Historic gardens are often appreciated for what you can see: bright flowers, lush greenery and winding paths. At Portrait Milanthe luxury hotel housed in the former Archdiocesan Seminary of Milan, Botanical Archipelago by Italian artist Agostino Iacurci Instead it draws inspiration from what has disappeared. A new vibrant landscape blooms in memory of the site’s historic gardens.
Photo courtesy of the Lungarno Collection.
On view until August 31, 2026, the site-specific installation transforms the hotel’s 16th-century central square into a dreamlike setting anchored by eight monumental sculptures. Iacurci reimagines the Seminary’s original gardens through oversized botanical figures that stand as contemporary totems amid arched colonnades and a landscape designed with botanist Vittorio Peretto.
Known for his graphic murals and sculptural installations, Iacurci’s handcrafted forms introduce fantastical flora rendered in saturated hues of fuchsia, magenta, orange, green and purple. Each sculpture emerges from an understated geometric plinth, creating a visual rhythm that balances exuberant color with architectural order, while echoing the decorative traditions of historic Italian gardens.
Photo courtesy of the Lungarno Collection.
Curated by Valentina Ciarallo, the installation functions as a playful archipelago of imaginary vegetation. More than a traditional sculpture exhibition, it becomes an immersive conversation between history, landscape and architecture.
Photo courtesy of the Lungarno Collection.
What does he do? Botanical Archipelago Particularly fascinating is the treatment of memory as a design material. Instead of preserving history through reproduction, Iacurci embraces interpretation, using simplified forms and bold colors to evoke the atmosphere of a place rather than its exact appearance. The installation acknowledges the site’s past while resisting nostalgia, suggesting instead that contemporary art can offer new ways of understanding historic environments.
It is also part of a wider development in adaptive reuse. Increasingly, historic hotels, museums and public buildings are becoming platforms for temporary installations that invite visitors to experience familiar architecture differently. Here, contemporary sculpture doesn’t just occupy the courtyard – it activates it, turning a point of passage into a point of pause, discovery and reflection.
Italian artist Agostino Iacurci with his site-specific installation, Arcipelago Botanico. Photo courtesy of the Lungarno Collection.
all summer long Botanical Archipelago It presents Portrait Milano’s annual ‘Portraits of an Italian Summer’ program, which includes concerts, design collaborations, wellness events and botanically inspired experiences in an extension of the installation’s themes. While these events extend the experience, the installation stands alone as a thoughtful intersection of public art, landscape design, and historic preservation.
Arcipelago Botanico is featured in Portrait Milano in Milan, Italy, until August 31, 2026, with free public access via Corso Venezia 11 and Via Sant’Andrea 10.
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