At the Labirinto di Fontanellato, the largest in the world, a weekend discovering the plant of a thousand virtues, on 13 and 14 October. The perfect occasion to visit the monumental tangle of paths.
On 13 and 14 October in Fontanellato, in the Province of Parma, Under the bamboo tree returns: a weekend of conferences, workshops, exhibitions, workshops, and gastronomic and musical surprises on the theme of bamboo, held in the place – the Labirinto della Masone – that counts this very plant among its most distinctive features. In the perfect location by definition, it is a unique opportunity to discover all the curiosities, properties and possible uses of an exceptional plant.
It is the largest in the world and certainly one of the most fascinating, precisely because it was created using different species of bamboo: the Labirinto di Franco Maria Ricci is a unique place, ideal for hosting a weekend of in-depth exploration of this plant. Under the bamboo tree presents itself as a moment of study and inspiration around bamboo, drawing on prestigious collaborations across a wide range of fields.
The event – organised in collaboration with Aib (Associazione Italiana Bambù) and Isia (Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche di Florence) – opens on Saturday 13 October with a series of conferences dedicated to the use of bamboo in engineering and architecture, with the aim of informing and training those who wish to take the Labirinto as a model and apply it to other experiments in the design of industrial and non-industrial exteriors and interiors.
The weekend also has an international dimension, thanks to the presence of Mauricio Cardenas Laverde, a Colombian architect who, drawing on his decade-long experience in the use of bamboo in design and construction, will examine its innovative qualities, and Luis Felipe Lopez, a Colombian structural engineer who will speak about the structural applications of bamboo. The line-up of Italian figures is impressive; among others, we highlight Emanuele Montibeller, artistic director of Arte Sella, who will illustrate the relationship between art and nature in the open-air gallery; Marco Fabiani, engineer and research doctor at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, who will talk about the engineering of bamboo; and Marco Imperadori, full professor of building production at the Politecnico di Milan, who will examine the possibilities for design and technological innovation with bamboo. The sessions will be moderated by Cristina Gabetti, who, within the programme Striscia la Notizia, presents "Occhio al futuro", one of the few features offering small but significant tips for safeguarding the planet's future.
Not only conferences, but also show cooking, workshops, exhibitors with their products, and the award ceremony for the international competition Bamboo Rush for the design and creation of a bamboo design object. Access to all events is included with the Labirinto della Masone entrance ticket, which costs 18 euros; opening hours are from 10.30 to 19.00.
The story behind the creation of the Labirinto di Franco Maria Ricci is a fascinating one – a dream that the celebrated publisher has nurtured for years and sees fully realised in its sharing with the public.
When we think of a labyrinth, we probably travel back to Crete and recall the one at Knossos, built by Daedalus on the orders of Minos with far from peaceful intentions; Ricci's idea, by his own admission, is instead to "…imagine a gentler equivalent, which would also be a Garden, where people could stroll, losing their way from time to time, but without danger…"
To build it, an unusual raw material was used: a plant little widespread and known in Italy – bamboo – which has no diseases, does not shed its leaves, does not die prematurely, and also purifies the air of carbon dioxide. In the creator's vision, this plant can become an important element in the Po Valley landscape, and for this reason the Fondazione within the Labirinto provides, even free of charge, the plants needed to anyone interested, along with a consultancy service for growing them – perhaps to conceal certain unsightly industrial warehouses. An important environmental function, therefore, encouraged through courses and seminars focusing on the care and all the possible uses of this remarkable plant.
Inspired by the classical form of Roman labyrinths — four interconnected sections developing around a central square — the Labirinto Ricci introduces forks and bifurcations that did not exist in ancient labyrinths, which were strictly unicursal. A star-shaped layout covering 7 hectares, where thousands of bamboo plants of different species provide the backdrop for a museum containing over 400 works (paintings, sculptures and art objects from the 16th to the 20th century, including works by Bernini, Canova, Carracci, Ligabue and Savinio); a library with records of graphic and typographic art; and an archive where visitors can, for example, view the correspondence of the publisher with authors of the calibre of Calvino, Borges and Roland Barthes.
A place designed for losing oneself among art and nature, without forgetting anything: you will in fact find two restaurants, two suites, and a central piazza of two thousand square metres surrounded on three sides by a large portico, conceived for concerts, celebrations and exhibitions. And if it strikes you as a fairy-tale setting for a wedding, there is here an unusual pyramid-shaped chapel, where a priest will bless your marriage.