Sottobosco — Underwood
Mattia Marzorati / Sfelab

Sottobosco — Underwood presents a historical and social visual analysis of the largest environmental disaster in Italy through a contemporary, ecological lens. On the 50th anniversary of the 1976 chemical explosion at the ICMESA industrial plant, when a cloud of dioxin was released across the town of Seveso and wider region, a commemorative museum opens at the Bosco delle Querce. The expansive forest was developed above a containment structure engineered to cover toxic remnants of the disaster. Buried beneath the park in a suburb north of Milan, are the residents’ demolished houses and a lifetime of personal possessions, along with the remains of around 80,000 animals that were poisoned.

The book considers how residents came together to cope with the trauma of a tragic event whose effects, then as now, are diverse and elusive. It focuses on how they fought for justice through powerful activism, highlighting unique archival materials of the time, and excerpts from counter-information publications that emphasise how environmentalism was already intellectually and scientifically advanced. New photographs depict symbolic places today, ultimately recording how the local community and landscapes have evolved. Featuring a critical text by Laura Centemeri.

FIRST EDITION Softcover, 180 x 230mm portrait;
Approximately 230pp with photographs and illustrations; Printed paper covers
Text by Laura Centemeri
Languages: English and Italian

PLEASE NOTE: This book is available to PRE-ORDER NOW, with shipping date expected in August 2026