New perception of human landscape: the case of Memorial Gardens and Avenues

After the First World War ended, Memorial Gardens and Avenues were established for honouring human losses in conflict. This way to commemorate fallen soldiers changed the concept of remembrance, which, instead of focusing on the dead, would serve to living populations and give a message to future generations. In Italy, according to a law issued in 1922, Memorial Gardens and Avenues were planned in each township. The goal was to create avenues or parks by planting a tree for each fallen combatant; in this way, the remembrance of dead soldiers was represented by living symbols like trees, instead of stone monuments. Moreover, each tree was supposed to be identified by a plaque commemorating a single fallen soldier, in order to maintain the memory of his sacrifice to the citizenship and particularly to young generations. At present, many of these historical places are neglected and/or ignored by municipalities and require serious restoration intervention.