A weekend of botany and design on the shores of the lake

Orticolario 2024, from October 3 to 6, is the best excuse to visit one of the most magical locations on the shores of Lake Como at the beginning of this autumn. This edition, the fourteenth, is called Terrae and the theme is the soil: origin, nourishment and final product of all plants. “Not the one with a capital T, the Earth. The other, which makes things dirty, crumbles, ‘is low’, makes you struggle” - we read among the texts of Orticolario 2024, an event that this year wants to return to the place where the powerful magic invisible to us happens, of the seed that grows and the roots that sink, a place to know and protect.



Orticolario 2024, Terrae - ph. Virgina Guiotto

Design is also a protagonist of this edition, with installations by Ethimo, with a dining table from the Rafael collection designed by Paola Navone, by Ken Scott Collection, which with the title Vitae flore pays homage to the eight iconic flowers of the designer with an artisanal reinterpretation of Carpet Edition, by Riva 1920, which brings the Pure seats by Matteo Thun and Ugo by Paolo Salvadè along the via della Darsena for a moment of relaxation and contemplation facing the lake, and the Con-tatto installation, a Japanese-inspired space by Duo Urtiga to be discovered with the senses.



Orticolario 2024, Terrae - ph. Virgina Guiotto

But not only that, the section of Orticolario 2024 called Forma all’Incanto brings art and architecture across all the spaces of the event, to think of the garden as a spontaneous home for the artistic gesture and to tell the theme of the earth in all its facets. Ten different scattered interventions, including the geometric one by the Como architect Lorenzo Guzzini, the more performative and ritual one by Cristina Barbieri, the more high-tech one by Fabrizio Musa and many others.



Dettaglio Spazio Creativo vincitore 2023, Il Battito della Vita di Annalisa Ferraris e Lino Zubani - ph. Virginia Guiotto

The icing on the cake of this edition also comes from the world of design: the guest of honor this weekend is architect Michele De Lucchi with his AMDL Circle. Among the distinctive features of Orticolario is the concept of the garden as a real room to live in, not a seasonal extension of the house, but a totally integrated part that completes the housing project as a whole throughout the year. In addition to being awarded the “For an Evolved Gardening” prize, De Lucchi is participating in the Serra Platani event, in an absolute preview, exhibiting the Alpina wooden bench, designed for Orticolario and made by Riva 1920, while the Golfo Platani is embellished with a selection of glass and ceramic vases by Produzione Privata, an experimental design project founded in Italy by Michele De Lucchi and Sibylle Kicherer in 1990.



Michele De Lucchi, architetto e fondatore di AMDL CIRCLE - ph. Giulio Boem

“They are the ones who take care of the landscape, who make it beautiful, fresh and natural. They don’t even know what ugly means. Everything they do is beautiful, original and authentic. They never make mistakes and they know how to transform the most squalid, dirty and messy corner into a corner of earthly paradise” - writes De Lucchi about trees.



ph. Luciano Movio

But how do you visit Orticolario?
The Central Pavilion, dressed in the project “Semi a terra, parole alate” by Vittorio Peretto of Hortensia, is transformed into a real agora, where some of the cultural events scheduled take place - including a program of meetings, new for 2024, dedicated to the 14-19 age group. The area that in past editions was dedicated to this purpose, the Gardenia Space, now becomes a collector of all the laboratories and workshops. The Gazebo in the park becomes a singular wunderkammer, where you can admire botanical rarities carefully selected among the specimens brought by the nurserymen.



Oasi Visione sedute Lavvu, Limperfetto - ph. Luciano Movio

The event also offers a wide range of rare, unusual and collectible plants, proposed by national and international nurserymen, as well as artistic craftsmanship: the care in selecting over 250 exhibitors is aimed at spreading a careful awareness of the landscape and a high artistic quality. And then, the gardens and installations in the park, inspired by the theme of the year and selected through the International Creative Spaces Competition (the winner wins the “La Foglia d’oro del Lago di Como” award), the art and design projects, and the events program that involves industry experts, landscapers, agronomists, visionaries. The performances, experiences and workshops excite and surprise. And yet, another strong point of the event, the activities for children, to discover the world of advanced gardening.



Orticolario 2024, Terrae - ph. Virgina Guiotto

Villa Erba is located in Cernobbio and can be reached both by car and by the charming shuttle boat service that lands directly in the park of the villa, on the pier.
Tickets for Orticolario can be purchased at this link.