Lanzarote, Jardín de Cactus : International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens 2017, 28th edition

The book is connected to a research developed at the Benetton Foundation for the 2017 edition of the International Carlo Scarpa Prize, coordinated by Luigi Latini and Patrizia Boschiero. With a number of 19 essays, the work is focused on the the Jardín de Cactus on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, part of a unique system of cultivated quarries and craters embodying the fertile equilibrium between nature and culture on the island. The Guatiza quarry, where the garden take place, is an important projects realized by the artist César Manrique (1919-1992) using the traditional farming techniques of the island: terracing, spreading layers of picón or volcanic ash on the soil, raising stone windbreaks and cultivating plants. The garden represents a unique document for investigating the relation between the “modern” attitude to landscape and the contemporary debate.