YellowOffice

Francesca, please introduce yourself:

I'm a practitioner and an educator. In 2008, I founded YellowOffice, an international firm based in Milan that focuses on landscape architecture, urbanism, and public art, blending research and design. Our work centers on the interplay between city and nature, exploring ideas of public spaces and geographic disciplines through the lens of visual arts. We envision cultural landscapes from both ecological and social perspectives. This involves examining ecological processes, biodiversity, and climate change adaptation while always looking at the identity and memory of places. We believe in reintroducing an emotional and spiritual connection to the landscape, aiming to define commons that can truly reconnect communities with nature. Since 2016, I have been a member of the Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture.

Nuova BEIC, Milan, 2022: with Onsitestudio, Baukuh, SCE Project, Studio Mistretta, Starching, Stain Engineering, (Ab)Normal, Atmos Lab, DOTDOTDOT

#1 YellowOffice sounds vibrant and open. What's the story behind the name?

The word 'Green' is often associated with non-mineral areas in our cities, it is frequently used simplistically from a theoretical perspective. Conversely, yellow more readily evokes the sun, light, and life cycles, offering a means to expand the ideas of what a practice focused on landscape architecture should look at. Nature is not solely green, as we can easily observe outside our windows. The aim was to break conventions and broaden how we observe and imagine landscapes.

#2 Your projects move between architecture, urban research, and curatorial practice. What drives your design approach?

My design approach is deeply interconnected with my research methodology, which combines data collection, spanning scientific and humanistic disciplines, to the experience of a place and fieldwork. Indeed, individual narratives and microstories, far from pure historiography, are also considered valuable investigation sources.

The field of landscape architecture calls for a curatorial approach and diverse methods of analysis and observation. As such, part of my work focuses on building narratives that can represent these ever-evolving landscapes, using drawings, videos, and exhibition design to engage not only design professionals but also a broader, multidisciplinary, and multicultural audience

Civic Land Center 2024 with Baukuh, Sam Chermayeff Office, Muoto, Atmos Lab, Arkimade, Simon Boudivin, Bollinger+Grohmann, Sketches Francesca Benedetto

#3 Many of your projects, like the BEIC Library or the Civic Land Center, create evolving public spaces. Do you see architecture as a fixed form or an ongoing process?

In my professional practice, we have focused on projects related to designing cultural spaces within the public realm, exploring new typologies of public spaces as microclimatic environments that respond to climate challenges and social needs. These cultural landscapes seek to reveal the natural, material, and collective memory and identity of each place.

Our design consistently looks at the coexistence of historical traces and future scenario stages on a site. Thus, every project acts as a time machine, capable of simultaneously holding the past and future ruins. I aim to unveil the different timelines to make this evolution evident, including as well atmospheric conditions that are not physically visible.

For example, in the Nuova BEIC landscape, among other interventions, we are building a new typology of plaza: a new tree-lined Square, paved in crushedstone, to the north of the library, defined by a regular planting of elm trees (Ulmus' Sapporo Autumn Gold'), which uniformly punctuate and organize this ample breathing space for the city and the library: the elm trees alternate with street lamps that illuminate the Square following a checkerboard pattern. This arrangement, an urban and contemporary stylization of the planitial forest (foresta planiziale - the original forest that covered the Po Valley), produces a homogeneous condition that extends over the entire surface of the lot not occupied by the building. It will represent a space we can consider between a park and a plaza, introducing ideas for new gathering forms and how to increase biodiversity in the city.

We also work on incorporating narratives and building community engagement and awareness for a public project. With Federico Bernocchi and Twin Studio, I worked on a documentary, The Flying Plane. This film tells the story of the NuovaBEIC building site through the transplant of a large isolated tree placed on the sidewalk of the building site: a Platanus x acerifolia. Our plane tree underscores how the history of this site is also a natural history, which, on a larger scale, reconnects with the ecological and symbolic value of Milan's tree-lined areas, its parks, and its boulevard.

The Flying Plane: Short Movie 2024 by Francesca Benedetto and Federico Bemocchi, production: Twin Studio

#4 Water plays a central role in your work, shaping both your research and projects. How do you perceive water as an urban and landscape element?

Beyond water's value as a design element—from stormwater management to irrigation reuse and water features or rain gardens—I'm also interested in the memories of water and its healing powers, as well as the cultural practices related to water's therapeutic use and thermal comfort.

These twofold perspectives intertwine water and moisture essential elements in creating microclimatic areas defined by a mitigation and regenerative effect on the environment and how we inhabit cities. At a broader scale, we should reflect on the future of our cities regarding water scarcity, the flooding that increasingly affects our urban areas, and rising sea levels. Looking at the water system, we can imagine rethinking what is public, and it may be an occasion for defining a more just idea of the city itself and the public realm.

By rethinking water systems, we can redefine the public realm, imagining more equitable urban environments. Permeable urban areas can connect to cultural rituals and diverse community uses of water, enhancing place identity and addressing water availability and access.

We should examine water from a sectional perspective—from the clouds to the soil's stratigraphy—abandoning the Cartesian notion of flat, interchangeable space for a more dynamic and integrated view. In many sacred beliefs, water is linked to the divine; I believe we should also consider this spiritual dimension in our designs.

