PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE, Observation deck, Torre Rinalda
Location: Italy, Lecce
Year: 2023
Category: Сoncept project
Architecture students: Vladislava Neroda, Anastasiya Stankevich, Anastasiya Tsaryova
competition task
Along the coastline of the enchanting region of Puglia, in southern Italy, there are the ruins of an ancient system of fortification, the coastal towers. The towers were strategically placed along the coast, to provide visual signals to nearby towns and villages in case of sea invaders.
Torre Rinalda, located in the territory of Lecce, is a remarkable example of this architectural defensive apparatus. Built in the 16th century with local limestone, the tower has a square base of over 10 meters on each side and a sloped body.
The main aim is to design a second life for Torre Rinalda, turning it into a landmark with a restored territorial meaning, and turning the unused spaces into a public place for gathering and sighting.
CONCEPT
The interweaving of place, time, and events—it's all about the architectural environment. It affects our everyday life, giving us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the atmosphere and touch personal history.
Changing the purpose of the space means the beginning of a new chapter in its long and already established life. Our team want to maintain a sense of calm and unity with nature, as well as in the tower's life, which is far from the bustle of the city. This is reflected in the beautification.
The main aim for us was to ensure that visitors are aware of the existing volume of the tower. Therefore, people should have the opportunity to look at the tower from each side. To treat the ruins with care, we decided that the new observation deck should be located outside the tower's contour. By combining these two ideas, we came up with the concept of a spiral that develops in a vertical plane and opens up views of both the environment and the architecture. Corten steel becomes the main element of the spiral. At the beginning this material undergoes self-destruction, but after a while the corrosion process stops. Just like the tower that despite the destruction, continues to live and acquire new value. To utilize the first level of the tower, we arranged an exposition of a boat there, which will indicate the individuality of the space.
With our design solution, we wanted to preserve the authenticity of the space. Nevertheless, the spirit of the space and architectural context is something that has been formed over the years and centuries... Architecture lives its own life, collapsing or, on the contrary, coming to life. All these properties have various factors that cannot always be changed. And should we change it?
This project was made for a contest "Reuse the Tower —Torre Rinalda (Lecce)".
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION
