Monumental Grounds and Material Gardens. Architectures, Construction Sites, Landscape

The proposed contribution arises from a research trajectory that began during a master’s degree at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio (2007), expanded during a PhD at the Politecnico di Milano (2022), and is currently being developed through research hosted by the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at TU Delft (ongoing). The investigation focuses on the disposal and transformation of dismantled or excavated materials within landscapes, specifically in relation to the construction and deconstruction processes of architectures and infrastructures. In particular, it examines ground movements related to complex infrastructural projects, such as the excavation of the Gotthard and Ceneri tunnels in Switzerland (1999-2020), and the material yards and circular hubs involved in the storage, reprocessing and reuse of architectural construction materials in the Netherlands. Indeed, in a period marked by climate change, overall ecological decline, and sociopolitical instability, an understanding of the complexity of landscapes that are mostly forged by human constructive actions seems paramount. Not only are we shaping and re-shaping the planet’s crust by rail or road-lines (by 2050 at least 25 million kilometers of new roadways are planned to be built by the International Energy Agency), extended tunnels, underground constructions (more than 800 million tons of material will be excavated during large underground projects by 2030) and land-scrapers, but we are at the same time flattening and carving surfaces, sprawling cumuli and heaps, unfurling volumes of earth, while relocating and reusing vast amounts of construction materials (over 150 material yards hosting construction materials have been mapped in the Netherlands in 2023). What kinds of landscapes are created by these movements and disposals? The tasks of the research project are both to uncommon the deep, material impact of constructive actions on landscape and to envision the monumental character of the new emerging grounds, disengaging earthworks and material yards from an exclusively technical approach and questioning their meaning inside the landscape architecture thinking, language and design process.