoked by sophisticated references to classical literature and conventional symbols. It is water in all its various manifestations that carries out the trope of metamorphoses. It emerges from stone, becomes light and sound, and turns back into flowing stone sculptures. Water becomes actor, event, and the cause of events. It is not an anonymous causality; sculptures of Neptune, Venus, the crawfish, etc. all tell how the gods as well as humans play a key role in all of this.

The lowest and final terrace shows the perfect order of nature revealed in geometric form. The plot of the story creates a comparison between this new golden age of the moderns, achieved through labor and art, and that of the ancients. Lante becomes an allegory asking the reader to interpret the actions of the present through the myths and history of the past. By entering the private entrance to the garden at this lower terrace, the cardinal and close associates could look up into the garden and back in time.

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Figure 27 : Villa Lante Park: Viterbo, Italy Source - Jamie Purinton, Matthew Potteiger, Landscape Narratives: Design Practices for Telling Stories – Published on 20 march 1998 by Wiley

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08 - Venice Biennale 2012: Eduardo Souto de Moura, Venice, Italy The structure designed by Eduardo Souto De Moura, entitled Windows, is a tribute to water through the view of three windows on the shore of the Arsenale. The installation intends to act as examples of the architect’s role in defining the space, obtaining exclusive perspectives, adapting the landscape and reinterpreting the primary compositional elements. The structure overlooks the old buildings in front of the Arsenale from the waterfront.

This structure is an exploration of material, building systems and language. The facades frame views of these old buildings, reinterpreting the existing landscape, according to the will of the viewer. According to Souto de Moura “geography becomes how we want it to be. This is the great leap of the modern movement, and as a result of postmodernism”.

The installation “reflects the evolving relationship between interior and exterior, the gradual opening up of options, and their dependence and influence on the architectural language”.

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Figure 28 : Venice Biennale 2012: Eduardo Souto de Moura, Venice, Italy Source https://www.archdaily. com/267891/venice-biennale-2012eduardo-souto-de-moura

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09 - Cantina Santa Margherita: Venice Italy The prestigious history of the Cantina Santa Margherita in Fossalta di Portogruaro is nowadays enhanced due to the recent decision to renovate the main production facilities under an aesthetical and functional point of view. It took about ten years to realize it through new buildings and facades restyling, through which the Santa Margherita wine complexs’ values are emphasized.

In order to chase the state of the art in a site characterized by functionalities, the desire to renovate the headquarters in Fossalta, also required over time the restyling and control of the building impact on the landscape. As a function of this, in 2008 the company involved the Westway Architects studio which approached the project by stages, intervening on the redevelopment of the storage areas, then on the winemaking, then on the cellar and offices, concluding the plan in 2017 with the construction of building intended for bottling. The new bottling and storage building stands in place of one of the pavilions of the old factory from the 1930s, which featured a succession of blocks with double pitched roofs that were taken up in the new project as a distinctive element of the new course, but at the same time of connection with the history of the industrial site.

Between the new bottling, with its iconic zinc-titanium and glass trusses, and the cellar pavilion, extends a sort of square which forms the ideological center of the citadel, a tree-lined center that aims to gather workers, welcome customers, but also to give breath to the sequence of buildings. To the north, where the cellar building leans in plan towards that of the new bottling plant, the designers have created a 110-meter shelter that emphasizes the connection between the two productive phases. The massive bare structure, painted in white, is a symbolic portal on an open space of 3000 meters for the movement of vehicles. The pillars line up with the existing trees, ideally continuing their urban layout.

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Figure 29 : Cantina Margherita: Venice Italy

Santa

Source - https://www.floornature. com/westway-architects-cantinasanta-margherita-veneto-13962/

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10 - Archaeological Museum and Park; Arminius, Varus and the battlefield: Kalkriese, Germany Due to numerous archaeological finds, the site in the north-western part of Germany near Kalkriese is considered to be the location of the famous Battle of the Teutoburg Forest / Varus Battle between the Romans and Germanic tribes in the year 9 AD. The interventions, the architectural means employed and the landscape design, are minimal and primarily abstract. A few measures spark the visitor’s imagination of the events that took place in this landscape: the visualization of the former rampart with iron poles, trees cleared away and reforestation, a partial “reconstruction” of the former, lower terrain, three pavilions as well as three path systems on the grounds.

Irregularly placed large iron slabs retrace the possible route of the Roman Legions and form a path for visitors to access the former battlefield. A net-like pattern of woodchip paths symbolizes the positions of the Germanic warriors, their camouflage, their silent attack. Contemporary agricultural gravel paths allow visitors to “switch sides”.

Proceeding from one iron slab to the next on the so called “Roman path”, visitors collect pieces of information from the ground, not unlike archaeological work. Step by step, an image of the historical battle forms in their minds.

The Pavilions Three pavilions on the field, ‘perception instruments’, both broaden and put into perspective the impressions gained outdoors. The first pavilion, called ‘SEEING’, projects the exterior world in a reversed manner by means of a ‘camera obscura’ on to a glowing half-sphere. The world is upside down. Without electricity, this glass halfsphere brightens the darkened room in a mystical manner. The pavilion ‘HEARING’ possesses a sizeable acoustical pipe that transmits the amplified sounds of the outside world into an acoustically insulated room. The pipe can be turned by hand and directed towards sources of sounds. In the last pavilion, called ‘QUESTIONING’, a wall with slit-like openings stands opposite a wall with nine television monitors.

Current news broadcasts make it terrifyingly clear that to this day, two thousand years later, conflicts continue to be fought.

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Figure 30 : Archaeological Museum and Park; Arminius, Varus and the battlefield: Kalkriese, Germany Source https://www.kalkriesevarusschlacht.de/en/museum/

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11 - Langhe: Roero District, Italy The Langhe-Roero district represents an area of indisputable interest both from the point of view of the organization of production and for its marvelous beauties as pastoral landscapes and medieval villages. In the first decades of the postwar period, the Langhe district was predominantly an agricultural area characterized by a relative depopulation. There were two factors which offset the risk of the progressive exodus of the population. The first one is represented by the establishing of “Ferrero” company in Alba and its consequent production and employment growth, which has maintained a considerable amount of the population. The second factor was identified by the process of redeveloping wine production and the ability to produce quality wine as well as promote and communicate it.

The Langhe-Roero district today represents one of the most famous areas for the quality of its wine production and an exemplary case of integrated territorial development due to the ability to merge different economic aspects, social and cultural heritage of the territory. An area that has managed, especially in recent years, to combine an excellent agricultural production with the industrial transformation sector, with tourist attractiveness, with the expansion of services and mainly with the ability to integrate the production and the enhancement of the cultural heritage and tradition of the territory. The Langhe-Roero area has become one of the most interesting places from the point of view of organizing cultural events, with the organizations of literary parks, eco-museums and cultural events promoted by several foundations.

This transformation processes that affected the whole Langhe-Roero environment and the local economy, have gone through different phases since the 1960s and mainly during 1980s. In fact, in this decade the progressive orientation towards quality wine production takes place, with the setup of some innovative leaders that act the main role in pushing towards greater agro-industrial integration and towards a strategy of assert local production with strong attention also to the issue of image promotion and communication. The second process of redevelopment of the local economy is linked to the start of wine tourism, which has been strongly supported by public operators and which is the basis of the progressive territorial integration of the local development model. The third process is connected with gastronomic tourism and, subsequently, with cultural and environmental tourism which have gradually increased the degree of intersectoral productive integration, promoting new opportunities for companies in service sectors and the supply of complementary goods and services, integrating in the production system various sectors of craftsmanship, trade and services.

