From Arid Climates to the Classroom
In a recent seminar hosted by the Accademia di Sanremo, students and faculty explored how landscape design can address environmental challenges and contribute to more inclusive and liveable spaces, drawing in particular from our growing experience in arid and climate-sensitive regions such as the MENA area.
Anastasia Novoseltseva, Architect & Project Manager, LAND Italia
This month, Anastasia Novoseltseva, Architect and Project Manager at LAND Italia, was invited to take the stage at the Accademia di Sanremo with a compelling talk titled “Strategic Objectives and the Approach to Landscape Design in Arid Climates: Overview and Case Study”.
During her lecture, Anastasia presented the Al Khuzam Development in Riyadh — an ambitious project that introduces a long green spine running through the northern urban fabric of the city. The case study highlighted how thoughtful design can help shape resilient public realms in extreme climatic conditions.
Discover more about the project on our website: Al Khuzam Development, Riyadh – LAND.
Al Khuzam Development, Riyadh, Project Render
©Gianni Colla, Accademia di Sanremo
With a professional background spanning both Italy and the MENA region, Anastasia brought valuable, first-hand insight into designing for resilience in dry and demanding environments. Her session moved well beyond technical frameworks, becoming a vivid example of how landscape designers can help reconnect communities with nature, even in the most challenging conditions.
The event became a moment of shared reflection on the evolving role of the landscape experts: not only to shape space, but to cultivate meaningful relationships between people, climate, and nature.
This moment is a powerful example of how LAND’s work resonates beyond project sites, shaping conversations, raising questions, and broadening perspectives. Encounters like this show the value of bringing practical experience into academic contexts, where ideas take root, and the next generation begins to shape its own vision of the landscape.
©Gianni Colla, Accademia di Sanremo
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