Franco Zagari: Landscape Architecture Needs Autonomy

Franco Zagari, a prominent Italian architect and landscape designer, argues that the profession of architecture in Italy is in urgent need of reform. Speaking at the National Council of Architects, he criticizes the current regulatory framework as a confusing collage that blurs the simplest tasks. Zagari calls for greater autonomy and responsibility for specific branches of architecture, particularly landscape architecture. He observes that during the pandemic, architecture has been reduced to images of temporary hospitals and empty public spaces, recalling Le Corbusier's Venice hospital and Pope Francis alone in St. Peter's Square. Zagari insists that landscape should not be treated as a defensive or merely distributive discipline but as a central intellectual and political investment. He highlights landscape's interdisciplinary connections with architecture, urban planning, design, sociology, anthropology, semiotics, agronomy, economics, geography, history, archaeology, and earth sciences. Zagari warns that Italy's political class neglects habitat quality and confuses the environmental crisis with the landscape crisis. He calls for a frank, inclusive, and foundational dialogue in Europe after the pandemic, emphasizing that landscape autonomy must be respected and incentivized for the mutual benefit of all creative fields.