Gardens of hope: Cultivating Coexistence | Radicepura Garden Festival VI Edition
Gardens of hope: Cultivating Coexistence | Radicepura Garden Festival VI Edition
The gardens will be selected by a Jury of experts who will evaluate their artistic and technical qualities, including Sarah Eberle, Jury President and landscape designer, Silvia Arnaud Ricci, art historian, Laura Gatti, landscape agronomist, and Antonio Perazzi, landscape designer.The selection process for the winning designers will be divided into two phases.In the first phase, designers are invited to respond to our call with an idea compelling enough to grant access to the selection, providing the required documentation (see page 6). From this initial stage, a short-list will be created to access a subsequent restricted phase, where candidates will be invited to produce a detailed project for a specific assigned area. Finally, the final selection of the 8 winners will follow. They will be called upon to realize their garden in the Radicepura Biennale park, where the projects will remain on display for the entire duration of the festival. They will be visited, studied, and experienced by thousands of visitors, as well as by photographers and journalists from all over the world who will appreciate their quality and beauty.PHASE 1 – IDEADesigners are required to present their project idea for a garden through a concise dossier that conveys a concept with a title, a brief but comprehensive graphic elaboration, and a short explanatory text accompanied by reference images and evocative sketches capable of communicating a vision. From the dossiers received, the jury will choose the best design ideas, selecting the finalists who will be invited to participate in the second phase of selection. They will be assigned a specific project area within the Festival grounds to be developed for the final stage.•Creative response to the theme proposed for the 6th edition.•Originality, clarity, and coherence of the design idea and potential interaction with the public.•The project’s contribution to garden art, culture, and innovation.•The short-list of the first gardens selected in PHASE 1 will be communicated to the candidates by 11/30/2026 via email.
PHASE 2 – PLACEMENT IN SPACEDesigners are required to place their garden idea within the assigned area by developing an executive project including technical drawings, construction details, executive direction, and a planting plan, as well as an economic estimate. The project must fall within the total cost of €10,000, unless the designer independently secures sponsors to cover extra expenses.•Coherence with the initial idea, feasibility, and consistency with the assigned budget.•The gardens selected in PHASE 2 will be communicated to the candidates by 01/05/2027 via email.
It is a place for human and botanical coexistence, where the slow rhythm of growth teaches us patience and harmony. A garden that uplifts the spirit and inspires optimism, a place where life feels possible even after hardship. A garden that is both a sanctuary and a classroom, where humans and plants truly live in dialogue rather than humans simply shaping nature. A place based on coexistence, not control.What we expect to see:Native plants, exotics and introduced hybrids coexist with wildlife habitats and gentle pathways for humans. The garden is designed to adapt naturally, letting plants guide human experience rather than the other way around.Long-lived trees, perennial flowers, and layered plantings that unfold day by day, teaching visitors patience. Seasonal changes are highlighted—fallen leaves, sprouting bulbs, flowering cycles—so growth is experienced, not rushed. Benches or terraces that allow visitors to watch life unfold at its own pace, connecting human presence to natural rhythms. And, of course, water features.Emanuela Rosa-Clot, artistic director of the Radicepura Garden Festival
Radicepura Garden Festival
Link to Registration form
8 winning gardens that will be created within the Radicepura Horticultural park.
Open to the public/Minimum requirements (Open to anyone that complies with the requirements), Restricted/Has stricter requirements (Is not open to anyone. Has limitations regarding its participants), More than one stage (Winners selected after at least two selection phases)
Participation is open to everyone with the skills to design and create a garden. This includes individual professionals or teams of emerging architects, landscape architects, agronomists, garden designers, botanists, nurserymen, urban planners, engineers, artists, and curators. The Festival encourages the formation of multidisciplinary teams. The selection is also open to companies, associations, cooperatives, schools, and universities.To participate, applicants must be no older than 36 years old; participants must not have turned 37 by the date of 10/30/2026.Students may utilize a university tutor who is older than thirty-six (36). Each designer or group member may submit only one application. Winning designers from previous editions of the Radicepura Garden Festival are not eligible to participate.
Registration Opens April 2, 2026Registration Closes October 30, 2026Deadline to Submit Project October 30, 2026Winners announcement Date January 15, 2027
Location of Project (if developed)
Banner, Poster, Brochure or Triptic of Competition