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Figure 31 : Langhe - Roero district, Italy Source - https://whc.unesco.org/en/ list/1390/

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06

DESIGN PHILOSOPHIES

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Chapter 1 - Aristotle’s Metaphysics – Principles of Being Aristotle divided the theoretical sciences into three groups: physics, mathematics, and theology. Physics as he understood it was equivalent to what would now be called “natural philosophy,” or the study of nature (physis); in this sense it encompasses not only the modern field of physics but also biology, chemistry, geology, psychology, and even meteorology. Metaphysics, however, is notably absent from Aristotle’s classification; indeed, he never uses the word, which first appears in the posthumous catalog of his writings as a name for the works listed after the Physics. He does, however, recognize the branch of philosophy now called metaphysics: he calls it “first philosophy” and defines it as the discipline that studies “being as being.”

Figure 32 : The School of Athens

by Raphael, 1509-1510. Aristotle and Plato are in the center.

Courtesy of Apostolic Palace, Vatican Source - https://www.greece-is.com/ aristotle-the-master-of-those-whoknow/

Aristotle’s metaphysics is his understanding of the nature of reality, of essence.

Aristotle is well-known for a series of distinctions that he made, involving terms like substance and accidents, form and matter, etc. Aristotle’s attempt to make these kinds of distinctions are an important reason for his significance as a scientist and philosopher. He was always on a quest to bring clarity by differentiating various aspects of the subject matter under discussion. The distinctions have been especially important in the history of Christian thought. Aristotle’s labor in refining the Greek language through his philosophical distinctions was also very important in preparing the way for the Gospel message, which made heavy use of the Greek capacity for subtlety.

Aristotle first of all did a survey of all the prior thinkers, and although he criticized them, nevertheless what we know about those people is because of his criticism.

His criticism was unbiased in a way that he made their argument and then showed where he believed their argument was faulty.

THE FACT OF CHANGE Aristotle’s Metaphysics, also known as his principles of being to be understood require the knowledge of his jargon or philosophical terms that are more sophisticated and technical than Plato. The first distinction he made was between “actuality” and “potentiality”. He saw everything in this world representing a mixture of these two 129

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principles in different proportions. These two ideas that are essential to his idea of metaphysics are extremely important in history.

Actuality is that within the thing that tends to keep it as it is. The terms or aspects connected to actuality are: • Entelecheia - The principle of intelligence that is found in all things.

• Perfection – Something being what it actually is.

• Realization – Realizing its own being or essence also represented by fullness of being.

The terms or aspects connected to potentiality are: • Dynamis – meaning change, dynamic or things being in a flux • Imperfection – flaw in being • Incompleteness • Perfectability A mixture of actuality and potentiality is found in all the things with one exception, “God”, which is pure actuality and no potentiality. On the other end of the spectrum is “Nothing”, which is pure potentiality and no actuality. It is something which is potentially anything but actually nothing. The relation between the actuality and potentiality creates a tension bringing about a notion of “Dualism”, something like the ideas of Plato.

Aristotle’s thought begins with a series of distinctions as a means of organizing being: SUBSTANCE – ACCIDENTS Representing the distinction between “what really is / essence” and “perceivable qualities” or non-essential characters of things. Substance is the essence of the thing.

But one would never understand the essence of anything. The only way to have any experience of a thing is as it is filtered through our senses which give one contact with the thing but also insulate one from it. One cannot have a direct mystical communion with a thing, being separated from it, with ones only knowledge of it being that one can see, touch, smell or taste it. All the senses individually limit the experience of the object. So, the external, perceivable, sensory experience of the object is called the accidents.

The next distinction with respect to substance is: FORM – MATTER The actuality and potentiality principle being reflected in these two, accidents is no 131

part of it. Form, having a quality that tends not to change, answers to actuality while Matter answers to potentiality. Form comprises of what makes the matter what it is (recognizable), Matter on the other hand is the stuff that things are made up of.

Somethings in the world are mostly form with only a little bit of matter (e.g., gold brick), while others are mostly matter with only a little bit of form (e.g., apple) and yet there are somethings that are maybe an equal proportion of each.

For Aristotle, “being” is whatever “is” anything whatever. Whenever Aristotle explains the meaning of being, he does so by explaining the sense of the Greek verb “to be”.

Being contains whatever items can be the subjects of true propositions containing the word is, whether or not the “is”, is followed by a predicate. Thus, both Socrates is and Socrates is wise say something about being. Every being in any category other than substance is a property or a modification of substance. For this reason, Aristotle says that the study of substance is the way to understand the nature of being.

Although Aristotle’s system makes room for forms, they differ significantly from Forms as Plato conceived them. For Aristotle, the form of a particular thing is not separate from the thing itself—any form is the form of some thing. In Aristotle’s physics, form is always paired with matter, and the paradigm examples of forms are those of material substances.

Aristotle distinguishes between “substantial” and “accidental” forms. A substantial form is a second substance (species or kind) considered as a universal. While substantial forms correspond to the category of substance, accidental forms correspond to categories other than substance; they are nonsubstantial categories considered as universals. Aristotle calls such forms “accidental” because they may undergo change, or be gained or lost, without thereby changing the first substance into something else or causing it to cease to exist. Substantial forms, in contrast, cannot be gained or lost without changing the nature of the substance of which they are predicated.

THEORY OF FORMS Aristotle reverses the question asked by Plato: “What is it that two human beings have in common that makes them both human?” He asks instead, “What makes two human beings two humans rather than one?” And his answer is that what makes Socrates distinct from his friend Callias is not their substantial form, which is the same, nor their accidental forms, which may be the same or different, but their matter. Matter, not form, is the principle of individuation. To understand this theory, 132

one can also take an example of a dog. While form informs one of having a dog, matter individuates form by helping differentiate ones dog. But the question that arises from this is, how does one know that it is a dog in the first place?

According to the theory of forms, universal forms can only be found in individual things. Therefore, if dogs did not exist, there would be no form of dogness. The theory states that forms are mentally abstracted from things in ones experience, and not remembered. Both Plato and Aristotle agreed forms were most important, but while Plato believed that forms belong to immaterial idealized world of the mind, which the material worlds was only a pale imitation of, Aristotle argued that forms resided only in tangible material world.

Aristotle did not have an ideal world like Plato’s notion of perfect things in the outer space but for him everything was here. Every object has within it the formal perfection that one finds in Plato, but also its material imperfection that one finds in one’s experience in this world. His metaphysics deals with uniting these two worlds.

THE FOUR CAUSES OF CHANGE All these notions give rise to a famous piece of Aristotelian philosophy which is his notion of the four causes. Aristotle distinguishes four types of cause, or explanation as follows: Material – What the thing is made of e.g., marble Formal - Design (blueprint), that makes the thing what it is Efficient – Who or what brought this thing about e.g., sculptor (plus tools, instrumental cause) Final – Reason why something is made for First, he says, there is that of which and out of which a thing is made. This is called the material cause. Second, there is the form or pattern of a thing, which may be expressed in its definition. The third type of cause is the origin of a change or state of rest in something; this is often called the “efficient cause.” The fourth and last type of cause is the end or goal of a thing—that for the sake of which a thing is done. This is known as the “final cause.”

Aristotle’s ideas being driven by change, his metaphysics account for this changing world we live in trying to account for things in this way of classic formulation of how 133

things change. This leads one to the idea of in what ways do things change.

THE NATURE OF CHANGE Change, for Aristotle, can take place in many different categories. Local motion is change in the category of place. Change in the category of quantity is growth (or shrinkage), and change in the category of quality (e.g., of colour) is what Aristotle calls “alteration.” Change in the category of substance, however—a change of one kind of thing into another—is very special. When a substance undergoes a change of quantity or quality, the same substance remains throughout.

