VALERIO FRANZONE ARCHITECT    ABOUT    PROJECTS    PUBLICATIONS    CONTACT    OCHAP

I LOVE GREEN

European White Nights (Nuits Blanches Europe)




Program Temporary lounge garden for the Notte Bianca
Team 2A+P Architettura (Gianfranco Bombaci, Domenico Cannistraci, Pietro Chiodi, Matteo Costanzo, Valerio Franzone)
Client Nuits Blanches Europe, Municipality of Rome, Zètema
Location Rome, Italy
Area 400 m2
Year 2007

Photo ©Dina Dancu

I Love Green is a pause in the city, the rebirth of a tradition.

For the White Night 2007, the participating capitals —Brussels, Madrid, Paris, Riga, and Rome— sponsored the realization of urban lounge areas to develop new city uses. I Love Green is an attempt to rethink Piazza Capranica- a square in the historical center of Rome- to welcome the people and let them rest and relax in a natural urban place. I Love Green is a giardino all’italiana; it is inspired by the tradition of private landscapes that, during the Renaissance, spread from Italy all over Europe and became a common heritage, the expression of an aristocracy willing to regulate and possess nature… But like all rebirths, the new is not like the old, and this contemporary giardino all’italiana is not an aristocratic prerogative but expresses the democratic need for common goods, sharing, participation, and more nature in the city.
I Love Green is a relational place for everyone who hangs around during the Roman White Night; it is a labyrinthine space to get lost in relaxation and a soft lawn to lie down for a delightful natural rest. It is a place that gives everyone hospitality, whether in company or alone. It is a natural element increasing the relational qualities of a historical center. It is a process that comes from its ability to be hospitable because it is soft, warm, and alive. The giardino all’italiana, background for the courtly love of ancient literature, now becomes a relational place, a place for new loves.

I Love Green is for one single night; I Love Green is forever.

The materials and components used to build I Love Green are recyclable and have been reused after dismantling the installation without producing economic loss and environmental waste.