LANDWORKS CALABRIA/ COSENZA (SELVA OSCURA).
Landscape installation for the Activation of the Historical Center of Cosenza, Italy.

Cosenza Selva Oscura is a project developed within the Landworks Calabria workshop series, conceived as a landscape-based intervention for the reactivation of the historical center of Cosenza.

The project involved international architecture and landscape students working in close collaboration with local inhabitants to address the condition of a degraded public square. Through a participatory process, the intervention combined collective spatial analysis, on-site construction, and temporary landscape installation.

The project resulted in the transformation of the square through the construction of a small temporary pavilion and the activation of shared public use. By operating at an intermediate scale between landscape, architecture, and urban action, Cosenza Selva Oscura explored how temporary installations can trigger long-term social engagement and spatial awareness within historical urban contexts.

Expose - The project exposes the latent spatial, social, and environmental conditions of a neglected urban space, making visible its potential through direct intervention and use.

Mediate - Cosenza Selva Oscura mediates between students, inhabitants, and the urban context, translating collective knowledge and local experience into a shared spatial action.

Activate - The project activates the historical center through hands-on participation, temporary construction, and public engagement, transforming a degraded square into a site of collective presence and interaction.