A journey through southern Europe in the footsteps of Pan

The photographs of Davide Pagliarini, architect and photographer, were taken over 20 years: a book and an exhibition recount his search for the sacred between nature and artifice.

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks June 2011, 120mm
Alvaro Siza Vieira, Piscinas des Marés, Leça da Palmeira, Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal, 1958-1965

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks August 2014, 120mm    
Sciara del fuoco, Stromboli, Messina, Sicily, Italy

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Funerary chapel, Alicudi cemetery, Messina, Sicily, Italy

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks June 2017, 120mm    
José Antonio Coderch de Sentmenat and Manuel Valls Vergés, social housing for the worker cooperative La Maquinista, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 1951-1953

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks July 2015, 120mm    
Lignite deposit, Agios Dimitrios, Kozani, Greece

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks December 2017, 120mm    
Filippo Monti, Woodpecker disco, Milano Marittima, Ravenna, Emila Romagna, Italy, 1967-1968

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks May 2019, 120mm
Altar for sacrifices, Ulaca archaeological site, Solosancho, Ávila, Castile-Leon, Spain

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks June 2017, 120mm    
José Antonio Coderch de Sentmenat and Manuel Valls Vergés, Banco Urquijo residential complex, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 1968-1973

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks June 2017, 120mm    
Ricardo Bofill i Levi, housing building Johann Sebastian Bach 4, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 1965

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks July 2017, 120mm    
Gordon Wilson, Princess of Wales Conservatory, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew Gardens, Richmond upon Thames, London, Great Britain, 1982-1987

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks August 2018, 120mm
Xerophilic vegetation, Argos, Argo-Mykines, Peloponnese, Greece

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks August 2018, 120mm
Military structure, Corinth canal, Peloponnese, Greece

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks June 2017, 120mm   
Peter Grahan Harnden and Lanfranco Bombelli, Apetzeguia house, Platja del Ros, Cadaqués, Girona, Catalonia, Spain, 1970-1971

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks July 2017, 120mm    
Funerary chapel, Rogliano, Upper Corsica, Corsica, France

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks August 2014, 120mm    
Cape Tenaro, Anatoliki Mani, Peloponnese, Greece

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks August 2016, 120mm    
Xerophilic vegetation, Botanical garden of Cagliari, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks May 2019, 120mm    
Portal of a shed, Mercadillo, Ávila, Castile-Leon, Spain

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks January 2018, 120mm    
Roberto Gabetti, Aimaro Oreglia d’Isola and Luciano Re, Residential unit west, Ivrea, Turin, Piedmont, Italy, 1968-1971

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks June 2014, 35mm digital    
Alziro Bergonzo, Casa Littoria, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, 1937-1940

Photo Davide Pagliarini

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks January 2016, 120mm
Carlo Scarpa, Brion cemetery, Cemetery of San Vito, Altivole, Treviso, Veneto, Italy, 1969-1978

Photo Davide Pagliarini

The book and the exhibition “Sulle tracce di Pan” are the results of 20 years of photographic research by Davide Pagliarini. The photographer’s journey unfolds between architecture and nature across southern Europe, from the Peloponnese to Stromboli, to Portugal, France and the United Kingdom. Guided by the quest for the sacred, Pagliarini's South extends beyond its commonly understood geographical boundaries. Within this investigation, Pan – the half-goat, half-human divinity – identifies with the theme of nature, as well as with the peripatetic and almost restless dimension of this search. These shots are not motionless. Contrarywise, they refer one to the other, conveying a sense of awareness of the ever-evolving condition of existence. These images show details such as mineral landscapes moved by threads of steam, or well-known buildings - like the pools of Leça by Álvaro Siza - that let the rocks emerge, or anonymous military structures that, like a crystal, emerge from an earthy landscape. Pagliarini's project reveals the precarity of the balance between nature and artifice: everything moves and transforms, inevitably. These photographs, mostly details taken with a medium format camera, are an attempt to reveal where today, in the continuous and reciprocal colonization between nature and artifice, the sacred lies.  

  • Sulle tracce di Pan
  • August 31 – September 29, 2019
  • Michela Bassanelli, Davide Pagliarini
  • Orto Botanico Lorenzo Rota, Bergamo, Italy
  • Scaletta Colle Aperto, Bergamo
  • Sulle tracce di Pan
  • Davide Pagliarini
  • Michela Bassanelli
  • Francesco Bevilacqua, Franco Farinelli, Marco Martella, Davide Pagliarini, Massimiliano Savorra, Antonella Tarpino, Luciano Valle, Roberta Valtorta, Massimo Venturi Ferriolo, Maurizio Vita, Michela Bassanelli
  • 240 x 200 mm
  • 248
  • 9788867641703
  • Libria
  • 2019
A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

June 2011, 120mm
Alvaro Siza Vieira, Piscinas des Marés, Leça da Palmeira, Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal, 1958-1965

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

August 2014, 120mm    
Sciara del fuoco, Stromboli, Messina, Sicily, Italy

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

Funerary chapel, Alicudi cemetery, Messina, Sicily, Italy

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

June 2017, 120mm    
José Antonio Coderch de Sentmenat and Manuel Valls Vergés, social housing for the worker cooperative La Maquinista, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 1951-1953

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

July 2015, 120mm    
Lignite deposit, Agios Dimitrios, Kozani, Greece

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

December 2017, 120mm    
Filippo Monti, Woodpecker disco, Milano Marittima, Ravenna, Emila Romagna, Italy, 1967-1968

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

May 2019, 120mm
Altar for sacrifices, Ulaca archaeological site, Solosancho, Ávila, Castile-Leon, Spain

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

June 2017, 120mm    
José Antonio Coderch de Sentmenat and Manuel Valls Vergés, Banco Urquijo residential complex, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 1968-1973

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

June 2017, 120mm    
Ricardo Bofill i Levi, housing building Johann Sebastian Bach 4, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 1965

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

July 2017, 120mm    
Gordon Wilson, Princess of Wales Conservatory, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew Gardens, Richmond upon Thames, London, Great Britain, 1982-1987

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

August 2018, 120mm
Xerophilic vegetation, Argos, Argo-Mykines, Peloponnese, Greece

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

August 2018, 120mm
Military structure, Corinth canal, Peloponnese, Greece

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

June 2017, 120mm   
Peter Grahan Harnden and Lanfranco Bombelli, Apetzeguia house, Platja del Ros, Cadaqués, Girona, Catalonia, Spain, 1970-1971

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

July 2017, 120mm    
Funerary chapel, Rogliano, Upper Corsica, Corsica, France

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

August 2014, 120mm    
Cape Tenaro, Anatoliki Mani, Peloponnese, Greece

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

August 2016, 120mm    
Xerophilic vegetation, Botanical garden of Cagliari, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

May 2019, 120mm    
Portal of a shed, Mercadillo, Ávila, Castile-Leon, Spain

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

January 2018, 120mm    
Roberto Gabetti, Aimaro Oreglia d’Isola and Luciano Re, Residential unit west, Ivrea, Turin, Piedmont, Italy, 1968-1971

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

June 2014, 35mm digital    
Alziro Bergonzo, Casa Littoria, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, 1937-1940

A trip to southern Europe on Pan’s tacks Photo Davide Pagliarini

January 2016, 120mm
Carlo Scarpa, Brion cemetery, Cemetery of San Vito, Altivole, Treviso, Veneto, Italy, 1969-1978