Green design: the Petra Gardens

The culture of greenery and gardens conquers spaces at the Modena Antiques Fair, where from 5 to 13 February 2022 the works of 15 European designers called to share experiences and skills with their installations will be on display. In November the call for entries for the competition - announced during EIMA in Bologna - is open to architects, agronomists and landscape architects, and promoted by Fondazione Biohabitat and Aiapp, together with Fiera di Modena

Italy has a great tradition of designing greenery and gardens. A culture that for centuries has set the standard all over the world but that in recent decades has been increasingly exposed to the risk of progressive decline. Yet it still has all the credentials to make a full comeback.

To relaunch it, the Biohabitat Foundation and Aiapp, the association that has been bringing together Italian green design professionals since 1950, have promoted the international competition "Petra's Gardens", in collaboration with Fiera di Modena. The installations of the fifteen competitors selected to take part in the competition will be exhibited at the Modena Antiques Fair, from 5 to 13 February next year. "This setting context allows us to link ancient and modern also to seize new cultural stimuli," says Gianluca Cristoni, of the Biohabitat Foundation. The competition was presented at Eima, the international exhibition of agricultural and gardening machinery. "We want to contribute to spreading the culture of the garden by creating professional opportunities as well," explains Giuseppe Baldi, president of the North-East chapter of Aiapp, which includes 500 professionals in the sector, including architects, landscape architects, agronomists, as well as writers and philosophers involved in the task of keeping alive in Italy a complex discipline that requires different knowledge and skills.

The competition is aimed at Italian and foreign designers and includes three prizes for first, second and third place. The call for entries was published in November. The projects must be submitted by January, and will then be examined by a jury of experts who will select the 15 installations admitted to the competition. The works to be exhibited must be created in spaces ranging from 20 to 30 square metres. Competitors will also be able to use pieces from the antique collections at the Emilian event.