Nature calling

by Cristina Manfredi

Don't call him a landscaper; he doesn't like that word. And don't say landscape designer, either: "I'm from Milan; perhaps we have to use another language to explain what I do?". There is only one definition with which Marco Bay identifies: "An architect who draws his designs with trees". He came up with it himself, and he is keen to use it because it is the only one that fully portrays the meaning of his work.
From his family, a bastion of the best Milanese cultural tradition, he inherited a passion for travel, art and gardens, as well as a solid understatement that makes him almost embarrassed when asked to list his most important works. He is the one who, some 15 years ago, designed the greenery that embraces Hangar Bicocca, the important museum institution commissioned by the Pirelli Foundation by converting a former industrial space on the outskirts of the Lombard capital. Still in the city, he is responsible for the planting of Piazza Duomo with palms and banana trees, controversial at first, but actually the result of a careful study of the local tradition in flowerbeds from the late 19th century and now perfectly integrated into the urban landscape. For a major luxury hôtellerie group, he has designed the gardens of some of Italy's most famous resorts (bound by contract, however, he cannot reveal their names). Also on the hotel front, another icon of Italian hospitality, the San Domenico in Taormina, owes the greening of cloisters, gardens and terraces to him, and meanwhile his work on the 16th-century Giusti garden in Verona has just begun and will be completed within a couple of years. Not to mention the big players in the world of fashion and finance who have called him for their private residences and whose names, like a true gentleman, he does not mention.

What does it mean to design a garden today?
MB: Increasingly, it is about bringing people closer to an idea of nature that has been lost. We are now so urbanized that it is often difficult to understand the dynamics of a flower or a plant. Sometimes I am asked to design a garden that doesn't attract wasps, or I receive complaints because a plant has lost its leaves and as it is, it doesn't look good. There is a lack of deep understanding of the seasons, and my task is to reconcile the audience with the slow rhythms of nature, while also dispelling myths.

For example?
MB: That of the evergreen garden, which doesn't make sense. On the contrary, I want to be able to enjoy each month of the changes that take place, go from time to time to see what has flourished and what is about to do so. My task is to intrigue my clients about a new way of living in harmony with nature. Those in my profession must prepare a scene by knowing how to play with greenery in a respectful way.

And how does one do that?
MB: You have to look for meanings in addition to the garden scene. I refer here to the precepts of the man I regard as my first teacher, Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. In addition to being an expert in the field, he was an intellectual of great depth, a scholar of the subconscious and of philosophy, interested in the deep meanings that underlie a garden. For him, it was never just a matter of satisfying a practical request, and neither was it for me. The dramatic climate changes now underway require us to educate and empower people with respect to nature.

Yeah, the crazy weather, how does it impact your plans?
MB: I have always dialogued with the surrounding nature, I do not use inappropriate plants, and my training as an architect pushes me to exploit the spaces and movements of the terrain to bring to life perspectives, scenarios, and twists and turns that can integrate with everything surrounding the garden in question. Now more than ever, I pay attention to selecting plants that are resistant to water scarcity and try to get another important concept across, a lawn that is no longer green.

In what sense?
MB: Escalating droughts require us to accept lawns that are yellow or to replace them with gravel. I'm not talking about arid gardens, but a mineral element to be favored because it allows easy planting of the flowers within it and optimally retains moisture. We can't pretend that the planet is not changing, so we must think about projects that require minimal water and maintenance. And also remind ourselves to include the right flowers to attract butterflies and bees, which are seriously endangered due to excessive pollution. The pimped-up garden made with trendy plants is unreasonable.

So in this sector, too, there are trends like in fashion?
MB: Yes, unfortunately and it is absurd because gardens do not last a season but a lifetime and indeed, one lifetime is not enough. Why would you want lavender in a big city soaked in smog? Of course, if it is a terrace, you can play around a bit more since its confined space does not contaminate a landscape, but you always have to think about what you choose to have around you because then you will have to take care of it.

And here a big theme emerges, how do you care for a garden?
MB: By comparing ourselves with someone who knows more and experimenting. Farmers are a dying breed, poets of the earth who must befriend the land if they are to turn their labors into a harvest. And especially gardeners, in my opinion, destined to become the next planetary superstars.

Will gardeners take the place of highly acclaimed chefs?
MB: Precisely. They are extraordinary figures who allow you to enjoy experiences that last and develop over time and not just the duration of a meal. Every time I visit the garden school inside the Great Dixter House & Gardens in England, I get excited. I admire how they manage to cultivate plants in a respectful way, using organic fertilizers and welcoming insects instead of chasing them away, because the garden is a living thing, and nature must be able to enter it.