All things change according to some pattern or description. However, some things are more resistant to change than others. The four kinds of change can be described as: Quantity – change of increase or decrease e.g., an apple growing on a tree in size Quality – when something is altered in a fashion that it doesn’t change what it basically is e.g., painting an object Location – change in the venue of an object e.g., moving an object from one place to other Generation / Corruption – change in what an object is e.g., breaking a wooden table

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Chapter 2 - Paul Valéry’s Modern Aesthetic Object The autonomous status of art in Valéry’s conception is what places his aesthetic theory so distinctly in the modern tradition. The main source of Valéry’s modernism is his view of the work of art as an absolute and autonomous object. While Valéry examines all three aspects of the “aesthetic transaction,” it is his approach to the aesthetic object (and to human products in general) that is distinctly “modern” because it is ontological. Valéry’s solution to the problem of the ontology of artworks points up a second major indication of his modernism (while also showing, incidentally, a surprisingly unified picture of the aesthetic transaction). Valéry was convinced of the objective, indwelling presence in human products of a sort of human intention that expresses itself in the form of a mathematical system of relations. The inherence of such systems of relations in human products is what sets them apart from objects encountered in the natural world, and the reason for this is that these systems reflect a fundamental aspect of the human spirit, as Valéry sees this.

Valéry was no true mathematician; he was at best a talented and enthusiastic amateur. His quaint proposals for applying mathematical concepts to aesthetics and psychology frequently founder in details. Valéry’s mathematical view of the Self and the work of art serves an important function as a conceptual model in his theory. In fact, the key to the unity of the entire aesthetic transaction is the process by which the artistic Self, seen as a mathematical structure, externalizes itself to become an artwork. Valéry does not ontologically isolate the aesthetic object from its author as absolutely or as consistently as is usually maintained. The only consistent isolation of the aesthetic object in Valéry is simply its isolation as an object of philosophicalaesthetic speculation. The true source of Valéry’s formalism is his attempt to reduce the aesthetic object and artistic intention to a condition of pure algebraic relationalism. And the true source of his modernism, beyond this formalism, is the distinctly ontological approach he takes in his investigation of aesthetic objects in particular and human products in general.

POSING THE ONTOLOGICAL AESTHETIC PROBLEM One of Valéry’s most penetrating inquiries into the nature of objects, aesthetic and 135

Figure 33 : Portrait of Paul Valéry (1923), by JacquesÉmile Blanche.

Agence Albatros/Réunion des Musées Métropolitains Rouen Normandie Source - https://www.parisupdate. com/paul-valery-et-les-peintres/

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ordinary, is an odd little passage in his “Socratic” dialogue, Eupalinos. Socrates describes a baffling encounter he has had at the seashore with a smooth, white object that defies characterization precisely because it gives no clue to its origin. Had it been made by human hands, by another sort of living creature, or by the chance agitation of the sea? Nothing will tell. “Socrates” realizes that his experience has brought him to a complete impasse, so he throws the object back into the water.

The problem is clearly one that has occupied the attention of the twentieth-century artist and aesthetician. What if “Socrates” had seen the very same object, say, in the marketplace or, to pursue Valéry’s playful anachronism, in ancient Athens’s answer to the Museum of Modern Art? Would this have changed its essence? What happens, the modern aesthetician has asked time and again, to the status of the seemingly non- or anti- aesthetic object - the Brillo box, the latrine, an indifferent object found in the street - once it is placed in a museum, where spectators will be called upon to behave towards it as if it belonged to the same class of objects as the Pietà or the Night Watch? Does it undergo a true change of essence? If it were to be removed from the museum and placed on the seashore, would a precivilized man, unfamiliar with latrines and Brillo boxes, respond to it as “Socrates” does to the baffling white thing in Eupalinos?

For the terms of his description indicate the necessity he sees of discovering an “intention,” or something like it, in an object: some sign, in other words, that will communicate to the spectator that the object before him is a human product.

Discovering the distinctive, indwelling quality of human products, then, is one aspect of the ontological problem for Valéry.

Thus the ontological problem includes a kind of “where” in addition to the “what” suggested by the concern with indwelling qualities.

ONTIC PLACE: “WHERE” HUMAN OBJECTS ARE For Valéry, posing the question what an object is entails at the same time posing the question where it is, identifying and defining, that is, a manifold peculiar to human objects in such a way that we can distinguish the “place” or “space” of even an object like a cathedral, which appears quite simply to exist in the space-time manifold of the phenomenal world. Architecture is thus the most complete of arts because, while satisfying the needs of the soul, it also dwells in the world.

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But the locus of architecture is not absolutely the same as that of objects dwelling in the rest of the world. “Works of architecture” exist in the middle of this world, like monuments of another world; or else like examples, scattered here and there, of a structure and a form of duration that are not those of beings but rather those of forms and laws. Thus it appears that, at least in the case of architecture, a human, and specifically an aesthetic object, has its own special space-time manifold: one that resembles the space-time manifold of nature, indeed in some cases may be conceived of as superimposed upon it, but one that is closed on its objects and particular to them, one whose objects are determined by the forms and laws of human spirit instead of by casual laws of nature.

These characteristics will be found to define the “place” of aesthetic objects of all sorts, in fact of any product of the human spirit for Valéry, from a dance, which exists “in a sort of space-time that is no longer entirely the same as that of practical life”, to geometric figures, “beings half-concrete and half- abstract”, to works of music, which Valéry’s Socrates surprises his disciples by likening in this respect to works of architecture.

The “where” of human objects is a consequence of the “what” since the inner essence of such objects is exactly the thing that determines the existential locus in which they dwell.

“WHAT” AESTHETIC OBJECTS ARE: MATHEMATICAL GROUPS AND CREATIVE INTENTION Valéry describes the credo of the young relationalist: “There was a time when I saw. I saw, or wished to see, figures of relations between things, and not things themselves.

Things made me smile from pity. Those who preoccupied themselves with them were for me nothing more than idolaters. I knew that the essential thing was figure”.

What is the difference between natural objects and aesthetic objects? Valéry had spoken of the capacity of great men to discover relations among things that the rest of us “don’t know how to transpose or translate into the system of the complete set of our acts”, implying that if, as he had suggested elsewhere, truth in nature consists in systems of relations, it is not because such systems objectively exist in nature. It is rather because truth is imposed by a larger-than-life intelligence. Thus systems, strictly speaking, are not inherent in nature or in natural objects. But in aesthetic 138

objects the system is objectively inherent, and for the simple reason that the artist puts it there. The system is the sign of the human intention in aesthetic objects.

Our sensibility. This is important, because it shows once again that the lawfulness of human products, this indwelling essence or value that Valéry speaks of as distinguishing art objects from ordinary objects, has its ultimate source in the human sensibility. Natural objects are ultimately determined by the casual laws of nature.

So certain human objects, like works of sculpture and architecture. But all human objects are also determined by laws and relations born in the spirits of their creator, and the sign of this is the relational system.

THE SOURCE OF THE AESTHETIC OBJECT: SYSTEM AND GEOMETRIC TRANSFORMATION The inherence in art objects of a kind of “intention” in the form of a system of relations born in the “modes and laws of our general sensibility” also suggests that there is a continuity between art objects and the creative sensibility, that art objects may be conceived of as extensions, or projections, of the systematic (human) organization that produced them.

If there is continuity between human objects and their source in creative acts of the mind or self, then it is not surprising to find that this source shares the relational characteristics that inhere in its products. “Man is a system that transforms itself”; “every act of comprehension is based on a group”; any given idea “is most certainly derived from a system that comprises also the subsequent ideas, rather than being the origin or cause of them”.

How does the aesthetic object come into being from this source? The obvious response would be to envision the act of genesis as a geometric transformation of the ego, a projective mapping of the system of the mind onto another “space,” namely that of art, where the ego, or what Valery calls the “Moi pur,” would be the invariant, just as it is in the mind itself.

It is clearly difficult to take Valéry’s mathematical fantasies seriously in and for themselves. But even if we do not accept literally the mathematical theory of the self and mental life we must still recognize its value as a model for the aesthetic “transaction” and for the status of the aesthetic object. The aesthetic object for Valéry 139

is not something that at times appears independent from its source and at other times appears continuous with its source. It simply has a dual status in general, because both conditions are present. The notion of transformation or geometric projection illustrates this perfectly. Just as the projected image of a given geometric figure on a new space is an object distinct from its original but still dependent on it and continuous with it, so for Valéry the aesthetic object bears the imprint of its source (in the form of a relational system) while still existing as an independent thing.

