Pietro Porcinai’s Legacy at Risk: The Future of Parco della Rocca
Porcinai, who was he? To the vast majority of Rivanians, this name will mean absolutely nothing, even though they have undoubtedly often found themselves walking through one of his works. Pietro Porcinai, in fact, the greatest Italian landscape architect, is the one who in 1964 designed the Parco della Rocca.
The figure of Pietro Porcinai
An undisputed personality, his, who knew how to combine architecture, nature, and innovation, and who was celebrated in the July issue of the magazine «Gardenia», a true Bible for anyone, hobbyists and professionals alike, involved with flowers, plants, vegetable gardens, and gardens. An extensive feature, dedicated to Porcinai by «Gardenia», which offers a portrait of this “master of landscape,” Tuscan, born in 1910, who passed away in 1986.
A career spanning sixty years, during which he completed no fewer than 1,318 projects worldwide, and whose exceptional qualitative value is recognized unanimously at an international level. There would be every reason to be proud that the Parco della Rocca is the work of such a genius, if it were not that this green area is actually at risk of being destroyed and replaced by the plan devised by architect Sandro Aita from Rovereto, assigned by the Office of Monumental Heritage of the Province to reorganize the park.
The future of Parco della Rocca
A true crime, then, albeit with the maximum respect for Aita’s professionalism and skill. “Precisely to try to prevent this eventuality,” explains Paolo Matteotti, head of the municipal commission for public green spaces, to whom we reported the feature on Porcinai, “in October 1998, the municipal council voted unanimously on a motion urging provincial authorities to reconsider the decision to eliminate Porcinai’s work and to seek opinions from associations interested in parks and historic gardens, such as Italia Nostra and FAI.”
The then-mayor Molinari submitted the document, but Trento responded that the Parco della Rocca was a minor project and that no advice from experts was needed to proceed with the new plan. A controversial stance also from an economic point of view: creating a park from scratch would cost around 500 million lire, while restoring what was conceived by a master like Porcinai might only require a few tens of millions.
Not to mention that, if well publicized, the Parco della Rocca could become an attraction for school visits and architecture students. The work of the great Florentine landscape architect is indeed studied in Italian universities and abroad, where he also received prestigious recognitions.
Conclusions and prospects
However, the project is now in the implementation phase, and work should begin within a few months: what do you think should be done? “I believe,” concludes Matteotti, “that there is nothing to prevent us from stopping to reflect and perhaps avoiding committing an unforgivable act of destruction.”