[2] As an elitist individualist, he remained aloof from the movimento del Sessantotto and withdrew from public discussion since the 1970s.

The increasing dominance of language and sign theory approaches in philosophy also contributed to this, making Assunto's positions appear out of date.

He fought a battle of ideas for good governance, care and defense of the gardens; for the affirmation of their irreplaceable value as heritage of memory and places designed and created to experience contemplation.

In Il paesaggio e l'estetica (1973) Assunto shows that people search for and create their own landscape, both physically and spiritually.

[5] The theme of the relationship between nature and art was the focus of his research, he systematically posed and articulated the problem of the specificity of the constitutive values of the landscape, to the point of making clear the reasons for the "modern cult of the garden".