The dual status of the artwork, that strange hesitation it shows between selfreferentiality on the one hand and continuity with its source on the other, is what ultimately saves Valéry’s aesthetics from the status of pure formalism. The idea of system, the move towards objectivity, the underlying scientificity are all there in Valéry as they are in formalism and structuralism. But an important difference remains for Valéry, and that is the surviving, projected presence of the human creative source in the aesthetic object. But for Valéry the source of an aesthetic object is decidedly an integral part of its ontic status. It has everything to do with its essence and thus everything to do with its very state of being.

Human things are always products, and they are always products of something.

This is why the space of human things -whether we are speaking of a cathedral, a dance, a polygon, or a poem- is always different from that of natural things. Perhaps the true reason for the difference between Valéry’s aesthetics and any kind of strict formalism is just this concern with essence and “space”.

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Chapter 3 - Gestalt Psychology Gestalt Principles are laws of human perception that describe how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns and simplify complex images when we perceive objects. “Gestalt” is German for “unified whole”.

The first Gestalt Principles were devised in the 1920s by German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler—who aimed to understand how humans typically gain meaningful perceptions from the chaotic stimuli around them.

They identified a set of laws which address the natural compulsion to find order in disorder.

According to this, the mind “informs” what the eye sees by perceiving a series of individual elements as a whole. The view is sometimes summarized using the adage, “the whole is more than the sum of its parts.” Gestalt principles, proximity, similarity, figure-ground, continuity, closure, and connection, determine how humans perceive visuals in connection with different objects and environments.

The key principles of gestalt systems are emergence, reification, multistability and invariance. These are not necessarily separable modules to model individually, but they could be different aspects of a single unified dynamic mechanism.

REIFICATION Reification is the constructive or generative aspect of perception, by which the experienced percept contains more explicit spatial information than the sensory stimulus on which it is based.

MULTISTABILITY Multistability or multistable perception is the tendency of ambiguous perceptual experiences to pop back and forth unstably between two or more alternative interpretations.

INVARIANCE Invariance is the property of perception whereby simple geometrical objects are recognized independent of rotation, translation, and scale; as well as several other variations such as elastic deformations, different lighting, and different component features.

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Figure 34 : Gestalt Principles: A: Reification B: Multistability C: Invariance D: Law of proximity E: Law of similarity F: Law of Closure G: Law of Continuity H: Law of Symmetry Source - Authors

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FIGURE-GROUND ORGANIZATION Figure-ground organization is the interpretation of perceptual elements in terms of their shapes and relative locations in the layout of surfaces in the 3-D world. Figureground organization structures the perceptual field into a figure (standing out at the front of the perceptual field) and a background (receding behind the figure). The Gestalt psychologists demonstrated that we tend to perceive as figures those parts of our perceptual fields that are convex, symmetric, small, and enclosed.

PRÄGNANZ Like figure-ground organization, perceptual grouping is a form of perceptual organization. Also known as “The law of good Gestalt”, it focuses on the idea of conciseness, which is what all of Gestalt theory is based on. According to Gestalt psychologists, the fundamental principle of perceptual grouping is the law of Prägnanz. Prägnanz is a German word that directly translates to “pithiness” and implies salience, conciseness, and orderliness. The law of Prägnanz says that we tend to experience things as regular, orderly, symmetrical, and simple. As Koffka put it, “Of several geometrically possible organizations that one will actually occur which possesses the best, simplest and most stable shape.”

The law of Prägnanz implies that, as individuals perceive the world, they eliminate complexity and unfamiliarity so they can observe reality in its most simplistic form.

Eliminating extraneous stimuli helps the mind create meaning. This meaning created by perception implies a global regularity, which is often mentally prioritized over spatial relations.

Gestalt psychologists attempted to discover refinements of the law of Prägnanz, and this involved writing down laws that, hypothetically, allow us to predict the interpretation of sensation, what are often called “gestalt laws”. Those principles dealing with the sensory modality of vision, were based on similarity, proximity and continuity.

LAW OF PROXIMITY The law of proximity states that when an individual perceives an assortment of objects, they perceive objects that are close to each other as forming a group. This law is often used in advertising logos to emphasize which aspects of events are associated.

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LAW OF SIMILARITY The law of similarity states that elements within an assortment of objects are perceptually grouped together if they are similar to each other. This similarity can occur in the form of shape, colour, shading or other qualities.

LAW OF CLOSURE Gestalt psychologists believed that humans tend to perceive objects as complete rather than focusing on the gaps that the object might contain. Specifically, when parts of a whole picture are missing, our perception fills in the visual gap.

LAW OF SYMMETRY The law of symmetry states that the mind perceives objects as being symmetrical and forming around a center point. It is perceptually pleasing to divide objects into an even number of symmetrical parts. Therefore, when two symmetrical elements are unconnected the mind perceptually connects them to form a coherent shape.

Similarities between symmetrical objects increase the likelihood that objects are grouped to form a combined symmetrical object.

LAW OF COMMON FATE The law of common fate states that objects are perceived as lines that move along the smoothest path. We perceive elements of objects to have trends of motion, which indicate the path that the object is on. The law of continuity implies the grouping together of objects that have the same trend of motion and are therefore on the same path.

LAW OF CONTINUITY The law of continuity states that elements of objects tend to be grouped together, and therefore integrated into perceptual wholes if they are aligned within an object.

In cases where there is an intersection between objects, individuals tend to perceive the two objects as two single uninterrupted entities. Stimuli remain distinct even with overlap. We are less likely to group elements with sharp abrupt directional changes as being one object.

LAW OF PAST EXPERIENCE The law of past experience implies that under some circumstances visual stimuli are categorized according to past experience. If two objects tend to be observed within close proximity, or small temporal intervals, the objects are more likely to be perceived together.

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CONCEPT FUNDAMENTALS THE DESIGN

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Image Source - Authors

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Chapter 1 - Research Question

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As narrative continues to be primary area of diverse theoretical inquiry and practice in designing landscapes, a number of critical questions emerge.

How can designers create intelligible narratives and to what extent can they control its interpretation?

What are the potentials and limitations of the designer as author?

Since there are many possible and often competing stories and few shared texts, how can one consider what traditions can be drawn upon, and what purposes are served?

How can narratives create a shared public realm in a diverse, pluralistic contemporary culture ?

How open is the narrative to change, reinterpretation and participation?

Addressing these issues, the research establishes the core metaphoric link between ecology and society highlighting the collective, non hierarchical and reciprocal relation between the two. It eschews conventional, formalist design as arbitrary and capricious, emphasizing the importance of authorization of all the design interventions within an ecological discourse.

The validity of such discourse is easily demonstrated through the recurring phenomenon evident in landscapes characterised by rivers. The river defines the soil composition which in turn determines the various user activities and organization systems across the landscape. The productive landscapes boost the economy thus benefiting the society and lifestyle manifested primarily through urban expansion.

This influences the natural environment which impacts the river itself. Each element thus holds equal importance in a broader scenario and changing any one, sets off a chain reaction affecting all.

However these relations being concealed within the complex palimpsest of the constantly evolving landscape need to be delineated for taking wise decisions for a sustainable future. Identifying the urgency to create awareness about this vital relation, the research perceives the diverse narratives thorough reading of the site from all available sources. From all this knowledge, the key narratives are then selected based on their socio-cultural significance, local, regional and national importance and potential to impact the landscape and drive future transformations.

These stories are then narrated through architectural devices designed as art pieces, fixed at a plane on different levels contributing to the site a shared public realm. This is limited by the on-site constraints and user aspirations. Each intervention being open up to a plethora of interpretations thus engages a diverse audience based on everyone’s unique interest and are open to change and reinterpretation.

