Daniele Mongera

How did your story begin?
Propagating the garden plants first, and then looking for a place to replant them, are the activities at the origin of my story with gardens, or at least of its first chapter. These are the years from childhood to adolescence, spent largely observing people at work with plants: caring for them, talking about them, and exchanging them. The real beginning, however, dates back to my university years, when I discovered that creating a garden was an art in its own right, and that an interest in it—whether natural or intellectual—could find expression as a profession as well.

Who are the people who have most inspired you artistically and professionally?
A primary source of inspiration, for the breadth and acuity of its perspective as well as for its extraordinary linguistic structure,is the work of Professor Ippolito Pizzetti, whose lectures at the University of Venice Faculty of Architecture were only the captivating prelude to reading his essays and the publications he edited. This cultural framework later made it possible to discover authors such as Hermann von Pückler-Muskau and the great English landscape designers, as well as the leading figures of the Anglo-Saxon garden movement.
A significant source of inspiration also comes from the work of painters such as Luciano Ventrone, from individual paintings such as Paesaggio di Monte Calvello by Balthus, from the work of photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe, and from artists such as Bruno Munari. Finally, the architect Carlo Scarpa has also been a great source of inspiration.