During the Gonzaga era, the city was surrounded by an imposing star-shaped fortified curtain wall, which grew to seven bastions. Palaces, churches and reclamation works still tell the story of one of the most important families of the 16th century in Italy. The Gonzaga dynasty, lords of Mantua, ruled these territories for many years, leaving indelible marks on the landscape and the shape of the city. It was a Lombard garrison for the military control of the Po, hence the origin of the toponym wardistall “guard post”, and a strategic point for crossing the river. Guastalla preserves archaeological traces from the Etruscan and Roman periods. The Po River flows 1 kilometre from the town and the main embankment separates the historic centre from the wide floodplain where the signs of the ancient riverbed are still visible. The territory of the Municipality of Guastalla is typically a lowland place, with large agricultural and naturalistic areas. The initiative is aimed at enhancing the symbolic and representative role of the garden area enclosed in the compact urban fabric, through reconfiguration projects of the large green space, which will have to take into account the historical and architectural pre-existences and their relations with the city, the stratification of the built environment and the coherence between the identity of the place and the human activities that it will host.

The competition is open to young students and recent graduates from national and international schools of Architecture, Design, Engineering, Landscape and Urban Planning.

The Mantova Campus of Politecnico di Milano and the Municipality of Guastalla, with the patronage of Ordine degli Architetti di Reggio Emilia, Osservatorio del Paesaggio Bassa Reggiana, UNESCO MAB Po Grande and Unione Bassa Reggiana, are launching an International Competition of Ideas in the field of architectural and landscape design, for the identity regeneration of the ancient garden of Guastalla Ducal Palace.

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