Figure 35 : Research Question – Wine and Landscape ; The non-hierarchical relations in landscape Source - Authors

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Chapter 2 - Goals and Objectives

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Events in nature continually test the tolerances of human attention either by happening at such a grindingly slow geologic pace as to appear as a static scene, or by being so infinitely diverse and simultaneous that they appear insignificant and inconsequential. The landscape, however, distorts and condenses time to create clear ideological constructs and associations between the natural transformations and the human inflicted ones that are constantly shaping new realities. All the transformations, characterizing a landscape, can thus be seen as a complex series of interrelated events that can be retold, organized into epochs, and summarized in a narratives.

The project area is a similar palimpsest comprising of an incessantly transforming landscape in which all the stages of beginning, climax, and annihilation can be seen at once. The research identifies the primary narratives of wine cultivation and production, cultural significance of wine and physical transformations that the site has been witness to in context of the rich relation they have with the diverse physical landscape typologies which in turn is determined by the changing soil composition.

The design goal is to align these contingencies toward an overwhelmingly enriching experience and historical march by narrating these stories spanning across the actual geologic, ecological and human processes (story time) in the time it takes to walk across the site (time of narration).

Natural sequences and processes, such as changing soil composition, order to entropy, lowland to highland are some of the many devices used to structure narratives. These processes become not only key players in the plot but also build the content of the story.

As Carol Franklin (Johnson and Frankel. 181) describes “We don’t have time to debate about styles, about fashions. They are irrelevant to the survival of the diversity of life on our planet. Passion should come first in putting systems back together, reconnecting us spiritually and functionally to the earth”, the objectives of the design are thus listed as follows:

Figure 36 : Design Goals – The narratives of wine cultivation and production, cultural significance, and physical transformations on site in context of their relation with the diverse landscape typologies which are determined by the changing soil composition.

Source - Authors

• To create awareness and changing the commonly held discourses through an ecological (re) reading and design in nature.

• To design not objects but an experience over time, by implementing visual narratives that have the power to compress time and space.

• To realize context specific architectural devices authorized within an ecological discourse for facilitating the delineation of the storied texture.

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Chapter 3 - Strategy The design reading the existing ecological narrative, “lets the site reveal itself.” Plant signatures, such as how big oaks and grape vines indicate drier ground, how black locusts and agricultural fields begin to predominate as you get into wetter ground, or how young poplars extend their range across entropic river beds become devices testifying how these subtle changes are brought about and occur along the “changing soil composition”. This is followed by overlapping the chosen narratives of changing landscape perceptions and typologies, physical transformations and organization systems, and cultural significance of wine and its production process, through a complex matrix, thus identifying strategic locations for design interventions.

The design strategy empowers the delineation of the storied texture of the restless maze of a landscape through the use of architectural devices that bridge the physical surroundings to an intangible temporal dimension. The diverse narrative sequences woven into the design interventions, move back and forth through different stages of succession, in order to develop themes and break down the complexity and build it back up again into an understanding of the whole. Rather than explaining in words, these design devices structure ways of reading signatures and signs in the landscape.

Volumes, forms and materiality become metaphors of time and transformations, providing significant spatial experiences at first followed by revelation of the other level of meanings. Placement and association order ecological and causal relations.

The trope is primarily metonymic. The other principal trope is that of synecdoche, where every element is attached to a larger whole.

Each intervention open to a plethora of interpretations, retells the narrative of region’s ecological succession by re-establishing the structural combinations of flora in relation to processes among many other narratives. This facilitates reading of the ecological realities of the region, yet at the same time it employs equally sophisticated means of shaping the site to narrate the transformative and cultural memory.

Applying Narrative Tropes By attaching a site to stories through the strategy of naming, the design gives the site an expanded temporal dimension. Certain names for their particular associations, stories and emotions have been selected to simulate the kind of temporal depth and associations of a rural landscape that evolved over time. Among them Bacco, Etruscan

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Liver, Patera, Gutturnium and Michelangelo have significant cultural associations and a plethora of stories woven into them while Genesis, Growth, Transformation, Climax and Introspection imply sensorial perceptions and transformation processes.

Multiple sequences through the same Landscape are thus concocted, structuring different meanings depending on the direction the visitors choose to follow. Ones commencing their journeys from the trail along the river edge, experience a sequence from wilderness to agricultural and sub-urban growth when moving away from the river. On the other hand, those starting the journey from the trail along the last ridge experience a sequence from the highly ordered vineyards to sub-urban roads and settlements to a relative natural chaos. What is an interruption or a perceived decline to some may be considered an improvement by others, suggesting that the meaning of sequences is relative to the context of what lies before and after.

Also, for ones starting their experience from the cantina towards the river are led down the lane of intangible cultural memories and physical transformations that the area has been witness to, while the ones choosing to go up towards the lake get acquainted with the complex wine growth and production process as an art worthy of praise and promotion.

Using the trope of metonymy, diverse ecological manifestations that are easily understood by the visitors give clues to the otherwise unperceivable changing geological compositions. Thus, the interpretations of ecological landscape are presented in fast motion, making the otherwise slow and unperceivable processes of nature visible. The juxtaposition of ecological stages of succession enables the visitor to walk in a few minutes what would take nature ages to transform.

Further, being situated in an essentially productive landscape, the design emphasizes on processes and integration. Exposing the underlying structure of built forms or natural systems or making transparent what was once concealed is connected with the idea of integrating nature and culture and making people more aware of their actions and their use of resources. The human traces like the irrigation canals, pump house, cantina services, and stone quarry that exist beneath the picturesque landscape are thus exposed and highlighted.

All the design interventions essentially represent efforts to gather and preserve the remnants of the past within the context of the formative and evolving landscape.

They are interpreted as part of a whole landscape of change, without controlled distinctions over the diverse lived-in landscape. People living and working in this landscape, become a part of a dynamic history and ongoing narratives. Setting the site in motion the design thus engages both the visitor’s movement through the site and the site’s movement through time.

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Figure 37 : Functional program – Design Strategy Source - Authors

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Figure 38 : Functional program – Design Tools Source - Authors

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Chapter 4 - Design Description The design sets up the complex storied texture of the valley as a chronological sociocultural history set against an ever changing physical landscape. It orchestrates a processional and synaesthetic experience where visitors can feel, touch, hear and smell, and in other ways, connect with a time that once was. It overlays upon the land an ordered version of various events and transformations resulting in a particular organization system. The linear structures of the proposed circulation becomes an ordering devices for a sequential experience frequented by designed spaces from which to view the landscape. Disjointed but adjacent information makes for a pastiche of events that are connected following a rational logic than causally.

The central circulation spine of the design, passing through all the pavilions, connects the lake at the uppermost terrace to the river at the other end, where the massive limestone monoliths tell of the floods that frequent the area. Out of this shape-shifting landscape, “torn by water”, where young flora becomes petrified by the action of river, a narrative with a clear temporal structure can be interpreted. As one walks away from the river, one walks backward in time, crossing a sequence of increasingly older terraces. On the river edge, three pairs of locally sourced marl monoliths framing the river, agricultural fields and the stone quarry recall the impact of the human quest to tame the wild nature.

The story of civilization shaping a more perfect nature manifested through a series of productive landscapes and the allied built up areas and service networks begins at this terrace. This area is a complex mosaic of interlocking landscape typologies each encompassing a unique set of biodiversity, perceptions as well as functions. They gather, compress, and reconfigure the patterns found in the larger landscape into a comprehensible whole, making the designed stretch a synecdoche of the region.

The design becomes a “regional garden” because the ecological relationships of the region it sits within become the content of the story. It is a progressive narrative proceeding terrace by terrace, each one marking a distinct stage in the process and building upon the previous stage. The spatial devices, materiality, and most important the play of textures work together to articulate this process.

The pavilions at the upper terraces, for instance, are built spaces with smooth material finishes and less interaction with nature communicating high actuality. Each successive intervention becomes proportionately smaller with rough surface finish and

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more open to natural forces communicating high potentiality. This linear sequence of interventions along the axis facilitates deciphering of complex overlapping narratives determining the tangible and intangible aspects of the landscape.

