LW

SARDINIA 2014

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Based on the experience of previous LandWorks editions and reconsidering exceptional Sardinian landscapes, the non-profit LandWorks Cultural Association, in collaboration with the Villa Webber Property, the municipality of La Maddalena, the Assessorato all’Ambiente della Regione Sardegna and other partners, designed and realized a number of in-situ projects to underline the significance of the landscape, the natural and cultural heritage of Villa Webber and its 100 hectare Park on La Maddalena island. Together, with local actors and under the guidance of internationally renowned professional guests, the workshop participants built temporary and permanent installations, opening new perspectives and opportunities for future developments. The operative workshop started on 22nd of May, 2014 on the northern coast of Sardinia, inside the administrative limits of the archipelago of La Maddalena and its unique heritage of Mediterranean landscape. The main activity focused on Villa Webber’s Park. James Webber constructed the magnificent Villa in 1885. It is renowned as one of the finest villas in all Sardinia’s cultural landscape, representative of the remarkable history of La Maddalena archipelago and Sardinia’s historic cultural landscape.

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During the program, students from five different continents built over twenty small- and large-scale interventions. As before, the environmental installations were mostly ephemeral and made with natural material, or objects found on site. Some of the installations produced in collaboration with the local community have been able to withstand vicissitudes of time and are still visible today, simultaneously cultivating local memory for the inhabitants as well as for new visitors.

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The goal of LandWorks-Sardinia was to train students in landscape architecture methods and approaches through “on site,” “manual,” “hands-on” and “participatory” activities, such as planting, digging, building small artefacts and landscape installations. The Workshop program was configured with an extensive on-site and open-air concept, devoted to catalyse and accelerate the reclamation and restoration of neglected sites. The participants were asked to physically react to the existing CULTURAL-NATURAL ENVIRONMENT through a series of site-specific installations that intervene with the land in a way that is respectful and conscious of the local natural environment. In this way, the objective of LandWorks was to demonstrate how landscape architecture can be used as a strategy to recover contemporary territory and contribute to the field of design.