In collaboration with AIAPP- Associazione Italiana di Architettura del Paesaggio (the Italian Association of Landscape Architecture) – Euroflora, the biggest Italian exhibition of flowers and plants, has launched “Meraviglia nei Parchi”, a contest to select thirteen examples of garden. The judges also chose to include four out-of-competition designs, to which they will dedicate a 50 sqm area, so a total of seventeen gardens will be created. The selected designs include 10 designs by professionals in the industry, each of which will get a 100-sqm area to create their garden, and 3 designs in the “under 25” category, which will get a 50 sqm area. The participants included landscape designers from all over Italy, who have found interesting synergies and collaborations to create their gardens.
Playful, imaginative, conceptual, symbolic or geometric, the selected designs combine landscape architecture with a representation of the agricultural, natural landscape, and they stand out for their naturalness and the use of transparencies. Corten steel is a recurring but never predominant material. Plenty of space is left to colour – the colour of flowers. Some creations featured land art installations, to achieve a spectacular effect in contrast with the park’s centuries-old plants.
The winners in the two categories will be selected by a panel of experts including, in addition to the designer of Euroflora, representatives from AIAP, from the Registry of Architects, Planners, Landscape Designers, from the Registry of Agronomists and Foresters, the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape.
Since 1966, Euroflora has been the place where the latest trends take shape and are shown to the public, influencing the choices and behaviours of experts and enthusiasts alike.
The event has witnessed the evolution of taste over time, recording real fashions and trends, such as the Zen garden, which have been transformed into some sort of a dating badge for every period. Today’s garden is “forever”: it is meant to be timeless, and created in close relationship with the historical elements of the landscape and the current elements of urban green. “The starting point – said Adriana Ghersi, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Genoa and AIAPP member – is to understand the context and to address the issues of water saving, the permeability of urban soils, and the different roles that plants can play in the ecosystem, in terms of reduction of the heat island effect, particulate absorption, providing better environmental comfort, as well as a series of important cultural factors”. “Even on roofs, green roofs can positively affect the microclimate – Ghersi explained – by retaining drainage water and offering an important support to insects and birds. More generally, every green space, even the smallest, can improve psychophysical well-being and sensory stimulation, not to mention the therapeutic gardens created for example in paediatric hospitals, for the visually impaired or for Alzheimer’s patients”.
The winners of the “Meraviglia nei Parchi” contest will set up their gardens in the Parchi di Nervi precisely with this spirit of integration into the surrounding landscape.
Euroflora visitors who will draw inspiration from them should know that they could use the “green bonus” in Italy, i.e. a tax deduction of 36% for a maximum expenditure of € 5,000, if they decide to renovate the green spaces of open areas belonging to private real estate units of any kind, that is terraces, gardens, balconies, even in blocks of flats, including through irrigation systems or the restoration of gardens of special historic interest.
THE WINNING DESIGNS
PROFESSIONALS
100 sqm area
design no. 1 group leader Roberto Malagoli
design no. 5 group leader Marina Larcher
design no. 6 group leader Elena Varini
design no. 10 group leader Angela Gambardella
design no. 12 group leader Margherita Del Grosso
design no.14 group leader Andrea Telefono
design no. 15 group leader Milena Matteini
design no. 17 group leader Valentina Mainero
design no. 18 group leader Paola Sabbion
design no. 21 group leader Francesco Marzulli
“UNDER 25”
50 sqm area
design no. 4 group leader Andrea Miagostovich
design no. 7 group leader Marica Succi
design no. 20 group leader Matteo Pellicanò
OUT-OF-COMPETITION
50 sqm area
design no. 8 group leader Alessandra Rotta
design no. 11 group leader Marco Fosella
design no. 13 group leader Ginevra Ballarini
design no. 16 group leader Marta Carraro
Euroflora: what, when, where and how
The colours and scents of Euroflora are back to Genoa from April 21 to May 6, for the first time in the Parchi di Nervi, with its gardens and historic villas overlooking the cliffs. This beautiful place will be studded with scenic plants and some 500 thousand flowers, forming large arrangements that contrast with the parks’ green meadows and ancient trees. Euroflora 2018 will bring out the beauty of these old parks by embellishing them with new blooms and with plant sceneries that play with the shapes and colours of flowers and foliage. Water, earth, air and fire are the elements represented in the four areas to be discovered one after the other along the main path, in a crescendo of amazement.