The natural topography with an elevation difference of around 60 meters also enables way finding by offering the glimpses of the pavilions and the lowest terrace with agricultural fields giving way to entropic river bed and Colli Piacentini in backdrop. The design thus telescopes space and time, and gives a clear sense of the direction toward the story’s end. In spite of employing a metaphor that seems more deterministic and linear, the design is not a rigid plot owing to the diagonals and shifts as well as unseen elements that are revealed only in the progression.

The different moments in time and changing soil composition resulting in particular production and other user activities are evoked by sophisticated use of tropes and abstraction of physical artefacts that refer to classical literature, crucial on-site discoveries and wine production process.

For instance, by naming the existing cantina courtyard as “Piazza Bacco” after the Pagan God of Wine, the design completely changes the semantic register of the place, fixing it within a system of values. While anchoring stories to the courtyard in the simplest way, naming endows it with an expanded temporal dimension. The existing space is reorganized to serve as a link between the two narratives of wine production process and cultural significance of wine.

The events of the landscape narrative are enchained in a chronological sequence in carefully constructed alliances of causality. It is the volume in all its various spatial and material manifestations that carries out the trope of metamorphoses. It sets off from built concrete, becomes light and sound, and turns back into open spaces defined by rough finished natural materials towards the river. River becomes actor, event, and the cause of events. The pavilions empower the delineation of the narratives as distinct from an anonymous causality, all recounting how the nature as well as humans play a key role in all of this.

The upper terraces show the perfect order of nature revealed in productive landscapes laid out in perfect geometry. This is the triumph of mankind to tame the nature. The plot of the story creates a comparison between the subjugation of these ancient terraces by contemporary productive landscapes, achieved through labour and art, and that of the wild entropic river ecosystem of a more recent era. The design becomes an allegory asking the reader to interpret the actions of the present through the history of the past. By looking up towards the horizon, from the river at the lower terrace, the visitors can look back in time.

Page 159-160 Figure 39 : Master Plan Source - Authors

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01 - PIAZZA BACCO

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Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Surface textures - changing soil composition • Name - link between culture and wine Metonymy • Grape stomping vats - Wine Culture Synecdoche • Storage - Industrial processes Incongruity • Recreational spaces - Functional Spaces The existing cantina courtyard essentially a utilitarian space at the centre of the designed axis is flanked by the narratives of wine production process towards the lake and the cultural significance of wine towards the river. Its design as a link between the two narratives thus caters to the question of “what” by reorganization and streamlining of existing underutilized functional spaces and abandoned areas, and “how” by doing so in a manner that creates multifunctional spaces for socialization for the users.

The redesigning exposing the functional aspects of the cantina, is thus, determined by the underlying need to create interactive and flexible recreational pockets defined within the existing functional elements and storage areas. Here the visitors can experience and be a part of various cultural activities associated to production of wine in an ambience that reveals the toil behind its making. Naming the courtyard as “Piazza Bacco” after the God of wine associates it to a temporal dimension adding to the character of the space. Exposing the complex machinery and working environment in the cantina courtyard as an opening scene, sets ground and builds a more gradual sequence towards the lake as well as the river.

Figure 40 : Piazza Bacco - Existing site conditions Source - Authors

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The cherishing of the Gutturnium sourced from the surrounding vineyards and processed into its final form in the structures defining the courtyard space re-enacts the ancient rite of taking turns to drink the sip of friendship also defined later as the “glass of the stirrup” (Bicchiere della staffa). The built volumes existing in layers of time that flank the space evoke associations with antiquity. The new additions contrast this character through use of light and transparent volumes made of steel and glass that instead of competing with the existing built volumes, frame and enhance their character.

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Figure 41 : Piazza Bacco Detailed site analysis and design evolution Source - Authors

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Figure 42 : Piazza Bacco - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 43 : Piazza Bacco Sections Source - Authors

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Figure 44 : Piazza Bacco – Reorganized storage spaces and building extensions enclosing the multifunctional courtyard Source - Authors

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Figure 45 : Piazza Bacco – Grape stomping vats, a key element during cultural events, adapted into flexible outdoor seating Source - Authors

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02 - ETRUSCAN LIVER

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Narratives: • Landscape perception - Artificial : Cantina • Cultural Significance - Greek Etruscan Culture (2nd century B.C.) • Physical Transformations - Palazzo, Tramway, Oil Path, Contrasts (Order to Entropy, Dry to Wet, Stable to Unstable, Manmade to Natural) Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Pavilion - Etruscan Liver • Surface textures - Human inflicted transformations (Tramline, dry to wet, manmade to natural) • Sculpture - changing soil composition Metonymy • Irrigation canal - Agriculture Synecdoche • water pool - river ecosystem Incongruity • Panels - Oil Path, Palazzo and Etruscan Gods The Liver of Piacenza, an Etruscan artifact dated to the late 2nd century B.C found in 1877, near Gossolengo, is a life-sized bronze model of a sheep’s liver covered in Etruscan inscriptions, measuring 126 × 76 × 60 mm. The outer rim of the liver based on the 16 astrological houses of Etruscan belief is divided into 16 sections for the purposes of performing haruspicy (hepatoscopy). The sections are inscribed with names of individual deities. The liver thought to represent their view of the Earth, the sun and moon, and 16 heavenly bodies, was likely used as a kind of celestial map and key to interpreting events that happened in each of the zones from the direction in which lightning was seen.

Figure 46 : Etruscan Liver Existing site conditions Source - Authors

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The design of the pavilion is an abstraction of the Etruscan liver scaled 300 times, comprising of walls as sculpted protrusions representing the major anatomical features of the liver. The arrangement of the walls encloses a hierarchy of diverse spaces acting as a threshold to the subsequent landscape. The exterior walls made of concrete are perforated in patterns that announce the past while the interior partition screens surrounding an existing tree are made of Corten steel and have perforations that cast shadows of the names of Etruscan deities.

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Figure 47 : Etruscan Liver Detailed site analysis and Design Evolution Source - Authors

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Figure 48 : Etruscan Liver - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 49 : Etruscan Liver Sections Source - Authors

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Figure 50 : Etruscan Liver - The design of interior and exterior wall perforations abstracted from the inscriptions in Etruscan script on the liver, and old Palazzo and railway bridge respectively.

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Figure 51 : Etruscan Liver – Series of perforated walls narrating stories of past defining a hierarchy of open spaces Source - Authors

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Figure 52 : Wall perforations casting shadows of Etruscan Gods defining the sanctum sanctorum around an existing tree Source - Authors

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03 - PATERA

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BUCOLIC

Narratives: • Landscape perception - Bucolic : Agricultural Fields • Cultural Significance - Latin Culture (1st century B.C.) • Changing Soil Composition - Gravel, sand and silt covered by clay Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Installation - Patera • Pavilion - discovery • Threshold - Changing landscape typology • surface textures - changing soil composition Metonymy • Framed views - Agricultural Fields The enormous fame of Piacenza wines in Roman times when it was believed to help calm the spirit (“vinum merum placentium laetificat”), is endorsed by are rich documents and precious finds like the numerous shards of wine vessels that emerged in Val Nure and Val Trebbia along with the Latin classics to support that.

Patera, dated from late 1st century B.C to early 1st century A.D, one of those precious discoveries found in the late 19th century on the hills of Bicchignano in Val Nure, is a cup made from murrino glass.

The design of the pavilion is a manifestation of this era abstracted from the shape of the Patera scale 25 times. Situated at the ridge, the edifice placed at the edge of a concrete base, is half buried in the ground veiled in an arrangement of walls offering glimpses of its contrasting materiality. This allows the user to re-enact and celebrate its discovery while viewing the panoramas of the valley existing in layers of diverse landscape typologies framed within the built volumes.

Figure 53 : Patera - Existing site conditions Source - Authors

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The strategic placement of openings throughout the pavilion, underlines the connection of the human dominated artificial landscape to the agricultural plains to which it has always belonged. By emphasizing the landscape imagery of the region, by tying the settlements to this imagery, and by projecting it back onto the landscape context of which it is a part, the strata and diversity of the history of the region is encouraged to re-emerge.

