The horizontal line, which outlines this landscape, suggests an attitude in strong contrast with the features of the place. This vast area, named La Sentina, is characterised by uncontaminated nature, the presence of the sea, of traces dictated by history, in which elements emerge with their original strength and integrity, despite the latest interventions, such as the construction of the industrial area and a motorway.

Our project retraces the outline of this landscape, a linear axis, a union of history and contemporaneity. It peremptorily follows in the footsteps of a long axis, which ends at the sea and is marked by the presence of old farmhouses.

The two-dimensional road takes shape to become a three-dimensional element. That is to say, it becomes a constructed space.

By means of a procedure to extrude the axis, the residential unit actually resembles a long, six metre-high parallelepiped, which becomes a 100 metre-high tower when it reaches the sea.

The top level of the long parallelepiped has a linear park with a tree-lined path, a canal, a series of sports and play facilities and a car park.

As mentioned, the residential unit folds up to transform into a tower, which establishes a distinct, peremptory contrast between horizontal and vertical, between nature and artifice, between ancient and modern, etc., without mediating with the space and the surrounding nature. The tower contains homes, facilities, communal and exhibition spaces and some small shops.

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Year: 2005

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Architect: Anna Rita Emili

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Collaborator: Emanuele PIccioni, Federica Ciapanna (model)