The inauguration of FAO MuNe, the Food and Agriculture Museum and Network, was held in Rome on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the FAO and the World Food Day 2025. During the event, the artwork “Cultivating the Third Paradise” was presented, inspired by the vision of Michelangelo Pistoletto and conceived by Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto, with the design and technical collaboration of Guardini Ciuffreda Studio.
The symbolic installation was created with the technical contribution of Panguaneta, one of the leading players in the production of premium plywood. The Fire-Design Tutto-Pioppo plywood, an innovative product designed to combine the intrinsic qualities of poplar plywood with certified fire-retardant properties, perfectly represents the union of tradition and innovation. Poplar, a renewable resource resulting from responsible land management, becomes the living material of a project that brings together art, nature and technology, fully aligned with the sustainability values promoted by FAO and shared by Panguaneta.
The installation, located in the Traditions and Innovations Hall, the conceptual heart of the new museum, is a contemporary agora where the dialogue between tradition and innovation becomes a shared experience. Composed of wooden layers inspired by terraced rural landscapes, the work incorporates seeds, natural materials and visual narratives, transforming into a space for encounter, listening and co-creation. Panguaneta plywood, with its lightness, versatility and natural aesthetic harmony, provides the ideal foundation for an architecture that breathes with people and evolves over time, just like the nature from which it originates.
To make the work even more dynamic, lines of light run through the structure like luminous roots, a metaphor for shared knowledge and for the vital energy that connects living beings, nature and technology.
“We are honored that poplar, a raw material born from the earth and shaped by our company, becomes part of an artistic interpretation brought to life in the work of Maestro Michelangelo Pistoletto through the creativity of designers Tiziano Guardini and Luigi Ciuffreda. The arena that welcomes the public in the new FAO Museum space thus becomes a tangible and lasting symbol of sustainable creativity and a tool for reflection on the major issues at the core of the World Organization,” said Nicoletta Azzi, CEO of Panguaneta.
The artwork draws inspiration from the Third Paradise, a symbol created by Michelangelo Pistoletto and composed of three interconnected circles representing nature, artifice and humanity. It expresses the search for balance between natural systems and those built by humankind. “This vision finds in Panguaneta’s multilayer plywood a perfect material translation: a natural resource capable of renewing itself and shaping a fairer and more harmonious future, through collaboration between art, science and sustainable industry,” the company commented.
