VIAGGIO AL CENTRO DELLA TERRA

Sponsor: Italianaterricci (Gruppo Valagussa), Pusterlamarmi & Alcide Gallani artista, Rostrato Antico di Alserio (CO) detto “Tajulèn”, Floricoltura Stefanetti, Corten Design, MESLight

On the occasion of the Orticolario 2024 event, the project was chosen among the finalists of the creative spaces competition, of which it won the public award.

The theme of the Earth, the fulcrum of Orticolario 2024, was interpreted by the team through the horizontal display of the soil layers enclosed in small flowerbeds. The life of our planet has been marked over the millennia by transformations that today make up the stratification of the soil: the idea is to show them in the open air by organizing them through a spiral, composed of bands with rocks, clods of earth, sand, gravel and plants, around a central totem. The intent is to bring out the role of the soil, as a symbol of birth, growth and transformation, in an incessant cycle, which manages to guarantee a continuous renewal of nature.

Ancient plants were used, the Red Rostrate Corn of Alserio, a Slow Food presidium, and the strawberry tree, a plant used since the times of the ancient Romans, and phytodepurative plants.

For the installation of Orticolario, an attempt was made to bring to light and identify plants that, in addition to performing beneficial functions for the soil and their ornamental value, were widely cultivated in the past and have fallen into disuse for years because they were supplanted by more profitable cultivars, as in the case of corn, or by the use of plastic substances, as in the case of hemp. In the plant kingdom, there are numerous species capable of developing even on contaminated soil and accumulating heavy metals in their tissues. Among the various remediation techniques available, one of those on which current studies are focusing is phytoremediation. Numerous studies, including that of the Federico II University of Naples, underline how: “The Phytoremediation process of heavy metals is not linked to the degradation of contaminants, but to their extraction and accumulation in the tissues of the plant. The ideal plant for a phytoextraction process must have a high capacity for accumulating the contaminant and at the same time a high production of biomass.” According to a technical report by the USDA (United State Department of Agriculture), there are many plants capable of intercepting organic compounds but also hydrocarbons and heavy metals. Among these there are also some used in agriculture. In fact, pollution does not only concern illegal waste dumps or industrial areas, but is also widespread in agricultural areas. Among the main pollutants are copper, cadmium, lead, associated with phosphorus-based fertilizers, ash and fine dust from incinerators, in addition of course to antibiotics, insecticides and herbicides.