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Figure 54 : Patera - Detailed site analysis and design evolution Source - Authors

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Figure 55 : Patera - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 56 : Patera - Sections Source - Authors

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Figure 57 : Concrete walls concealing contrasting materiality and form of sculptural patera evoking the event of its discovery Source - Authors

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Figure 58 : Patera - The Pavilion nestled on the ridge with the endless agricultural fields in the foreground Source - Authors

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04 - GUTTURNIUM

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ANARCHIC

Narratives: • Landscape perception - Anarchic : Forest • Cultural Significance - Late Roman culture (1st century A.D.) • Physical Transformations - Irrigation Canals, Pump house Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Pavilion - Gutturnium Tastevin • Water - Wine Metonymy • Corten steel - Aged/Antique • Irrigation Canal - Agriculture Synecdoche • Wood formations - Forests Incongruity • Architecture - Negative of Sculpture The Gutturnium, a silver mug from Roman era, with richly worked handle is one of the most important oenological finds in Piacenza, which resurfaced among the silty sands of the Po river in Croce S. Spirito in 1878. The Gutturnium, with a height of “ 9.3 centimetres and capacity of 2 Litres, can be called the first tastevin of the world. It has a single handle elegantly embossed and chiselled with vine shoots and bunches of grapes and the body entirely chiselled in small, embossed rhomboids. It also bears the inscription, in relief, “PLACENTIAE”, the Latin name for Piacenza. The current Gutturnio wine inherited its name from this silver cup.

The pavilion is an architectural trope, located in the anarchic wood cluster that serves as visual signals of the once forested plain as well as a physical reference for the changes in topography and soil moisture on an otherwise flat agricultural plain.

Figure 59 : Gutturnium - Existing site conditions Source - Authors

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The volume carved as a negative space of the gutturnium, is split into smaller volumes, arranged in a circle with the base of the cup providing for the central water feature. The rustic concrete exterior of the pavilion conceals the glittering steel interior surfaces arranged around the Corten steel pool. The water sourced from the adjacent irrigation canals becomes a metaphor for wine and reinforces the memory and presence of what remains of the larger forests on the higher terraces farther away.

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Figure 60 : Gutturnium - Detailed site analysis and design evolution Source - Authors

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Figure 61 : Gutturnium - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 62 : Gutturnium - Sections Source - Authors

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Figure 63 : Gutturnium – The pavilion in the woods designed as a negative of sculpture planned around a circular water pool Source - Authors

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Figure 64 : Gutturnium - The rustic concrete exterior surfaces concealing the contrasting glittering steel interiors Source - Authors

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05 - MICHELANGELO

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ENTROPIC

Narratives: • Landscape perception - Entropic : Shape shifting Landscape, manmade to natural • Cultural Significance - Wine of the Popes and Kings (14th century A.D.) • Changing Soil Composition - Alluvial Deposit • Physical Transformations - Floods, Stone Quarry Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Pavilion - Michelangelo • Surface Texture - Changing Soil Composition • stepping stone - changing river course • monotonous adobe blocks - agricultural fields • Thresholds - Changing Landscape typologies Metonymy • Water Marks - Floods Synecdoche • stone slabs - stone quarry Incongruity • Architecture - relation of man with nature • Built area - agriculture The connection with the shape shifting river landscape is made by the marl monoliths that are found throughout the region, usually associated with the cava Albarola (stone quarry) on the west, which also is framed using similar devices along with the agricultural fields on the north east. Healing then is one of the metaphors that structure the plot, restoring the semblance of an original natural order to a site that has been farmed, quarried and abandoned.

Figure 65 : MIchelangels - Existing site conditions Source - Authors

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The construction and location of embankments that run perpendicular to the river are dictated by the extreme flooding events. In such a turbulent landscapes, the design changes the mode of narration by considering the “simultaneity and extension of events and possibilities”. What is perceived as distinct in the picturesque gardenfigure and scene, instead becomes integrated. The ongoing events, actions, and qualities of figure and ground make up the content of the narrative. In addition, the adobe (terra cruda) blocks laid in a uniform pattern, create the sensation of monotony and being lost, as associated to the vast agricultural fields.

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Figure 66 : Michelangelo Detailed site analysis and design evolution Source - Authors

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Figure 67 : Michelangelo - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 68 : Michelangelo Sections Source - Authors

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Figure 69 : Michelangelo - The pavilion designed as a threshold between natural and manmade landscapes Source - Authors

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Figure 70 : Adobe blocks with marl monoliths in backdrop, recreating the sensations of monotony of agricultural fields Source - Authors

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06 - GENESIS

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GEOMETRY

Narratives: • Landscape perception - Geometry : Vineyards • Production Process - Sowing • Physical Transformations - Railway Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Pavilion - Genesis Synecdoche • Reconstructed Stratigraphy - Soil composition The intervention enlightens the conception of the sapling from a seed highlighting the stratigraphy that instils life into a dormant seed. The diverse layers of earth are reconstructed to inform the visitors about this aspect of grape vine cultivation that otherwise is incomprehensible.

The experience is heightened by controlled ingress of natural light into the architectural device that essentially is below grade. While traversing the ramped path, the constantly changing eye level allows the users to have varying perceptions of the grape vines from different angles. The experience terminates into the framed view of the landmark on the top of the hill.

Figure 71 : Genesis - Existing site condition Source - Authors

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Figure 72 : Genesis - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 73 : Genesis - Sections Source - Authors

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Figure 74 : Genesis - Wall detail showing reconstructed stratigraphy Source - Authors

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Figure 75 : Genesis - The pavilion set at a lower level along the axis offering changing views to vines without dominating the landscape Source - Authors

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07 - GROWTH

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FRAME

Narratives: • Landscape perception - Frame : Tree lines • Production Process - Germination to Fruition • Changing Soil Composition - Gravel and sand partially cemented Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Pavilion - Growth • Surface Texture - Changing Soil Composition • Colors - phases of maturation Incongruity • Changing wall heights - increasing size • live processes - non-living elements The playful arrangement of plazas placed at different levels dictated by the existing topography are a metaphor for the states of maturation of a grape vine from a sapling into a fully grown fruit bearing plant. This is represented through the changing volumes defined by walls that become bigger as one traverses the serpentine circulation. The colours of the surface paving too are symbolic of the colours of the vine across different seasons.

The walls with the information about the maturation process to inform the visitors on one hand frame different natural views while on the other hand define multifunctional flexible spaces for socialization one of which multiplies into an amphitheatre by exploiting the natural terrain.

Figure 76 : Growth - Existing site condition Source - Authors

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Figure 77 : Growth - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 78 : Growth - Sections Source - Authors

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Figure 79 : Growth - Wall detail highlighting the different methods of grape vine cultivation Source - Authors

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Figure 80 : Growth - The pavilion characterized by series of multifunctional plazas set at different levels nestled within trees Source - Authors

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08 - TRANSFORMATION

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ASCENT

Narratives: • Landscape perception - Ascent : Slope • Production Process - Vine to Wine Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Pavilions - Transformation from vine to wine • Ascent - Improvement in state with time Incongruity • Architecture - Negative of Sculpture • Visitors - Products (Grapes, must, juice) The intervention highlights the process of wine production after harvesting by means of three pavilions placed along the landings of the staggered staircases that take the visitors up the slope. The design of the pavilions, each representing the crushing, fermentation and ageing processes have been abstracted from the physical devices used during these processes. The subtle concrete cuboids from outside veil complex devices inside capable to stimulate the physical senses of the visitors passing through them adding richness to the experience.

