Just as an accent links a person to a place, or a fine wine reflects its terroir, so these works echo the DNA of the very earth where they were created. In County Galway, Ireland, an artisan continues the area’s long-held tradition of basketweaving by making contemporary baskets from the willow trees around Loch na Fooey. In Ubrique, Spain, a master leatherworker designs and makes innovative leather objects using his village’s old stone streets as a mould. Each of these artist-artisans has immense respect for the past while striving to develop and innovate, taking ancient skills with them into the future.

Italian architect and urban planner Stefano Boeri is one of the world’s leaders in his field. A professor of urban planning at the Politenico in Milan, he has also been a guest professor at universities around the world including Harvard Graduate School of Design in the US. He founded a studio in Milan in 1999 and later opened a second in Shanghai. He has authored many books and is the former editor-in-chief of the magazines Domus and Abitare. In 2018 he was appointed chairman of the Triennale in Milan.