Annalisa Metta: Landscape Architecture — An Intentional Practice of Impermanence
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Abstract
Landscape is never still. Everything, from any geological event to the most minute movement of insects and leaves, is imbued with the inescapable effervescence of life and even the seemingly most inert stuff is vibrant and constantly changes. Whether we like it or not, every landscape is inherently provisional and fleeting. In turn, landscape design is therefore a deliberate practice of impermanence, negotiating between invariance and change, between different forms of time which mold different forms of space. By recalling contemporary works and authors, this lecture aims to reflect on how landscape architecture can question the categories of stability and preservation that are inherent in the mandate of what is commonly thought of as a monument. In particular, the lecture will investigate the relations between design and words such as leaving, abandoning, and losing, and how landscape architecture can interact with these concepts, opening to a proactive perspective.
Biography
Annalisa Metta is Professor of Landscape Architecture at Roma Tre University. In 2016–2017, she won the Italian Fellowship Grant for Research at the American Academy in Rome, to which she has been a consultant ever since. Her research concerns contemporary landscape design. Her books include: Il paesaggio è un mostro. Città selvatiche e nature ibride (DeriveApprodi, 2022), Alberi! 30 frammenti di storia d’Italia (MarsilioArte, 2022), Verso sud. Quando Roma sarà andata a Tunisi (Libria, 2018), Anna e Lawrence Halprin. Paesaggi e coreografie del quotidiano (Libria, 2015). In 2007 she was one of the founders of Osa architettura e paesaggio. Among her recent implemented works: the urban park on Lungotevere Flaminio, Rome (2023) and the installation Every nine days at the American Academy in Rome (2022).
