Euroflora 2025 – Genova

Strategies and References

The general approach of the design aims at identifying a clear and recognizable strategy capable of organizing an extensive layout.

An event such as Euroflora 2025 is characterized by the contribution of many actors capable of giving meaning to and enriching the sequence of spaces that will form the exhibition itinerary.
In this sense, although within a clear scheme, the project and the strategy presented are designed to enhance the different skills, the different cultures, and the imaginative, technical, and creative spirit of those who want to take part in the event.
In this framework, it is now only possible to imagine precisely the multitude of personalities that will characterize the spaces, and the project is conceived in a choral way but with great attention to the potential contribution of each individual exhibitor.
For these reasons, particular attention was given to the conceptual phase of the masterplan presented here: it is understood as a succession and overlap of patterns capable of translating into space the selected keywords that define the backbone of the proposal.

In imagining a fluid development of the dialogues and interactions that will lead to the final realization of the installation, this spatial structure will vibrate, including the multitude of suggestions that the event can offer.
The design process and the definition of the concept therefore started from the identification of some key ideas and their association with selected images from the world of art and nature.
These images and suggestions have not only the task of evoking a concept but, rather and above all, of defining a strategy for translating words into form, pattern, and space.

The key concepts, understood as pairs of words with opposite meanings, were identified as a response and reaction to the themes of “Rebirth” and “Renewal.”

• Crack / Light
The idea that in every situation one can glimpse a possibility of growth; what may initially be considered a problem or failure may indicate an unexpected, new, and better way to see things in the world.

• Contamination / Reflection
Natural and anthropized landscapes can never be defined with clear boundaries.
The same applies to the different groups that inhabit the planet. Not only are boundaries blurred, but in genetic terms it is always possible to identify the character of one group or ensemble within another, even if not directly adjacent.
This presence is often, if not always, a reason for enrichment, which reverberates and returns its value to a higher layer.
From here comes the idea of the drop, which, even tiny, reverberates its shape and its substance.

• Light / Heavy
Such is nature, such is the plant world. It takes root in the ground and develops in the air.
The tree is a light and, at the same time, solid structure, anchored to the ground from which it comes and from which it is nourished.
It is flexible and rigid at the same time, always different and always the same, like a flock of birds.

These are the keywords that organize the concept at a general level. More specific keywords will be identified, and their design implications described later in the text.
As mentioned above, the keywords made it possible to identify specific artworks, recognizable by a clear and “iconic” image, but they also had an operational value in identifying possible overlapping and “hybridized” spatial matrices.
In this association and in dialogue with art, the aim was to identify works with a clear procedural value, explicitly addressing the relationship between the tactile and the visual, and the dialogue between horizontal and vertical planes.
The painting and the work of art maintain, in a measured ambiguity, a double valence: the artwork, which initially has an essentially pictorial value for the spectator — a vertical “window” of visual perception — is inverted onto the horizontal plane, acquiring a tactile dimension and one of continuous modification and interaction with the viewer.

The concept of Crack / Light finds its equivalent in the art world in the work of Alberto Burri, and in particular in his research on the Cretto.
At first glance, it conjures up the image of parched land, torn by the sun through lack of water. However, it also raises the question of what lies behind the crack, which he leaves essentially dark and impenetrable.
In today’s context, this concept can certainly refer to the frequent famines and increasing water scarcity caused by climate change, as well as the strong impact of modern humanity on the environment.
In this context, we also wish to imagine the crack as a bearer of hope: despite the scarcity of resources to be shared by an ever-increasing number of people and territories, the idea suggests that a prudent, wise, and respectful use of these resources can still allow for adequate provision and sustainable development — one that does not stifle potential or impulses for personal and collective growth.
The ability to evoke images and references from Burri’s Cretto is reflected in the possibility of identifying a clear and recognizable pattern that immediately refers to the ground.
This pattern combines the large with the small in an organic design, ensuring the strong characterization of individual elements within an overall collective composition.

The idea of Contamination / Reverberation finds its counterpart in the world of painting in Pollock’s work and, in particular, in the process he developed.
The artist transformed the vertical plane — the “window through which the world can be seen,” with its essentially visual value — into a horizontal, tactile surface.
He worked with colour as a layering of recognizable patterns, both individually and as a whole.
Within the painting, the colours define a spatial continuity that can be perceived in the “phenomenal” transparency of the elements distributed across the canvas.
In this way, every part of the painting, every colour, contains a “contamination” of smaller, layered strokes or drops and thus a co-presence of signs.
This is a fundamental concept that guides and continues to guide the development of the project: the idea that from overlapping and co-presence, an unexpected and better situation may arise.

The project associates the idea of Origami with the theme of Light / Heavy.
On one hand, it takes up the notion of an everyday practice that can become an artistic expression; on the other, it refers to a concept of lightness structured through simple procedures.
The sheet of paper, a lightweight material by definition, has no structural character in itself: the fold — the artificial operation that brings previously distant surfaces closer together — gives a light material its own spatial conformation.
In the project, this strategy was interpreted as a gradual transition from the mass of the ground to the lightness of the air.
The origami elements take on a landmark role within the overall composition, defining a map of points within the general design.

The project is therefore based precisely on these concepts, transformed into images and “operative matrices” born from their hybridization, generating a sequence of images and strongly interconnected “reproduced landscapes.”
Within this structured yet flexible framework, it is possible to graft other concepts that are fundamental to the project and that will be specified throughout this report:
– Sustainability
– Attention to reuse and resource management
– Green spaces for play and education
– The symbiosis between humans and nature.

The general layout of the project is thus governed by the interaction between rupture and contamination, with the two patterns appearing with different modulations and intensities throughout the exhibition.
As mentioned above, within this design, the origami — understood as elements rising from the ground toward the sky, interpreting recognizable figures — mark the focal points of the project.
The entire route is punctuated by a series of bubbles or drops marked on the floor, which take on volume and spatial character at selected points of densification.
In a continuous dialogue with the other elements that characterize the exhibition route, these geometries take the form of seating and furniture systems that are inclusive and permeable to the flow of visitors.

Credits
Architectural Design: Matteo Fraschini, Urges Srl
Structural Design: Ing. Giovanni Noseda Pedraglio
Green Design: A.S.Ter. Spa
Construction: Impresa Valagussa Srl, Segheria Puppo
Client: Porto Antico di Genova Spa