Openfabric's Francesco Garofalo on Mantua's Green Plan and Urban Landscape

Francesco Garofalo, founder of landscape architecture and urban planning studio Openfabric, discusses the firm's work on Mantua's Green Plan, urban regeneration in Genoa, and a strategic public space project in Tashkent. Openfabric, based in Rotterdam, Milan, and Genoa, celebrates 15 years in 2026. The Green Plan for Mantua, presented on November 21, 2024, includes a 115-hectare peri-urban park in the south, reconstructing the ancient Paiolo Lake paleo-alveo as an ecological corridor. Garofalo emphasizes a non-standardized approach to public space, viewing it as a stage for improvisation. In Genoa, the studio developed the Genoa Green Strategy and is involved in regenerating the former Marconi industrial area in Sestri Ponente, creating a piazza, over 3,800 sqm of public spaces, coworking, and student housing. In Mantua, together with STUDIOSPAZIO, they completed the Amadei Garden Street project, reducing traffic lanes and adding a bike lane. Openfabric is also working on a strategic public space project in central Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Garofalo stresses the landscape architect's role as a 'repairer' of territory, advocating for landscape as the primary urban infrastructure to mitigate climate change.