The exhibitors’ creations will fill the parks, which cover 86 thousand square metres and 5 kilometres of paths, creating a spectacular flowery landscape with the sea in the background. The Musei dei Parchi will host splendid rose blooms, floral arrangements and decorations.
Useful information
Opening hours: Euroflora will be open to the public every day from Saturday, April 21, to Sunday, May 6, from 9am to 7:30pm.
Tickets: 20 thousand tickets are available for sale every day. You can choose a date and purchase your presale tickets online on www.euroflora2018.it, in Best Union Vivaticket shops and in many travel agencies; from April 6, you can buy tickets at the ticket offices of Fiera di Genova, on Piazzale Kennedy. The ticket covers the use of shuttles (round trip from Piazzale Kennedy to Genova Brignole, round trip from the tourist bus parking on Corso Europa to Nervi, and the local railway line between Genova Voltri and Genova Nervi); the cost is € 23.
Entry is free for children under 8 years of age; kids from 9 to 16 years old a discounted rate of € 16. The ticket is discounted to € 21 for groups of at least 25 people and free for the guide. Entry is free for 100% disabled visitors and, where necessary, for their accompanying carers; partially disabled visitors (67%) will pay a discounted ticket rate of € 16.
Guided tours: Genova Experience organises guided tours of the event in Italian, English and French, starting at 10:30am, 12:30am, 2:30pm, 4:30pm. The cost is € 10 per person, with a reduced rate of € 8.50 for groups of more than 20 participants. Info and reservations: www.euroflora2018.it/visite-guidate/.
How to reach Euroflora
Euroflora can only be reached by public transport; we recommend using the train.
By train. The easiest way to reach the Parchi di Nervi is by train. The Genova Nervi railway station is just 150 metres from the main entrance of Euroflora (Via Eros da Ros). Euroflora ticket holders can use the train in the area between Genova Voltri and Genova Nervi for free. While the event is open, trains from Genova Brignole to Genova Nervi and back run every 15 minutes or so, including on holidays.
By tourist bus. The parking area for tourist buses is on Corso Europa; 147 parking stalls with free shuttle service to Nervi (at the start of Via Oberdan). We recommend taking the Genova Nervi motorway exit. There are more stalls on Piazzale Kennedy (Trade Fair area), for which we recommend the Genova-Est exit, with free shuttle service to the Genova Brignole station. The cost of the bus parking for both areas is € 50.
By bus: Bus lines 15 and 17 connect the city centre to Nervi. On the Amt website, www.amt.genova.it/amt/trasporto-multimodale/pianifica-il-viaggio/you can calculate the easiest route to the Genova Brignole station
By car. Wherever you come from, we recommend parking on Piazzale Kennedy (Trade Fair Area), which is connected to the Genova Brignole station by a free shuttle service. The daily parking fee is € 10. Customers of Nervi hotels with reserved parking spaces will be able to access the parking lot by submitting their hotel reservation at the gates checked by the local Police.
If you arrive from the A12 motorway, you can also find 290 parking spaces in Recco; the daily fee is € 7 (info www.comune.recco.ge.it). From Recco, you can reach Nervi by train, by ATP bus https://www.atpesercizio.it/cartina2.php?sez=ST or by taxi.
By camper. There is a parking lot on Piazzale Kennedy (Trade Fair Area), which is connected to the Genova Brignole station by a free shuttle service. The daily parking fee is € 20. Any camping activity is prohibited.
ACCESS TO DISABLED PERSONS OR PERSONS WITH MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS
Provided by ANPAS (Associazione Nazionale Pubbliche Assistenze – Italian National Public Assistance Association) and managed in collaboration with Civil Defence volunteers, an 8 seater vehicle will be available at the start of Via Oberdan (where buses and shuttles arrive) and take passengers to their special entrance on Via Capolungo (Gallery of Modern Art), near the “Mobility point”.
By train. We recommend that you check the timetables for specially equipped trains. Info: http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom/Informazioni/Assistenza-alle-persone-con-disabilita-o-mobilita-ridotta
By car. There are parking spaces for disabled people – either drivers or with accompanying persons – who have the relevant placard, on Via Oberdan, Via Casotti and Via Capolungo. Disabled visitors can access Euroflora through the door of the Gallery of Modern Art.
Wheelchair and electric scooter rentals A “Mobility Point” run by the La Cruna cooperative company is available inside the Parks, near the entrance to the Gallery of Modern Art (on Via Capolungo). To book this service, please contact: turismopertutti@lacruna.com 010.2465517 (Monday to Friday, from 9am to 1pm) or 3291386790.
Info: www.euroflora2018.it
