Landscapes in Trouble, Landscapes in Action: a new publication from PALIMPSEST

We are delighted to share the (open access) publication of Landscapes in Trouble, Landscapes in Action: Theories and Practices Between Space, Art and Ecology (Mimesis International).

Edited by Francesca Berni and Irene Bianchi, the book unfolds from a three-year process of conversations, interviews, and exchanges developed across diverse contexts, disciplines, and practices. At its core lies a shared question: how can we engage with the transformations reshaping our environments today?

In line with the approach of the European project New European Bauhaus PALIMPSEST, the volume approaches landscape not as a static object but as a dynamic field in which ecological, social, and cultural crises become visible and can be collectively addressed. It brings together a constellation of voices from landscape architecture, philosophy, design, and the arts, each contributing to a broader rethinking of how landscapes are perceived, interpreted, and transformed.

While rooted in the heterogeneity of its contributions, the book is organised into three main sections: Dialogues, Perspectives, and Experiments. Each section offers a distinct yet interconnected point of entry into the discussion. Dialogues foregrounds encounters across disciplines and practices, opening spaces for exchange and mutual questioning. Perspectives develops theoretical and critical reflections, illuminating key issues in contemporary debates. Experiments presents situated creative practices, informed by the performing arts, design, and landscape architecture.

Across the three sections, the volume features contributions from a remarkable and diverse group of voices, including João Nunes, Giacomo Borella, Francesco Careri, Marta Cuscunà, Michael Jakob, Massimo Venturi Ferriolo, Annalisa Metta, Sanna Lehtinen, Giambattista Zaccariotto, Matteo Vianello, Luca Befera, Oriana Persico, Natalia Agati, Sergio Rodríguez Estévez, María Salas Mendoza Muro, Francisco José Pazos García, and Estelle Jullian.

Taken together, these voices offer a multilayered exploration of contemporary landscapes, inviting readers to move fluidly among them and to recognise resonances that extend beyond disciplinary boundaries, echoing the openness and relational approach that has guided this collective endeavour from the outset.

The volume invites readers to consider landscape as a relational, contested, and continuously evolving process, and as a ground for experimentation, where alternative ways of inhabiting the world can be imagined. In this sense, the book reflects a key mechanism of PALIMPSEST: the effort to support both present and future landscapes, while remaining open to transformation through the practices of communities, actors, and changing circumstances.