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Study:
Landscape
Year:
2026
Location:
Etna, Italy
Α tree-like pathway network gradually reveals the entrance to each suites, that are placed in rotation, in order to create openness and privacy. Gardens and dense planting are interspersed in between, forming a natural green network. Scattered throughout the gardens, are formed individual nooks for isolation and multisensory engagement with the landscape, where 4 distinct ways of interaction with the landscape are incorporated, based on the interconnection of the four elements of nature with four human senses - hearing, sight, smell, touch - creating a multidimensional, immersive sensory experience.
Open Gardens - Hospitality Resort Landscape Design
Still Point
A shallow, recessed water basin is placed at the center, acting as a mirror that reflects the sky and surrounding landscape. Around it, a curved metal bench subtly defines the space and invites visitors to pause and observe. Stable and restrained planting, with dense shrubs and trees in the background, creates a calm, almost still setting that enhances the sense of visual tranquility.
Fire Ring
A circular fire pit is integrated into the ground. Around it, a solid ring of hard metal flooring is formed, on which scattered stone block seats are placed, while the area is framed by dense tree vegetation. The experience is activated through touch, through the rough surfaces of the rocks and tree trunks, combined with the warmth radiating from the fire.
Sunken Garden
A cavity is integrated into the ground, creating an introverted microcosm with a continuous perimeter planting band of dense aromatic plants. At the center of the composition, a low bowl hosts an aromatic shrub, as a focal point, concentrating the scents within the core of the space. A perimeter bench is discreetly incorporated along the edge of the cavity, offering a place to rest while the natural aromas dominate and activating a gentle, contemplative experience.
Whispering Grove
A perimeter-planted cavity creates an acoustic enclosure. Within it, wind responsive vegetation, produces a variety of sound effects and vertical metal elements with circular and conical forms attract bird’s songs and reproduce the rhythmic sound of raindrops striking the surfaces at different frequencies.
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