Press releases

Cernobbio (CO), October 9, 2024 – Beauty and wonder, along with opportunities to reflect on humanity’s impact on the soil and the regenerative role of plants, marked the spirit of the 14th edition of Orticolario. The autumn event for nature lovers took place at Villa Erba on Lake Como from October 3 to 6. With the goal of attracting 30,000 visitors despite challenging weather conditions, the event once again proved to be a popular draw, welcoming a good number of tourists from across Italy and abroad. The cultural program drew great interest, with the Central Pavilion’s agora filled with attendees for various events. The workshops were sold out even before the event began, as was Thursday night’s charity dinner in the stunning halls of Villa Erba. As always, significant attention was given to children: on Thursday and Friday, the park was animated by numerous school groups, while on Saturday and Sunday, workshops inspired by the soil and phytoremediation plants—this year’s theme and chosen plants—took place.

“The exhibitors were very satisfied with this edition, and the audience seemed genuinely interested, engaged, and involved,” commented Moritz Mantero, president of Orticolario. “It’s a shame about the weather, which only gave us a reprieve on Saturday. Unlike other European countries, unfortunately, Italy still lacks a culture of enjoying parks and gardens in any weather; when it rains or is cloudy, people tend to stay indoors”.

Key Highlights included the awarding of the 2024 “For an Avant Gardening” prize to Michele De Lucchi, architect, designer, and founder of AMDL CIRCLE, one of the leading figures in Italian architecture and design. The award was a wooden miniature inspired by De Lucchi’s 2011 work “Torre dell’Aria,” created for the Zoe Foundation with Riva 1920, and was presented by Maurizio Riva.

“I really like the phrase ‘Evolved Gardening,’ it resonates deeply with me. We will always evolve, but the great challenge lies in finding the right direction. Our era is defined by exponential change, and we must understand that we need to adapt,” said Michele De Lucchi upon receiving the award. “I am a specialist in adapting—graduating in architecture, then becoming a designer, artist, writer. I am constantly changing. And now I’ve realized that nature is not only deeply resonant in our emotions but also a source of attraction, as we can see here at Orticolario. This is an epochal shift”.

Also noteworthy were the awards for installations created in the park, selected by the jury of the international “Creative Spaces” competition. The prize “La Foglia d’Oro del Lago di Como” (designed and made by Gino Seguso of the historic Archimede Seguso Artistic Glassworks of Murano, returned by the 2023 winners, who received the permanent “leaflet” as their award) went to the STIHL space “SETA. Sustainable Environment and Textile Artwork” (5), a project by Jonathan Arnaboldi and Matteo Pellicanò. The jury’s reasoning: “It fully reflects the competition’s theme, demonstrating a conscious and sustainable approach with meticulous attention to detail, botanical choices, and plant quality. It also highlights strong collaboration between various professions, whose synergy represents the evolved gardening that looks to the future. It has the ability to present the soil as a source of life, art, and culture.”

It’s important to remember that Orticolario’s mission is to promote landscape culture and raise funds for local social associations that contribute to the event’s success.

Just as plants have the superpower to regenerate the soil, this edition of Orticolario experienced a profound regeneration: seeds have been planted, and many more cultural projects will bloom in the next edition, the 15th, scheduled from Thursday, October 2, to Sunday, October 5, 2025. Feet on the ground toward a new adventure.