Figure 81 : Transformation Existing site Condition Source - Authors

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Figure 82 : Transformation - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 83 :Transformation Section and detail plans of crushing, fermentation and ageing pavilions (right to left) Source - Authors

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Figure 84 : Transformation Design abstraction and views of crushing, fermentation and ageing pavilions Source - Authors

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Figure 85 : Transformation - View of the 3 pavilions set amidst the vineyards along a series of staggered stairs and platforms Source - Authors

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09 - CLIMAX

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PINNACLE

Narratives: • Landscape perception - Pinnacle: Ridge • Production Process - Consumption Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Corten Steel - Tonalities of Wine • Contrast - Belonging to a different layer of time Incongruity • Duality - Dominant when viewed from front seems dominated from behind The architectural device nestled on the ridge acts as a landmark orienting the visitors and enhancing wayfinding. The structure seeming to jet out of the earth cantilevering over the vineyards is covered in corten steel which contrasts with the green surroundings announcing its association to a more recent layer of time. Owing to its shape, location and the green roof this most dominating object enticing the visitors to undertake the journey, completely ceases to exist when seen from the ridge giving away its dominance to the landscape.

This dynamism is also reflected in the functionality. The multifunctional interior space houses the final product, the Romagnoli Wine, that the visitors can enjoy with the best panoramas of the site that it frames.

Figure 86 : Climax - Existing site condition Source - Authors

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Figure 87 : Climax - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 88 : Climax - Section and structural schemes Source - Authors

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Figure 89 : Climax - The landscape with cantiana and the river in the backdrop framed from inside the pavilion Source - Authors

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Figure 90 : Climax - The pavilion which acts as a landmark when seen from the cantina, blends into the landscape from the other side Source - Authors

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10 - INTROSPECTION

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REFLECTION

Narratives: • Landscape perception - Reflection: Lake • Production Process - Appreciation Narrative Tropes: Metaphor • Mirror - appreciation • Layers of landscape typologies - continuity • Descending to level of water - changing landscape typology Metonymy • Lake - Hydrographic network Synecdoche • biodiversity - Lake ecosystems The final intervention designed as a deck and positioned on the lake edge extends inside the water exploring its reflective nature. The visitors can go below the level of water from where a sequence of physical elements both natural and otherwise can be seen existing in different layers of time.

They are reflected as a part of the landscape in the mirror placed in the water which further reflects the mirror making the experience more dramatic allowing for deep introspection. This stimulates the contemplation of the landscape that hosts the complex art of wine production in light of both the tangible and intangible aspects associated.

The vineyards behind the mirror, framed by trees with a curtain of natural green as a backdrop provide clues about the continuation of the landscape beyond the lake.

The visitors can thus choose either to continue their odyssey further or return with the new insight.

Figure 91 : Introspection - Existing site Condition Source - Authors

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Figure 92 : Introspection - Plan Source - Authors

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Figure 93 Sections

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Introspection

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Figure 94 : Introspection - View from the deck looking towards the layered landscape in the backdrop of the mirror in the lake Source - Authors

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Figure 95 : Introspection - View from the existing lake edge Source - Authors

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Chapter 5 - CONCLUSION The design sets up the complex storied texture of the valley as a chronological sociocultural history set against an ever changing physical landscape. It orchestrates a processional and synaesthetic experience where visitors can feel, touch, hear and smell, and in other ways, connect with a time that once was. It overlays upon the land an ordered version of various events and transformations resulting in a particular organization system. The linear structures of the proposed circulation becomes an ordering devices for a sequential experience frequented by designed spaces from which to view the landscape. Disjointed but adjacent information makes for a pastiche of events that are connected following a rational logic than causally.

The central circulation spine of the design, passing through all the pavilions, connects the lake at the uppermost terrace to the river at the other end, where the massive limestone monoliths tell of the floods that frequent the area. Out of this shape-shifting landscape, “torn by water”, where young flora becomes petrified by the action of river, a narrative with a clear temporal structure can be interpreted. As one walks away from the river, one walks backward in time, crossing a sequence of increasingly older terraces. On the river edge, three pairs of locally sourced marl monoliths framing the river, agricultural fields and the stone quarry recall the impact of the human quest to tame the wild nature.

The pavilions at the upper terraces, for instance, are built spaces with smooth material finishes and less interaction with nature communicating high actuality. Each successive intervention becomes proportionately smaller with rough surface finish and

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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BOOKS AND RESEARCH PAPERS

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Jamie Purinton, Matthew Potteiger, Landscape Narratives: Design Practices for Telling Stories – Published on 20 march 1998 by Wiley Steven Cassedy, Paul Valéry’s Modernist Aesthetic Object, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Autumn, 1986, Vol. 45, No. 1, (Autumn, 1986), pp. 77-86, Wiley on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics Segadelli, Stefano (2019) Predicting Extreme-Precipitation Effects on the Geomorphology of Small Mountain Catchments: Towards an Improved Understanding of the Consequences for Freshwater Biodiversity and Ecosystems, 2020,12,79, MDPI, Water Lin, Ding. (2010) Preservation of large-scale bedrock peneplain suggests longterm landscape stability in southern Tibet, Volume 54,4, 453-466, Stuttgrat, Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia. (1859) ; Bernard Quaritch (publisher) ; Edward FitzGerald (translator) André Corboz, “The Land as Palimpsest”, March 1, 1983 John Brinckerhoff Jackson, “A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time”, Yale University Press, Jan 1, 1994 Peter Walker, Melanie Simo, Burle Marx, Barragán, Noguchi, “I Nuovi Paesaggi” Lotus Navigator Diego Tomasi, “Vino e paesaggio”, La vite, Collana on-line Coltura & Cultura

SITOGRAPHY

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https://www.piace-doc.it/la-storia-dei-vini-piacentini-2/ http://www.archeobo.arti.beniculturali.it/parma/Veleia_sale.htm https://agriturista.myblog.it/2009/07/02/gutturnio/ https://www.artaway.com/experience/the-other-michelangelo/ https://www.mitologiantica.com/romana/il-dio-romano-bacco/ https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbio http://www.napoleonsites.eu/it/divulgativa/600/i-ritratti-di-napoleone.html https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_III_di_Spagna#/media/File:Carlos_de_ Borb%C3%B3n,_rey_de_las_Dos_Sicilias.jpg https://www.zonzofox.com/it/piacenza/cosa-vedere/esplora/dintorni/collipiacentini/pois?skip_mobile_app_commercial=true http://www.stradadeicollipiacentini.it/ https://www.cafa-formations.com/les-dernieres-syntheses-de-loiv-sontarrivees/

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https://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K12.6.html https://www.cantineromagnoli.it/ https://www.librottiglia.com/?lang=en https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle/The-unmoved-mover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics_(Aristotle)#/media/File:Francesco_ Hayez_001.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelian_theology#/media/File:AristotleRaphael.JPG https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/gestalt-principles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology https://www.greece-is.com/aristotle-the-master-of-those-who-know/ https://www.designboom.com/architecture/passage-of-time-garden-anjiarchaeology-museum-china-07-20-2020/ https://www.archdaily.com/946576/holy-fire-lit-place-for-the-second-chinanational-youth-games-2019-urbanus http://landezine.com/index.php/2017/11/earth-sciences-garden-monashuniversity-by-rush-wright-associates/ http://landezine.com/index.php/2016/09/museum-park-louvre-lens-bymosbach-paysagistes/ http://landezine.com/index.php/2016/06/renaturation-of-the-river-airegeneva/ https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/697/ https://www.archdaily.com/267891/venice-biennale-2012-eduardo-souto-demoura https://www.floornature.com/westway-architects-cantina-santa-margheritaveneto-13962/ https://www.kalkriese-varusschlacht.de/en/museum/ https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1390/

VIDEOS “Discover the Art of Making Wine” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UJmB3EqhU0 “Fluvial Processes - How Rivers Form” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewJimXu3ZLo “Aristotle’s Metaphysics” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1oWnS0tSRg 238

Ali Reza Hakim

Federico Sassi

Where the designer is silent other voices may be heard, what the writer leaves unfinished, the reader may complete, what the designer deconstructs the visitor may imaginatively construct.

What is unique about visual narratives, is their power to compress time and space.

-Landscape Narratives

Our work is a page of a book narrating centuries of history of a territory.

We have added nothing to the site that had not been there before.....

Federico Sassi Ali Reza Hakim 27th April 2021