The Sound of the Woodpecker Bill: New York City by Antonio Rovaldi, Illustrated maps by Francesca Benedetto, published by Humboldt Books 2019

End. Words from the Margins—New York City. Exhibition, Harvard GSD, 2019. Photos (1-3) by Antonio Rovaldi

#5 Your work often intersects with storytelling. Is there a fictional city—from film, literature, or art—that inspires you?

I see New York as "the" Fictional City, shaped by human desires and often depicted in countless ways. A few years ago, I worked on the production of 60 illustrations for the book The Sound of the Woodpecker Bill: New York City, edited by Antonio Rovaldi and published by Humboldt Books in 2019.

What emerges in the drawings is a kind of silent archaeology, blending the geological past, a constantly changing present, and an uncertain future. The book reveals a hidden side of NYC and highlights the complex relationship between geology, human activity, and biodiversity. My maps show the city's shifting layers—sometimes visualizing soil and water, data flows, or even imagining Jamaica Bay shaped as a horseshoe crab, reinterpreting the late 16th-century Heinrich Bunting figurative maps. There are also flow maps on specific dates and times, such as one of the rat's inspections or one of the Pokémon Go, which blurs the lines between the real and virtual cities.

Fieldwork in New York Flower Market, March 2025. Photo by Carolina Sartori

#6 Your latest book, Tunisian Nightscapes: Nocturnal Landscapes in the Medina of Tunis, emerged from your design studio class at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The project specifically explores nocturnal landscapes as a response to rising temperatures caused by climate change. How did working with students shape the research process, and what new perspectives did it bring to the reimagining of these five public spaces in the Medina?

During the studio trip and fieldwork, students explored and observed the landscapes of the Medina of Tunis at different times, nocturnal and daytime. Their research was conducted on-site with the support of students from the École Nationale d'Architecture et d'Urbanisme de Tunis, enabling deeper engagement with the Medina and its residents. This also helps them to find autonomous ways to navigate around the city, experiencing lucky encounters. What emerged from our fieldwork is the understanding of the Medina of Tunis as a living matrix shaped by layers of collective and individual memory and perception, looking at the intangible, phenomenological, and ecological aspects of the city landscape, including plants, winds, skies, light, water, night, sounds, colors, people, animals, and time and reimagining the future of urban environments.

Finally, each student identified possible urban open spaces for intervention, formulated research questions, and developed a programmatic manifesto envisioning new nocturnal and daytime activities for these sites and their surroundings—reflecting on how these spaces could be reimagined and reactivated.

This studio was an integral part of the Atlas for the Medina of Tunis research project sponsored by Materia Inc. and led by Gareth Doherty in the Critical Landscapes Design Lab.

Photo 1: Cover of Book Tunisian Nightscapes, Photo 2: by Francesca Benedetto

#7 How do you see the role of an architect in today's society?

I believe that the role of an architect today should center on understanding projects as collective and multidisciplinary processes. The sense of beauty, art, and ingenuity inherent to the discipline must be connected to a thorough understanding of what is relevant, why, and for whom. In a lot of countries, there continues to be a lack of focus on disciplines such as landscape architecture and landscape urbanism, which are crucial not only for addressing challenges related to climate change adaptation and justice but also for looking at cultural practices. Additionally, significant questions of social and gender equity within the profession still need to be addressed.

Lift Tower 2024 with Baukuh, Sam Chermayeff Office, Muoto, Atmos Lab, Arkimade, Simon Boudivin, Bollinger+Grohmann , Sketches: Francesca Benedetto

#8 How does your environment influence your work?

Living in two cities divided by an ocean is a unique and inspiring experience. I started to teach at Harvard GSD in 2016 in the Department of Landscape Architecture, and of course, my work at school and my practice in Milan are mutually influenced by these very different environments.

The greater Boston area is marked by an incredible landscape shaped by the geological memory of glaciers and of the indigenous forests and their sacred significance. Then there is the enduring legacy of Olmsted, seen in the Emerald Necklace, Franklin Park, and the beloved Arboretum. Boston is a city of water, where the image of the rivers and ponds is combined with the one of whales rising from the ocean—like swimming islands surrounded by seagulls and dolphins. When I look outside my home in Milan, I see the beautiful plane trees with their trembling leaves and the intricate pattern camouflage that draws my mind along the rings of the city's roadways—framing Milan's layered beauty, a discreet dream of architectural wonders. So, what inspires my imagination continually shifts from one city to another, moving at different speeds and scales, carrying with it memories, experiences, faces, and words. These always point me toward other places, other dreams, and new hopes.

Il Giardino Celeste, Castello di Agliè, Turin, 2023, photo by Silvia Ciacci

#9 Three things that inspire you at the moment?

Nebbia and Sabbia, two dogs that I love, are my muses.

My research on Plants of Ritual and studies on Earthly Paradise

Zelda: Tears from the Kingdom (that, unfortunately, I have finished)

#10 What do you currently read, watch, listen to?

One book: The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

One movie: Flow by Gints Zilbalodis.

One song: Dumbai by Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso

Links

website: yellowoffice
Instagram: @yellowoffice @francesca__benedetto

Interview by Susanne Oberhollenzer