Nigel Dunnett Restyling in Via Torquato Tasso, Bergamo

Original Post ~ Update January 2024 ~ Update May 2024 ~ Update September 2024

Original Post

Photos of newly installed planting on Via Torquato Tasso, designed by Nigel Dunnett.

Well, color us shocked when we saw they dug up flowerbeds along Via Torquato Tasso (lower city of Bergamo) and planted them it in a very different way. The new way is thanks to the restyling of Nigel Dunnett.

We didn’t know about Nigel Dunnett before he designed the Bergamo Green Square of 2021, which we found spectacular. We are totally on board with his idea of bringing nature into the city.

Thanks to the folks that put on the Bergamo Landscape Festival, Dunnett helped design this stretch of Via Tasso. This part of via Tasso is important because it connects to the Sentierone, the heart of the lower city, which sees a lot of foot traffic. Therefore, an investment in these large non-paved, garden areas is nice to see. About 600 sqm of area was replanted.

We like the transformation so far, and it will be interesting to see how it’s maintained (see updates at end). It looks to be designed for low maintenance with a mixture of plants. To encourage people to respect the plants several signs are affixed to the curbs.

Confidiamo nel tuo rispetto – We trust in your respect.
Sappiamo che ci volete bene – We know you love us.
Siamo certi che ci capirai – We’re sure you’ll understand us.
Siamo sicuri che ci ami – We’re sure you love us.
Speriamo di vivere vicini per tanto tempo – We hope to live close by for a long time

These signs are accompanied with images showing prohibited activities: picking flowers or letting your dog go to the bathroom in the beds. (When we returned a few weeks later after writing this post, the signs were ripped up placed willy-nilly around the beds.)

In fact, while we were photographing these signs, we met some dog owners who were not at all happy with the new plantings. They had to walk farther down the street to let their dogs go to the bathroom. We can’t say we were sympathetic to their cause. (We are not dog owners.) They thought we were photographing the signs because we were angry. I didn’t even try to explain my obsession for signs.

We got the thoughts of another dog owner friend, and it too was negative. To be expected, I guess.

Finally, some nits. In the description of the project, the original plantings are described too negatively in our opinion. In fact, whoever created the sign used the old trick of taking the before pictures in black and white, so they look depressing, and the after pictures in color. Also, the original planting was shown with the heading “stato attuale di degrado” - current state of decline. It wasn’t that bad. Run down? Yes. Misused? Yes. But people lived and worked there. Did they think it was in decline?

One of the before-pictures shows a bicycle parked in the middle of the flowerbed area (aiuola). The entrance of a high school is nearby. People want to lock their bikes up and a safe place to do it is on a pole in the middle of the flowerbed. How is that not going to happen with the new planting? Hopefully more bike racks will be installed. (They were!) The point is, you can’t just say don’t do something and not provide a better solution. We love plants and would love to see more pavement ripped up for more plants, but you have to keep in mind the needs of the people living and working in a place. (And that means dog owners too.)

Also, the pre-redesign planting had some large shrubs that made you feel protected from the street. I miss the mature abelia shrubs (and the bees!) and wish they could have kept a few. (I guess they weren't in line with Dunnett’s style of low-slung grasses and perennials.) The "old" massing of the shrubs was described as not harmonious (disarmonia). True in that there were many, but they seemed better balanced size-wise with the magnolia trees across the street. The new planting contains a few tall plants (like junipers) and perhaps those will provide the balance we are looking for? Change is hard!

Before photos of the landscaped area on left. After photo on right.

Signs asking for people not to pick flowers, or let their dogs go to the bathroom.

Signs asking for people not to pick flowers, or let their dogs go to the bathroom on left. On right, some dogs eye the new plantings.

Update: January 2024

Here's what the plantings look like in winter. In our opinion, not bad. They are holding up.

 

Update: May 2024

The plantings are looking good. Around the edges there are some "bald" spots where dog owners let there dogs roam and sometimes trash bags are put (on trash days).

  

Update: September 2024